WRAL Fayetteville journalist Gilbert Baez, vaccinated in early January, tested positive for COVID-19. He has been hospitalized for pneumonia caused by the virus at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center.
mm Mhm. So whenever I do a live facebook, I always tell you, I have a good story. UH huh. But I don’t want to be the story, but the story is. Mhm mr. You know when you arrive uh Mhm Covid 19 disappears, disappeared from the people of the planet and wonder, wonderful girl. Well. Mhm, I’ve been trying to make this facebook happy for the last two days and eh, I haven’t had the strength to let myself see how the bed is. I’m not trying to tell you to do anything, I just wanted to thank all my friends and family for their support. Mm He’ll tell you I’m done here mm and I wanted to do it. Yes, before I have a new cough spell, let me start by saying that I am a valuable medical center for the whim that came Thursday night and I plan to come to the hospital. Mhm completely vaccinated by the way. I’m in an isolated mhm. Covid arrived here at the hospital. Everyone on this floor has oxygen. Very well afterwards, I am the only one who had shots. I am the only one without oxygen or a fan. But my conditions, yes, fluctuate. So yes, here is a summary of how I got here. I had planned an I was on vacation and this was planning a big 66th birthday party at a Raleigh club. The covid numbers began to rise. The owner of the club and I thought it was not a good idea. We canceled it and everyone agreed it was the best thing to do. My wife and I love that we had 10 friends in the house; the stipulation had to be vaccinated to be able to come from my birthday celebration, which was Sunday. UH huh. Uh, eh, August 15th. Only 16. Mm. UH huh. He’s having a good time. Everyone looked good. UH huh. I went down on Wednesday, this is the golf game that trained me a bit. I thought the golfers were a little cold to be outside. My wife was our home in the UK. I called to check it out and she told me she wasn’t feeling so well and that I wasn’t feeling well. We both decided to try Covid. We both came back positive. five out of ten people who are positive in the home. Everyone had the vaccine. Mhm. The delta variant doesn’t care. We took every precaution. The Varian delta doesn’t care. Mm Now, the good news is that my wife and the other four were able to recover at home and are doing well. Well. Um, unfortunately, it didn’t go so well for me and the Tylenol didn’t drop the temperature by 100 and two degrees as long as it was still like now, I’m fine. This is what happened at home. I could sit and watch movies and well, we watched a lot of movies. Um, but when I got up wasn’t it okay? Come? Everyone is here. Yes, I am talking to people. Very well, okay. Arose? He fell, I had a cough spell. Well. No, I’m fine right now. Thanks. UH huh. The nurses and everyone here are excellent. I just had a cough spell and so I have the monitor. Mhm. My breathing went down in the 80s. So when that happens, they knock on the door and make sure I’m okay. And the Master level is still in the 90s. Uh, eh, but I’ll tell you why I have this battle now with oxygen. Thus, 4 to five have recovered at home. Uh, I decided on Thursday that I had to come to Tylenol Hospital and make music on the Gatorade Pass of the house. Any medicine to combat what was happening to me mm And they took me. I hadn’t eaten in three days. I lost £ 14, £ 15. I just wasn’t hungry. Meanwhile, my wife Doris had been making bacon for days, cooking, stirring and still not smelling, I could smell it, but I did need it, so when she did I told her it smelled good, but we needed it. Mhm. So it’s recovered and I needed more care and the staff here at Cape Fear welcomed me and I remember I walked into the emergency room and everyone who just stopped and looked, saw the patients going up and down the ICU lobby. all the people who are here fighting for their lives. UH huh. He welcomed me and gave me antibiotics, gave me medicine for the feeling of nausea. And that started to work. I start to tremble a little. Mhm mm. So after doing so, it was as if he was almost immediately hungry. Mhm. Those of you, you know, I’ve been vegan and vegetarian, Presbyterian Baptist, I’ve been through everything and eaten everything they put on the plate. It made me hungry again and that’s a good sign. They’ve had me on TV and diabetics. Mm numbers, sugar numbers have been able to um give insulin to control this. And a lot of that is some of the medications they give me that make my blood sugar levels go up. So I have underlined the condition of 66. Mhm. Thank God I had to make shots to keep fighting at the level I am fighting now compared to my colleagues. UH huh. These walls are thin and we hear each other yelling at my coffin. But I didn’t know him. They don’t allow me to walk up and down the hallways. I exercise here in the walking room and you did that here in the hospital. Here you see one of these things, they mutually help me build my lungs and you say that’s the key to getting home by blowing up this thing. Um, I comply. I’m being a good patient and uh trying to thank all the health workers who go through this door for what they do for me and for everyone at this hospital. and a nurse told me she was about thirty years old. And I asked if we had lost people on this floor. We have people on loan. And he says the saddest thing there is is that there are people his age and we cried together about it to see the young people going through this right now. Mm, then, the party brought me here. House party. Personal party at home. 10 people No 300 in the club, 10 people in the house all vaccinated. 5- 10 I got it. four of the five recovered and I am struggling. Mhm. So because of my conditions, in addition to steroids, they don’t give me your desert here. And so I had the first dose that last night. And so the battle began. And after I went through mine, I had the worst style of cough and respiratory problems I have experienced since I was in the hospital. In other words, medicine works. It’s getting the flame and fighting the virus in my lungs is where it is. I was diagnosed with bacterial pneumonia. By no means would Tylenol take care of that at home. So I guess what I want you to know is that don’t hesitate, do your best to be safe. But there is a medical study, though if you invade yourself, seek medical help before it gets bad and your lungs turn to glass. Um, I was lucky enough to go get vaccinated and come in, and Hadad was in my favor when I got here, and that was good. So the battle has started as five doses of remdesivir one a day. But if I get better, they can stop it and they can send me home and I can keep fighting at home. Which is what I hope for. Mhm. They have fed me well. I’m not too particular about food. I’m a ranger eating cameras, rations so those in your old nose know what that is. I didn’t celebrate the food needed to get the energy and they couldn’t. And I was part of my hand. Yes, I get sicker. So I’m supporting my gray beard. My wife likes it. You won’t see it on TV. Mhm. And uh, let me say this about wrl, the management staff really cares about their employees. I am not the only one. There are others and the station chooses to take care of its people. I don’t have to worry about my pay, my bills, and my stuff. I’ve worked for a first class company that puts people first and eh, that’s what you need. When do you go through something like that? Yes. My job is the voice of the voices. I’m supposed to tell this story for you to you. And I did. I have tried to do so with dignity with everyone I have spoken to and interviewed. And, again, I started by saying I’m not telling you anything. I just want you to know my story of how I ended up here. And Covid doesn’t care who you are, who you work for, what your job is. I talked to a nurse and asked her if she wanted me to put on the mask. She said no need. I had Covid, I already said he did it when he told me in November and he gave me my medications and we talked about it. I said, well, explain what your experience was like and it took two months for me to recover from November. There was no remdesivir and so I was very impressed with the fact. And here’s a nurse who had Covid recovering and coming back here in a room with a man with Covid trying to help me get better. Yes. Yes. Mhm. Yes. Mhm. Yes. Yes. That’s all. That is what these people are. Yes. Don’t forget it. This is what these people are. Yes. Yes. Well. That is what these people are. Yes. Commission. Yes. Well. Risk their lives for us. Yes, every day. I thank each of them as they enter. Maybe a dish to eat. Be able to grab a needle stick and there are definitely all the needles in your head. Mhm Don’t forget who these people are. God bless you all. Mhm mm hmm. So no. UH huh. If you don’t really make it madam when we don’t show up on TV, because you just think we’re doing something else, so you haven’t caught it. UH huh. And I’ll be a little happy, but I have it in my corner. Okay, if you think it’s appropriate, I’ll be back. I’m sure I’ve been a good servant and I hope I can get back on TV. But I wanted to, I can’t figure out why I’m not there? I am in good hands and my family and friends have been in contact with me or not with people here at the hospital. Cape Fear Valley Medical Center is doing an exceptional job taking care of me. UH huh. We will listen to the cost. Uh, eh, through the doors and my neighbor and I guess last night we tried to help ourselves cough. It got so bad that he decided to turn on the TV for me. Mhm And the black man out. UH huh. And I was watching Shawshank Redemption, which is my favorite movie. So I cough a little louder so I can hear it. No, no. Yes, I did. Mhm. UH huh. Yes. This is a weird way to make friends. I hope you don’t have to do that. I thank everyone who listened to me. And that’s the only thing I’ll do next time you look good on me. BMW. RF boarding and thank you. I love you all.