‘Father Was On Ventilator For Half An Hour Before Death’

A resident of Homel had been treating an oncological disease, and got infected with COVID-19.

Homel resident Yauhen Yakavenka was undergoing planned treatment of an oncological disease, and became infected with COVID-19 in the hospital, Radio Svaboda reports. He was transferred from hospital to hospital, he was in intensive care, said the son of the deceased Yauhen Yakavenka (junior). “Dad only spent half an hour on the ventilator - and he was gone. If it had not been for the coronavirus, he would have lived.”

Yauhen Yakavenka (senior) was 68 years old. He died on May 23. The funeral was held on May 26.

Cancer was found 15 years ago

“That lung tumor was removed, and he lived peacefully during these years. In February of this year, the tumor returned to the second lung, the doctors advised him to undergo chemotherapy. On April 14, he was put into an oncology department. There he managed to go through half of the prescribed radiation and two chemo sessions.

After the second chemo, literally on the same day - May 7, a patient with coronavirus was found in the ward where my father was held. All six patients from that ward were tested. Everyone was positive. They were urgently taken to various hospitals. ”

He changed three hospitals, six departments

“My dad was taken to the First City Hospital. At first he was in rheumatology - this department was converted to receive patients with COVID-19. When dad got worse, they transferred him to therapy, then to the intensive care unit. A few days later he was transferred to the emergency hospital, again in therapy, claiming that he was “the easiest patient among all in the intensive care.” We were even a little relieved that everything was not that bad.

The transfer from hospital #1 to the emergency hospital was explained to us by the fact that places were vacated either for more severe patients, or because hospital #1 was being equipped to accept new patients ... In the emergency hospital, he almost immediately became worse, and he was transferred to the intensive care. He died a few days later. He spent half an hour on the ventilator.”

They strongly suggested not to do an autopsy

“The Chief of Medicine strongly suggested not doing an autopsy. He said that “in his case, this is not necessary.” Apparently, it is obvious to everyone - a person died of an oncological disease. But he would live with this disease for years, maybe months, but not three weeks! The coronavirus killed him. In the certificate, they wrote the cause of death - a neoplasm in the lungs. On the second page of the certificate, among other circumstances of death not related to the cause of death, COVID-19 is indicated. A special box is ticked. Other boxes stated things like “alcohol intoxication”. That is, these are accompanying circumstances that are not included in the cause of death. I was outraged.

Doctors explained to me: to say for sure that the lungs were damaged by the coronavirus, additional tests needed to be done, some of them are carried out in Minsk, it takes 2-3 weeks. That is, I will find out the real cause of death only after some time. The only thing I managed to “knock out” was that the certificate is “preliminary” and not “final”: I had to pick it up in order to bury my father.

How to get information about the condition of loved ones

“With questions about the condition of their loved ones, people are forced to turn to the head doctor. Doctors answer questions about their state of health very reluctantly, without details, only “he is better”, or “he is worse”. In fact, it turns out that you need to go to an appointment with one of the key doctors. After all, getting to the doctor is unrealistic. They are busy, and on quarantine - nobody is allowed there. They could not give detailed information by phone, the doctors explained.

I went straight to the head doctor. Some of the doctors, especially at the beginning, explained something else. There were even detailed conversations when they called specifically after I made a fuss. But in this situation, information is needed every day. At the weekend, getting an appointment is unrealistic. At the weekend, there become very few doctors for some reason, only “attendants” remain.

I went to the head doctor, among other things, in order to get adequate comments on the person after the chemo, because initially they told me that they would treat the coronavirus first, and they seemed to be not interested in other diseases. I do not want to delve into the abyss of this mess and the rubbish we encountered.

Only one priest agreed to bury the deceased

“Not all churches agreed to bury the deceased with the coronavirus. The funeral agency attended to the organization of the funeral, they called the church, but no one was willing to conduct the funeral service for the deceased with the coronavirus. They found only one priest - he agreed. The coffin was closed. They buried father very quickly. Just because they have a lot of work. There were no restrictions on the number of people at the funeral, but we did not invite many people.

I understand that the dead from COVID-19 are opened in groups so as not to disinfect the premises several times a day. In the case of my father, there were two “such” dead. We waited some time to combine them.”

Yauhen advises the relatives of those who got infected with COVID-19

Nobody needs you except your loved ones. When troubles come to your house - do not let the doctors sleep, do not pity them, this is their job, we trust them with our lives.

On weekends, special vigilance is required - the number of doctors is reduced by several times, and there can be 1-2 doctors on duty, and 20 nurses attending to 600 beds.

Ask about saturation, temperature, white blood cells, blood pressure. These numbers will help you monitor what is happening.

Health information is difficult to obtain by telephone. Doctors claim that they can not report details to a person whom they do not see. It is not possible to come and talk in person due to quarantine. Make an appointment with the head doctor - only then they will tell you something.

At the resuscitation stage, you may lose contact with the patient - the phone may be taken away. Be prepared for the fact that conversations with doctors can be reduced to a minute, because they will probably talk “in spacesuits”.

The more severe the condition of a person, the less information you will receive and the less they will talk with you. “They have a lot of patients - they need to work.”

In serious condition, a person can barely speak, but can pick up the phone. Call them, just to talk about their condition, support. Warn - let them just listen.

It may happen that during one of the calls to the hospital they will tell you: “They will call you back now,” and then you will find out that your person is no longer there. That is, “they have a lot of work,” and they may “have no time” to report death.

In case of death, a Chief of Medicine will offer to sign a refusal to do an autopsy - do not agree if you want to find out the truth. The queue to the Chief of Medicine can consist of people like you - if you came to be persuaded to refuse an autopsy. We were not alone. There were people before us. With the same, I am sure, story. That is, that day there were at least two deaths in one hospital.

Wear masks, keep distance, and take care of your loved ones.