I lived an alternate, isolated life for almost five years during my late husband's Leukemia and after his Bone Marrow Transplant due to the risks and a series of immunosuppression drugs. Occasionally, we'd break free but it often backfired and ended with a hospitalization. For the most part it was home and Duke clinic visits unless something was held outdoors. Harris Teeter home grocery delivery, no takeout or restaurant food, no visitors with small kids, deep cleanings of our home and lots of hand sanitizer and masks were the norm. One of the things that did make a big difference was prophylactic anti-virals and antibiotics during periods of vulnerability.
One year we braved my family's Christmas gathering. It was wonderful to be almost normal but unbeknownst to us my hubby caught the flu from it. He suddenly became hypoxic while watching TV and I had to drive like a bat out of hell to get him to the ER. And then he spent 12 days intubated in the ICU at Duke. He'd already escaped death a few times by then so the odds were very grim. What's crazy is that the same night, two younger guys in their mid to late 20s with no underlying conditions, were also admitted with flu. Sadly, they both died within a week.
The infectious disease teams were mystified by the outcomes. My husband became a case study until he passed 2.5 years later. Doctors from around the world would contact us with all of these questions and he did these quarterly interview surveys as follow up. All they could come up with is that the steroids that made him vulnerable to the flu also saved him. Sometimes none of it really makes sense.
