Eric McAllister Updates

 I'm sorry it's been so long since I last updated this.  Since last time, we have packed up our home in Philly and have been on the road.  We left on an 11 day cross-country move in two cars.  Eric drives his Jeep and Emily and I are in the GMC. I am writing this from our hotel room in Chillicothe, Missouri. Eric has improved so much!  He is not back to normal yet, but his swelling has completely gone away.  His voice is back to normal.  He is still thin, but is eating and trying to gain some back.  He walks as much as he can.  He is doing a lot of sitting as we drive, but we get out and walk around the sites along the way.   His lungs and sinus's had the most damage and have not fully healed.  He continues to work on strengthening them through breathing exercises.  And he continues his work on walking faster and longer each time, though this road trip limits that. His legs are getting stronger. Before we moved, he was wal...

 Eric has been working hard to get back to his 'normal.' Last week I made a video of him walking on the treadmill at 1.2 mph in his slippers, but I couldn't upload it for some reason.  Tech!  Since then, he has increased the speed on the treadmill and the time he spends on it.  They are small steps in the right direction.  Previous to Covid, he would spend a couple of hours a day at Valley Forge hiking in the morning and walking in the afternoon.  He spent two days a week on the Peloton and lifting weights.  He was in really good shape and we believe that because of that, he was able to heal as well as he has.  He no longer needs any oxygen-assist.  The lingering symptoms are: swollen neck, weakened lung capacity and sinus inflamation.  These affect his speech.  He sounds like he has a cold and has to breathe frequently after three to four words. He is not complaining about it, but I know it bothers him.  We continue to be grat...

Per Eric's last blog post, he has continued to work on breathing while walking. Here's a video of him working on it.

Suzanne sent me the blog she posted last night. It was the first blog I had been able to read so far, and I can't express how appreciative I was of her blog. But, so much moreso, I need to express to everyone my deep appreciation to my dear wife these past few weeks - for her constant, unwavering love and support, her tireless efforts to keep me and everyone else updated on this covid/pneumonia ordeal, to keep home and family matters current, and to manage 101 other issues that need to be addressed - all without complaint or any sign of distress. I want you all to know deeply I love and appreciate my dear wife, Suzanne. I also want to reconfirm again my deep appreciation to all of you for your love, prayers, faith, and thoughts. There has not been many times the past few weeks when my mobile wasn't receiving some kind of message from one of you - encouraging, coaching, pushing, praying, loving, and most of all believing that I could turn the corner and make it home. I hav...

Eric came home one week ago today. He brought with him, three oxygen tanks that technically would help him for several hours. That evening, an oxygen service brought a unit that is powered by electricity with 50 foot tubing that connectsd with his cannula. He can reach the kitchen, family room, office, bedroom and bathroom upstairs. For the past week, Eric has been proactively decreasing his oxygen intake and working on walking slowly around the house. He needs to rest often, but also can't stand to sit for such long periods. Some of the unpleasant side effects he is experiencing are swelling in his neck, blood clots in his nose which clog and then are expelled in a continuous cycle, his digestive system is struggling to normalize and weight loss. Today after looking at his ribs through his skin I brought in the scale and asked him to step on it. He has lost over 40 lbs! His legs look skinnier than mine, that's not ok! Despite the setbacks, he is progressing in the r...

From Eric: "Well, today was another day of blessings and some wonderful nmiracles. Last night was a tough night because I strained one of my lung muscles coughing earlier in the day; so every breath of sleep was pretty painful. I woke up with my oxygen intake level at 8 liters, which was far too high for me to wish to be released home. I knew the intake level needed to get to at least 4 liters for them to even consider letting me get ready to go home. But I desperately wanted to try to go home today, because I knew that my body was atrophying too quickly after more than three weeks of Covid and Pneumonia. And I needed to get back home with my family. So I started my morning with some fervent prayers, recalling the faith and fasting of so many of my family, friends and loved ones on my behalf I also started working on my breathing and keeping my blood oxygen level at least 90%. Finally around 11 am, two of the doctors came in to review my vitals and my current condition. M...

Yesterday was another good day. In some respects, it was tough, but overall a good day. Eric started the day at requiring 14% intake. By mid-day, it was lowered down to 8%. Good news is that he woke up, still with 8% intake and maintaining above 90%. Today his goal is to reduce the intake to 4%. He's learning how to relax his breaths and breathe slowly. The nurse had to rebuild a new IV port on his arm and it took her about five tries to finally get a good vein with her needle. He felt bad for her, but all good in the end. Ultimately he continues to be amazed at the love and literal support of our Heavnely Father and Savior throughout this experience. They have been carrying him through some tough times where he has been ready to just give up and say "I can't go on and breathe another breath or keep holding onto hope." He continues to be so grateful (and so do I) for the many prayers, thoughts, and well-wishes from so many. (We have family and friends from...