Suggestions if you - or a loved one - has COVID-19 and is at home

(updated May 23, 2020, written by Colleen Meiman)

If you or someone you care about has been diagnosed with COVID-19 and is at home, here are some suggestions that might help. They are based on my own recent experience of “riding out” a pretty bad case of the virus at home -- along with my two teenage daughters, who also had it -- as well as the experience of a close friend. (Ideas for family and friends are at the bottom.) 

Supplies to have on your bedside table:

• A high-quality pulse-oximeter. This is key, as it helps you know when your oxygen levels are low enough to need medical treatment. I started getting nervous when mine dropped into the low 90s. (Check with your doctor about what is right for you.)
• A reliable thermometer
• Pedialyte.  Much better for me for dehydration than Gatorade. I recommend starting to take this at the first sign of digestive issues, and sticking with it until your symptoms are gone. I thought I was drinking plenty, and still ended up in the ER with dehydration. (Check with your doctor about what is right for you.)
• Water, or something else to drink.
• Boost protein drink (if you can keep it down.) (Check with your doctor about what is right for you.)
• Pepcid. There’s evidence that patients who take Pepcid do better with the virus; also, it was often the only way I could keep food in my system. (Check with your own doctor regarding medications.)
• Pepto-Bismal and Imodium. Hopefully you won’t need them, but you’ll want them handy in case you do. (Check with your own doctor regarding medications)
• Any medications that you take regularly. (Check with your own doctor regarding medications)

Other supplies that will make life easier:

• Aloe Vesta Cleansing Foam This can be a godsend when you’re too weak to get a shower. It was recommended by a gyn surgeon, and is safe for all parts of the body.  You’ll need paper towels to use it.
• A shower stool – like this and also available at medical supply stores. This makes showering possible when you’re strong enough to get to the shower but too weak to stand up.
• An egg-crate mattress topper – like this and also available at medical supply stores. When you’re lying on bed all day, the parts of your body that touch the mattress can get really sore, which just adds insult to injury.  The mattress topper helps enormously with that soreness, and helps you get more sleep.
• An ice bag like this to help keep cool when your fever is high. 

Eating and drinking:

• I highly recommend getting disposable plates, bowls, cups, and silverware. When everyone in the house is too sick to wash dishes – or you’re trying to protect those who are still symptom-free --  these are a godsend. Also a few plastic trash bags to put them in -- the trash can really pile up after a few days. 
•  Food. While some people may be able to maintain a normal diet, for people who get the digestive issues (along with the loss of taste and smell), it becomes a real challenge both to eat, and to keep what you eat in your system.  Here are the foods I’d recommend bringing to these people.
  • Broth:  Broth is a godsend, as it’s liquids, salt, and nutrition in one.
  • Saltines and other bland crackers – nothing whole grain (too hard to digest.)
  • Grapes (fluids and nutrition in one)
  • Cooked white rice (brown rice can be hard to digest)
  • Bananas
  • Applesauce with no added sugar. (The sugar can further upset the stomach.)
• Liquids. If in doubt, start with the Pedialyte.  (If I had done that, I probably wouldn’t have ended up in the ER.) Drinks with less sugar, no dairy, and no caffeine are easier to digest.
• Straws. These can make drinking a lot easier when you’re weak. 

Medical suggestions:

• Keep your body moving -- even if you’re too weak to sit up - as it will reduce the risk of pneumonia,  blood clots, and bed sore. The ER sent me home with a list of exercises to do three times every day while lying down. They included:
  • flexing your ankles and knees;
  • lifting your arms up above your head;
  • lifting your chest (while lying down and keeping your shoulders and hips on the mattress); and
  • diaphragmatic breathing.
• Keep tabs on how much you’re eating and keeping in your system over time. Low blood sugar just makes things worse.
• If you’re struggling to eat and drink, ask your doctor for prescription nausea medicine (even if nausea isn’t your primary digestive issue.) They’ll probably prescribe Zofran; that did nothing for me, so then I got Phenergan, which helped. If I’d started those at home, that might also have helped prevent my trip to the ER.
• Trying taking deep breaths, even if it hurts. That can help keep the “gunk” moving in your lungs.
• When you’re lying down, the easiest position for breathing is lying on your left side. The hardest lying-down position for breathing is on your back. The ER nurses strongly encouraged me to lie on my left side as much as I could. (The mattress topper really helped with that.)
• If you think you’re getting dehydrated, don’t wait too long to get to the ER. When I went, I learned that there’s a limited window during which you can safely get IV fluids before they will make the pneumonia worse instead of better.
• Don’t let down your guard if the first several days post-diagnosis are fairly easy -- the worst might still be ahead. While I was definitely sick for the first week, it wasn’t until day 8 & 9 that things got really bad for me.
• Allow yourself for a time slow recovery. I didn’t “bounce back” from COVID over a few days; I “crawled back” over several weeks. For example, when I returned to work, I did so on a part-time basis for the first two weeks.

How friends and family can help:

• If you’re nearby, offer to bring the patient broth, bland foods (see list above) and liquids. Also offer to pick up items from the pharmacy. If the patient has a “hub person”, coordinate with them.
• Make sure the patient has all the supplies listed above. If you live close enough to deliver them to their door, you might even undo the packaging, as that can be challenging for a patient who is really weak. (I was practically in tears by the time I got the mattress topper unwrapped.)
• Encourage the sick person to select someone to serve as their coordinator (aka “hub person”), whose role is to both share status reports and coordinate support. Specifically, the patient can let this one person know how they’re doing, and this person can help keep friends and family updated. (Keeping friends and family updated on your status while you’re really sick can be exhausting, so a hub person can really help.) Also, the hub person can coordinate potential supplies and volunteers - e.g., who is bringing what when, finding someone for a specific task (e.g., picking up a prescription or Pedialyte.) To make this work, the hub person needs to know who wants to be updated (and how to reach them), as well as who is interested in providing direct support like supplies, food and errands.
• Send flowers and Get Well Cards. (The patient will have a lot of time to lie in bed looking at them.)