One day in July 2020, Bob Otten was using a chain saw to cut up five trailer loads of limbs from a tree that had been removed from his Hannibal property.

Only a week later, he could barely breathe and was fighting for his life.

Bob had COVID-19. As a result, he spent 33 days in Blessing Hospital.

At 75 years old, Bob was in a high risk group for the virus. Fortunately, he had no chronic conditions.  Still, he was worried he would not live. In addition to shortness of breath, Bob had a 104 degree fever. He also lost his sense of taste.

“I would call my wife and tell her things that needed to get done, because I did not know if I was going to be able to get them done,” Bob recalled.

“It was the hardest thing I ever went through in my life,” Bob’s wife Belinda continued. “We’ve been married 40 years and never been apart for more than a couple of days.”

Bob could have no visitors for most of his hospitalization.

Surviving COVID

The Ottens say a deep religious faith and the skill and positive attitude of everyone at Blessing Hospital brought Bob home.

“We put our faith in God and our trust in Blessing Hospital, and he came home,” Belinda said. “In the worst situation, Bob received the best care.”

Belinda is an employee of Hannibal Clinic, a member of the Blessing Health System. But she and Bob had no experience with the care of Blessing Hospital prior to his illness.

“I wish I could have been there with him,” Belinda continued.  “While I knew I couldn’t, I knew the people who were there cared about him because they called me every day, in the morning and at night, and took all the time I needed and answered my questions.”

Bob remembers a conversation he had with Angelo Llana, MD, one of the hospitalists who provided his care.

“He said, ‘I’m going to get you home,’” recalled Bob. “He had faith in me. I cannot emphasize how good and how professional the care was that I received from every part of the hospital.”

One of Bob’s most memorable experiences of his 33-days at Blessing Hospital began with going for a CT exam to check on his lungs. The path from his room to radiology took him past some windows.

“It was so great,” Bob exclaimed about being able to see life outside his hospital room.

When staff learned how excited Bob was about the experience, the next time he was scheduled for a CT, they arranged a little surprise by notifying his family where to stand to see him and when to be there.

“Bob was headed down to radiology, and his family was waiting by the windows with huge smiles and handwritten signs,” said Latisha Politte, RN, inpatient clinical care coordinator in the Negative Pressure Unit where COVID-19 patients are cared for at Blessing. “He was clearly overcome with emotion.”

“When I had to leave, we put our hands up to the window and touched through the glass,” he recalled. “It was so great. It was really a pick-me-up.”

Lessons learned

Bob is working hard on his recovery, but it is a slow process. On a scale of 1-to-10, with 10 being back to normal, at 20 days after discharge Bob says he feels like a “3 or 4.”

Belinda had her own bout with COVID-19. Three days after Bob went into the hospital, she lost her senses of taste and smell, but experienced no other symptoms.

As a result of their experiences, the Ottens want people to take COVID-19 more seriously, to wear masks, social distance, and for people to stay home if they have a pending COVID-19 test until they know the test is negative. That appears to be how Bob became sick, contact with someone who had a pending COVID-19 test.

“There are people, every minute of every day, who are putting their health and their lives at risk to take care of people in the hospital, and they can take the virus home to their families,” Belinda exclaimed. “We need to be aware of what we can start and cause for other people because we were careless.”