Sammy Eldin, 53, 在约翰霍普金斯医院与COVID-19作了两周的痛苦斗争，并因似乎与COVID-19相关的心律失常住院治疗了三天，现在回到了霍华德县的家中.

Though he’s still gaining his strength — his wife, Tina, 他从沙发到厨房再到餐厅再回来的笑话——他很感激自己健康状况的改善和继续接受的照顾.

Admitted March 16 and released March 30, 特里卡普投资公司的创始合伙人是第一批新冠肺炎住院患者之一 The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Since then, 该医院已经治疗并释放了数百名感染COVID-19的患者，然后从这种可能致命的疾病中康复.

“bet8九州下载仍在努力弄清楚疾病的发展轨迹，”他说 Brian Garibaldi, M.D., a critical care physician specializing in pulmonary disease, and medical director of the hospital’s biocontainment unit. “这对他这个bet8九州下载来说压力很大，对bet8九州下载这个护理团队来说也很有压力.”

Eldin, who travels frequently for work, 结束了对亚洲和伦敦为期两周的访问，于3月8日飞回杜勒斯国际机场. During his travels, he took pains to sanitize his hands frequently, and even avoided food on the flight.

但三天后，他开始发烧，第二天，也就是3月12日，他的体温飙升至近103. 尽管他没有典型的COVID-19喉咙痛症状, cough or shortness of breath, Eldin was worried, especially when acetaminophen brought only limited relief.

3月16日，在约翰·霍普金斯初级保健医生的催促下 Hamid Rabb, M.D., Eldin went to The Johns Hopkins Hospital, 在注册帐篷登记，提供评估和护理，同时将有潜在传染性的患者与急诊室的其他患者隔离开来.

After about two hours, he was thinking about going home. But emergency doctor Kamna Balhara, M.D.在x光检查显示他的肺部有感染的迹象后，医生敦促他留下来做进一步的评估.

“I’m glad she convinced me to stay,” Eldin says. “如果我回到家，在接下来的几天里病情恶化, I probably would have needed intubation when I returned.”

埃尔丁被带到急诊科的一个受保护的房间，并进行了COVID-19测试, which came back positive. 他住进了约翰霍普金斯医院第一批被改造成负压呼吸隔离病房的病房之一，以防止污染的空气流出，从而对其他bet8九州下载和工作人员构成威胁.

Hospital policy prohibited visitors, 但埃尔丁说，他发现使用视频电话应用程序与家人保持联系很舒服, particularly sons Adam, 23, and Zach, 20. “They were quite worried about me,” he says.

The biocontainment measures, while necessary, create barriers for clinicians as well as patients, notes Garibaldi.

“bet8九州下载正在努力减少进入房间的人数，以及bet8九州下载在房间里呆的时间,” he says, 并补充说，个人防护装备会干扰听力和触觉, and makes smell impossible.

因为他戴着动力空气净化呼吸器(PAPR)时无法通过听诊器听到声音。, Garabaldi使用手持超声设备检查肺功能并评估其他器官的健康状况. In gratitude, 埃尔丁捐钱给医院购买更多的手持超声设备, Garibaldi says.

“我有一个很棒的医生团队，”埃尔丁说，其中包括加里波第和内科医生 Romsai Boonyasai, M.D., M.P.H.; Gigi Liu, M.D., M.Sc.; and Timothy Niessen, M.D., M.P.H.“我无法告诉你护理人员是多么的专业、友善和友好. 甚至连食物都很棒，一旦我弄清楚了如何浏览丰富的菜单.”

When acetaminophen failed to lower Eldin’s temperature, the team, who was closely monitoring him, tried hydroxychloroquine, an immunosuppressive drug for which the FDA recently issued medical use guidance. The drug is being used experimentally for COVID-19 treatment, 但仍在全国各地应对疫情的专家的科学调查中.

“I think it helped me because about 48 hours after I started it, my stubborn fever finally broke,” Eldin says. “But that’s when my breathing problems started.他接受了吸氧治疗，但几天后“情况变得非常严重，我不得不去了重症监护室，”他说.

在那里，他接受了高流量鼻插管治疗，幸运的是，他从不需要呼吸机. As his condition improved, 医生逐渐减少他的吸氧量，然后将他从重症监护室释放.

Eldin was discharged March 30, going home to the small farm he shares with his wife, sons and two Arabian horses.

新冠肺炎随访小组的医生和护士每周给埃尔丁打几次电话，检查他的病情进展. 他还每天使用约翰霍普金斯家庭护理小组提供的氧气机几个小时.

然而，他的氧含量仍然很低，导致他的心跳过快. 4月19日，他因心悸再次被送往约翰霍普金斯医院, 在非covid -19病房接受治疗，两天后再次出院.

Garibaldi说，因为这种疾病是新出现的，所以不知道Eldin的肺是否会完全愈合.

加里波第说:“萨米是我治疗的第一批COVID-19患者之一. “他是第一个慢慢恶化并转移到重症监护室的人, and then get better, which is something we see more of now. 他是bet8九州下载第一批使用高流量鼻插管治疗的bet8九州下载之一.”

“I remember him certainly for those reasons, but I also remember him because he’s a very thoughtful guy, very insightful,” says Garibaldi. “在这种环境下工作的一大挑战是确保bet8九州下载不会忽视bet8九州下载的故事. 萨米提醒bet8九州下载发展这些关系的重要性.”