Sam Schmitt

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On 06/05/17 Sam went to Urgent Care after a few days of coughing, sore throat, fever and generally feeling poorly. I had just had pneumonia, so we suspected they caught it (and thought in advance they probably would). Sam was diagnosed with pneumonia at that time after getting a chest x-ray and sent home with a z-pack antibiotic.

On the morning of 06/06/17 Sam woke up feeling intense chills and tried to take a hot bath. Sam called me up because they were feeling something wasn't right - shivering while in a warm bath and struggling to breathe. As I helped Sam get ready to go to ER, I could see their arms and legs were blue and they struggled to keep calm breathing. I called for an ambulance and we went to North Memorial Hospital (Minneapolis, MN). After a long day in ER with chest X-ray, fluids, and blood tests, Sam was admitted. Unfortunately between June 6 and 7, Sam's condition deteriorated rapidly. After a lot of fighting and constantly asking the overnight staff to do more, the primary doctor ordered additional testing on 06/07/17 by CT and blood. The illness was not responding well to ongoing azithromycin and another antibiotic. Sam was feverish with painful coughing and shortness of breath. Sam had a headache for at least 48 hours.

After the CT test which required Sam to lay flat, Sam went into a very scary respiratory attack and the hospital rapid response team was called. I believe this was life threatening and I know from my own experience of the situation and from talking to Sam later that it was truly a traumatic experience. The rapid team first administered a nebulizer mask and then a bi-pap breathing mask. Sam was transferred to ICU after the breathing got a bit more stable.