Those eye issues were not nearly as challenging as the coronavirus experience local businessman Brian Walter underwent recently. He explained it in the following email:

I have been challenged this past week. I ended up being hospitalized at Mercy hospital with Covid.

It has been quite an experience. I will share a little with you so that maybe you will know more than I did in case you or a close friend or family member gets ill with Covid and can benefit from my experience.

My experience started slow with a mild headache, then fatigue, then fever and ultimately shortness of breath. Shortness of breath does not adequately describe the panic and pain associated with difficulty drawing breath, I can tell you that. Ultimately my doctor sent me to the ER at about 8 days, which is right in the 7-10 day window when most patients who are going to get seriously ill, do.

What to Know

So here is what I guess I should have known but didn’t. If it helps just one it will have been well worth it:

1st point: Covid means feeling sick, it means headache, it means fatigue, it means fever. And yes in many cases our amazing bodies God created can fight and beat the virus. Here is what I failed to realize. If you get a bad case like I did, Covid is trying to destroy your lungs and guess what, you can’t live well without your lungs in pristine condition. So first key point to remember is if you become short of breath or develop a bad cough, get to the hospital as time is of the essence. The longer you wait the more lung damage you incur and the more difficult recovery becomes.

Covid Treatment Available

2nd point: Covid is a virus, not a bacterial infection. “You can’t treat a virus” is a commonly stated but somewhat misleading statement. It is true that what happens is you develop pneumonia often in both lungs (I did) and it happens real fast. It is true that bacterial pneumonia is much easer to treat than viral pneumonia. What is misleading is there are treatments, in fact quite effective treatments available.

The second point is there are treatments available that are entirely more effective and targeted than other widely used medicines, specifically: bacterial antibiotics, Mucinex, zinc, vitamin C, etc.

These treatments are fine, but if you are really sick you need strong medicine.

These strong treatments include intravenous steroids for lung inflammation, Remdesivir, the only FDA approved drug to treat Covid specifically and plasma donations from live patients who have developed the antibody from having contracted and recovered from Covid.

So the second tricky point is be aware serious medical treatment is available.

Don’t Wait to Seek Medical Attention

The third point: Hospitalization. No one wants to go to the hospital, me included.

But here is the tricky point in spite of the grave danger and in spite of the fact that serious and effective treatment exists, what most of us don’t realize is you can only get the serious treatments in a hospital setting. So the third point is, if youbecome short of breath, it is serious and you need to get to the hospital.

You will be glad you did, maybe very, very glad.

So there is my story on Covid. Again maybe it helps someone. I hope so. I care about each of you deeply.

So I have to see what kind of strength I have when I get home this first week of December, but if I have the strength then my intention is still to pursue Stephanie Bice and the two Democratic candidates for Senate prior to the January seating of the new Congress.

Fundraising has been incredible so please know you have raised my spirits and shown again the incredible power of a small group of American patriots dedicated to the common good of all.

For Our Common Good,

R. Brian Walter

Matthew 20:28