Guest writer

For want of a shot

Rally from H1N1 long, painful

“Getting better is easy. All it takes is all you’ve got.” What started as a motivational saying on his nephews’ football camp T-shirts now has a totally new and unforgettable meaning for my brother, Josh Jones, a 37-year-old Batesville native and survivor of the virulent 2013-14 flu. And for our family, the phrase has become an anthem.

Josh, who recently spent 60 days at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Medical Center intensive care unit in Little Rock, was not expected to survive complications from H1N1 swine flu and was the “sickest person in the state,” according to Dr. Howard Corwin, the medical center’s director of critical care.

Today, thanks to UAMS, his incredible doctors and nurses, and Josh’s sheer will and determination to live, he is rehabilitating at Baptist Extended Care Hospital and is expected to make a full recovery. (Minus his toes-we can do without the toes, but Josh isn’t that happy about it. He loves his flip-flops.)

Josh, otherwise young and healthy, got sick on Christmas morning. Little did we know how sick he was. His symptoms: high fever, cough, aches and pains. Yet like many flu cases this season, his nose swabs kept coming back negative. He made two trips to a clinic in Pocahontas, the small northeast Arkansas town where our parents now live, and was sent home with codeine cough syrup and a prescription for a Z-Pak. Still no diagnosis. By Dec. 30, Josh was weak and panting, and back to the doctor he went.

Sadly, Josh had not gotten the flu shot.

This time, he was immediately sent to the Pocahontas emergency room where doctors intubated him, started oxygen, and worked to find a hospital to take him. Just about every bed in the northeastern part of the state was full. Jonesboro, Paragould, Walnut Ridge-no beds. Batesville’s pulmonary specialist was on vacation. The flu epidemic was swallowing Arkansas whole.

UAMS was called and the nurse in charge of transfers, Jeanne Ford, said, “this boy is bad … he is young … let’s get him here.” A little before midnight on Dec. 30, Josh, on a ventilator fighting for his life, was flown to UAMS. That was when Josh’s H1N1 journey from hell began (even though it was Jan. 5 before H1N1 flu would be diagnosed).

Flu led to double pneumonia, adult respiratory distress syndrome, multiple organ failure, emergency surgery for a collapsed lung, four chest tubes, loss of all 10 toes due to bad circulation caused by multiple blood pressure medicines, development of a potentially deadly mold, and more. It is still unknown when Josh’s kidney function will return and if his lungs will fully heal. Given what he has already overcome, we are very optimistic.

“If you don’t believe in miracles, you need to meet Josh,” said my dad Mike, a construction superintendent for GAG Builders of Cabot. “Many of the doctors and nurses can’t believe he is alive, much less making such good progress. One doctor gave him a 10 percent chance. Josh refused to accept those odds. And boy, are we glad he’s such a fighter.”

With more than 16,000 visits to his Caring Bridge website that updates family and friends on a patient’s progress during a critical illness, Josh received an outpouring of support. Our mom, Carol, now reads these messages of encouragement to “Big Red,” as he is lovingly called, to keep him in the fighting spirit. A huge sports fan, my brother Craig suggested Dad read Josh the sports page. That, along with Mike & Mike and SportsCenter on ESPN, is a regular part of Josh’s day.

One of Josh’s first questions when he started to wake up was about the Florida State versus Auburn BCS national championship game. Little did he know he’d been “asleep” for seven weeks and missed the game. I can’t wait for him to watch the replay-he won’t believe it!

It is expected to take a year or more of therapy for Josh to get back to the daily activities we all take for granted-like taking a flight of stairs or returning to his sales job at the Democrat-Gazette in Northwest Arkansas. But that’s OK. He is still with us; we are so blessed.

It is important to note that had Josh gotten a flu shot, his symptoms would have been much less severe. Flu, like many preventable diseases, carries a huge cost and emotional drain to patients and their families.

A recent study estimated that in the United States, annual influenza epidemics result in 600,000 life-years lost, 3 million hospitalized days, and 30 million outpatient visits, resulting in medical costs of $10 billion. Lost earnings due to illness and loss of life amounted to over $15 billion annually and the total economic burden of annual influenza epidemics amounts to over $80 billion.

So that fewer people end up in our shoes, we are committed as a family to raising awareness about how critical it is to get the flu shot. Our hope is that Josh’s story motivates you to take this simple step to wellness.

Josh, you are an inspiration to us all. We love you so much. And thank you for giving this disease “all you’ve got!”

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Josh’s sister Jennifer Jones “JJ” Davis is executive director of communications for Dell Inc.

Editorial, Pages 19 on 04/19/2014

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