‘They are not alone.’ Centre County couple starts support group for COVID survivors, caretakers

On Dec. 6, 2021, Michelle Edwards drove her husband Ted to Mount Nittany Medical Center. Two weeks earlier, he’d tested positive for the coronavirus with little concern, but started to experience pain in his stomach and difficulty breathing.

It will be a short stay, Michelle thought. Ted was 58, strong and lean from his work as a maintenance man and his hobby of rebuilding the 1960s camper in their garage. Just two weeks before, he replaced the transmission on their old Ford Explorer.

When Ted was admitted to the COVID ward, he couldn’t stop coughing.

Still, he’ll be getting out soon, Michelle thought.

After 85 days — 42 of which Ted spent on a ventilator — he was finally released, but COVID’s effect on his body and family have been long lasting. During his hospital stay, Michelle’s 74-year-old father died from the coronavirus, and almost three years after the start of the pandemic, the Edwards family is one of countless families still reeling and grieving.

Now, Ted and Michelle Edwards are looking for others who’ve had similar COVID experiences, creating a local support group for COVID survivors and those who care for them.

“I thought, you know, if I could start a support group, that would be just a tiny way that I could give back,” Michelle Edwards said.

The Boalsburg couple created a website for the Centre Support Group and they plan to meet the second and fourth Thursday of each month through Zoom. Community members can message the pair through the website to be sent a link to the next support group meeting.

Dr. Muqueet Kadri, a pulmonologist at Mount Nittany Health, said although there is a support group for medical professionals, there is no local support network for patients.

“Making recovering patients realize that they are not alone and that there is light at the end of the tunnel makes the difference for such patients as well as families who take care of them,” Kadri said.

The goal of the group is to allow community members to share their feelings and experiences surrounding COVID. Michelle was given the idea to run her own support group by Mount Nittany staff, who often calmed her nerves during Ted’s hospitalization.

Ted’s monthslong hospitalization left Michelle to balance her two children, funeral arrangements for her father, her mother’s hospitalization from shock, and her husband’s declining health all at once. Under sedation and hooked up to the ventilator, Ted spent the weeks sleeping, trapped in hyper-realistic dreams and suffering from ICU delirium.

Meanwhile, Michelle said she was living a nightmare.

“We were never sure what was going to happen and you were you weren’t really with us,” Michelle told Ted recently in the living room of their Boalsburg home. “You were kind of out of it. You didn’t know what was happening at the time. So it was very traumatic for us.”

Kadri recalled the early days of Ted’s COVID-19 hospitalization and the touch-and-go progress of his health.

“There were times when he was improving, and there were times when it was unknown whether he would make it through the day,” Kadri said. “The patience and strength which Michelle showed during this time were commendable. I cannot imagine putting myself in her shoes during that time period.”

Although Ted was removed from the ventilators on Jan. 28, the treatment took a severe toll on his body. He lost 55 pounds, had to regain muscle use and go through intensive inpatient therapy in Harrisburg followed by inpatient care at home.

Ten months after his initial hospitalization, Ted only has 80% of his lung capacity, which Kardi said is still a remarkable recovery. But not being able to return to work and some normal daily activities still takes a toll.

“It works on you mentally, you know, because I’m an active person so I want to get back to work but I have to be cautious about what I decide to do here in the future,” Ted said.

Michelle said she understands the fatigue around constant news about COVID, but for them and many others the impact of the disease is inescapable, not something they can ignore or forget.

“I know there’s got to be many other people just like us that are struggling and want to vent about it but at the same time, it’s not something that we want to think about every single day,” Michelle said. “It’s draining, I think it gets exhausting.”

Centre Support Group will provide a structured way for community members to talk about COVID with those who understand their situation. For more information and to join the group, visit the Centre Support Group website at www.centresupportgroup.org.