Quoted from WonderMellon:

I am currently on day 6 in the hospital. Here is how my version went down.
March 9-12 I was in a hotel about 100 miles from home for a long work meeting. On Saturday afternoon, March 14, I started with a low grade fever. When I woke up on the 15th my fever was 102, so I went to the local urgent care. They were not equipped to test, but the criteria was that I had to have contact with a known infected person AND have symptoms myself. They tested me for flu, which came back negative. The diagnosis was “a flu like virus” and I was to rest and take Tylenol.
I continued to get worse and my fever was frequently spiking to 103. On March 19 I woke up with a cough anytime I took a deep breath. Back to urgent care I went. This time they found pneumonia in the top lobe of my left lung. I was given antibiotics and told to go home. During both visits, I was told I was not Covid positive because I was not short of breath. On March 21, I called the after hours number for my GP and have them my story. By now I was coughing fairly continuously. They also told me it was not Covid and gave me a prescription for an inhaler.
March 23 I am still no better. Fever is in the high 101’s with Tylenol and 103 as soon as the Tylenol wears off. Before I go to bed, I get in the shower to see if breathing steam can help loosen my chest. Within 5 min I a coughing so hard I can barely stand up. I ask my wife to take me to the emergency room. When we get there, there is a table set up inside the entrance. They take my information, and tell my wife she is not allowed any further; so she has to go home.
I get to the waiting room at 10:30pm. They take me back around 2am. The doctor takes an X-ray of my chest and a Cat scan. They come back showing the top lobe of my left lung completely consumed with pneumonia. I am not presenting with the typical signs of Covid, but they take a swab anyway. I am then admitted and I get into a room about 8am.
I am given IV fluids and they put me on a different pill antibiotic. My fever is still spiking, even with Tylenol. I get a call from the doctor that evening and he tells me my Covid test came back positive.
I start to lose track of time from here
My blood oxygen level starts dropping over time. When I hit 5 liters of oxygen to maintain a low blood oxygen level of 91, they make the call to transfer me to Johns Hopkins ICU. It was a very surreal ambulance ride.
When I get to Johns Hopkins they hand me off to a team of people. There are at least 2 people whose job it is to make sure anyone is out of the hallway. There are 2 people working the gurney and another who is watching me. It takes about 10 minutes to get to the ICU from the ambulance. Once there I am pretty much assaulted. They remove my gown, take off my socks and underwear, someone sticks something up my ass for about a minute (I am not even joking... it hurt) and then they wipe me down with antibacterial wipes. Once done with that they put a diaper on me and give me a gown. Up to this point, I just think I am sick. Now the doctor sets in some reality:
Who do you want to make decisions for you if you can’t do so for yourself?
If you are unable to breath do you consent to the use of a breathing tube?
If needed, do you consent to being on a ventilator?
If your heart should stop beating, do you want the team to attempt to restart it?
Do you have a living will or directive?
Would you like to see a Chaplin or other religious figure?
I spend the next few days in ICU. They give me several types of IV antibiotics and start me on Plaquanyl. It is a malaria drug that someone seems to think can help Covid. I can’t really talk. Even stringing 2 words together will induce coughing and plummet my oxygen level. I reach the maximum oxygen that can be administered via a nose tube, but luckily I never go over.
After a day or 2, I start to improve. I can string a few words together without almost dying and my oxygen levels improve. They are able to turn the flow down to 4 liters and I can maintain 94% saturation. I feel so lucky not to have needed the breathing tube.
The constant IV drips continue, but they start talking about downgrading me to a regular floor. When that finally happens they wheel me out of ICU. I pass bed after bed of unconscious people with breathing tubes up their nose. It is a grim sight.
I have just spend my second night on the regular floor. The antibiotics and Plaquanyl are done. My fever is gone, and I am down to 1 or 2 liters of oxygen. I just can’t seem to wean off. When they turn off the flow, I drop below 90% in about 3 or 4 minutes. I am out of the woods, but it still isn’t over for me.
My case seems different from what I read about other people. Most accounts talk about the feeling of tremendous pressure on your chest so you can’t breath. For me, it has been the coughing that takes my breath away. I am really hoping I can break this last little bit. I am dying to take a shower and do anything but lie in bed with all these wires hooked up to me.
This can happen to anyone. They talk about 80% of people have no symptoms and some people being in a high risk category. I am middle age, but I walk 2-5 miles a day for exercise. I have never smoked and my immune system usually is top notch. I urge everyone to take this seriously. People worry that their parents or grand parents may come down with it. Don’t ever be too sure that it won’t be you getting wheeled into ICU because your lungs are no longer absorbing oxygen.