Douglas Moore – Buchanan, MI
Died: January 16th, 2021
Beacon Memorial Hospital – South Bend, IN
Douglas’s story is being told by his beloved wife, Kelly. Doug was a 1977 graduate of Buchanan High School and went on to work for FedEx as a truck driver for 20 years. He was a wonderful husband, father, grandfather, uncle and, most of all, friend. Doug enjoyed fishing, camping, and spending time in his barn. The loss of this man will not only be felt by his family but by the entire community. He will be fondly remembered for his love of Jif peanut butter, and he will forever be the peanut butter to Kelly’s jelly.
My trauma started on Dec 21, 2020. My Beautiful husband, Douglas Moore, said he had a backache. It was a Sunday close to Christmas, so I said take tomorrow off work. He did and his HR called to say he had to take a Covid test to return to work, he was livid. I called our Dr. and he had the test. On Friday 18th our Dr. called to say he was positive. He told me to quarantine and wear a mask, which I didn’t wear. I asked him to call in Hydroxychloroquine, he said No it doesn’t work. He said Doug’s healthy just let it run its course.
Doug still was feeling bad. By Saturday he had a bit of nausea and said it was like the flu. Sunday he was running 102 fever and was weak. Monday the 21st he was so weak and still running a fever, so I called our Dr. at 8:00 left a message. By 10:00 Doug was turning grey and I freaked and called an ambulance. As soon as they put him on oxygen he was talking and waving to us from the ambulance. We followed him to the hospital, and I was so happy to see him feeling better but wasn’t allowed to go in.
They called and said it was Covid pneumonia. They said he should be home in a few days. That never happened. He could still talk to me the first week. That’s when the Remdesivir started. They were so proud to tell me in every phone call he was getting Remdesivir. We never were apart from each other, and he was getting so depressed. I begged his Dr. to let me see him. She called me and asked if I could get him to lay on his belly. He was so pissed and said you tell her to unhook the IVs and he would.
The first week he called me and said he was getting two shots in his belly. I said no, it’s one for blood clots. He said call the Dr. I’m getting insulin. Doug drove a truck for Fed Ex Freight and with a CDL insulin is a no-no. When I called his Dr., she said yes, it’s the massive amounts of steroids. She said Doug had already thrown a fit, but they were trying to get rid of the bacteria in his lungs. Every day they told me he had another bacteria.
By the second week, he wasn’t even strong enough to talk on the phone. He was on so much oxygen and a b pap. He sent me pictures; it was awful to see him all alone struggling. One day I got a text that he told the Dr.’s off and they knew where he was coming from. I called his Dr. and she said we had to put him on anxiety meds because he’s freaking out. Well, I said hell yay he is. He was scared to death. On Dec 30th his Dr. called to say they had the bacteria under control. We were celebrating. By midnight on 30th, they called me to say he had to be vented. They said talk to your husband.
Doug said I love you, I love you, I love you and that was the last time I heard his voice. 45 minutes later the Dr. called and said he was vented but didn’t think he’d make it. By then my husband’s best friend was with me. He talked to the Dr. and told them, wait a minute this morning he was better. The Dr.’s response was it’s Covid. The next morning Dec 31, I got a call from a Dr. saying your husband’s a candidate for the ECMO machine. He said Doug’s organs are healthy, but we have to move him to a hospital three hours away. I said we’ll you won’t let me be with him now you better save his life.
He arrived and his new Dr.’s updated me on ECMO. I had no clue I just begged them to save him. I got a call from his new Dr. telling me he has blood in his urine and asked if he had any prostate problems before. Umm, No. Remember Doug was healthy. Then a few days later his kidneys were shutting down. They blamed the high doses of Lasix. They were going to slow it down. Then his heart started to fail. They were going to up the Lasix again and I asked about his kidneys, and they said we’ll worry about them later.
We face-timed Doug every day even though they kept him sedated. It was torture every day and I made sure they knew it. If I heard, we have to follow CDC guidelines one more time I was going to scream. On Jan 13th his Dr. called and said we need a family meeting, and I could bring one person. My brother and I went and they told me he wasn’t going to make it and they had to shock Doug’s heart that morning. He said you need to make the decision to take him off life support if you want to be with him. I said can I have a couple of days. The Dr said we can’t guarantee we can save him the next time, so you need to decide soon.
They let us go see Doug and I could hardly bear it. A one-inch tube coming out of his neck with his blood circulating. What have they done to my strong healthy husband? We had a somber three-hour ride home. I talked to our kid’s and we decided I couldn’t let Doug die alone. On January 16, 2021, at 2:10 he took his last breath. A part of me died that day. We were each other’s content for 27 yrs. He was my hero a. It’s been a year and I can’t get past what they did to Doug. This hospital Covid protocol has to stop. Thank you for letting me tell Doug’s story.