Coronavirus: Skokie Patient Recounts 12-day Hospital Stay

SKOKIE, IL — Getting hit by a ton of bricks was how Skokie resident John Troy, 70, described his health the morning after he returned from a trip to New York City in early March. He was suffering from a 101.9 fever, body aches and trouble breathing for 10 days before going to the hospital and testing positive for coronavirus. The diagnosis required a 12-day hospital stay and a 3-day quarantine, which ended Tuesday.

"I never had a temperature but I was extremely dizzy, had significant headaches and to this day, I have no sense of taste or smell," Troy said. "I still have the dizziness and headaches but in the hospital, I also had a sore throat and coughing and a runny nose."

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Troy performs volunteer work across the country performing accreditation studies for nonprofits, government entities and other organizations. On March 7, he flew to New York City as part of this work and had lunch with his nephew and his nephew's fiance, who works as an emergency room nurse, the next day. He then worked alongside a team of eight workers for the next five days and saw over 100 people before returning home March 13.

The next morning, Troy said he started experiencing coronavirus-like symptoms but he never thought his symptoms were severe enough to require hospitalization.

"I had a good day then a bad day then a good day and it just started bouncing up and down," Troy said.

On March 23, Troy said he received a call from a colleague saying two of the eight people he worked with tested positive for coronavirus. He then emailed his sister and found out that his nephew and his nephew's fiance also tested positive. In response, Troy called the NorthShoreConnect hotline describing his symptoms and was advised to come to North Shore University Evanston Hospital immediately.

Before he received his positive test results, Troy said he was taken to the emergency room for approximately 7 hours to perform x-rays and blood work. Once the results came back, Troy said he was admitted and taken to an isolation room.

"I was there for 12 days and the only contact I had other than the phone was seeing two doctors and roughly six nurses working 12-hour shifts," Troy said.

The first few nights, Troy said he experienced heart problems and was put on a heart monitor during his entire stay. Although he was the only patient in his room, Troy said he could hear loud coughs through the walls.

"At no time did I think I was going to die but listening to others, I could tell they were in considerable pain," Troy said.

Troy said his blood pressure and temperature was taken at least three times a day and he was on oxygen at night. But on Friday, Troy said he was cleared to return home, which he did Saturday morning.

Once he returned home, Troy said he was under quarantine and had to be fever-free for three whole days. Throughout that time, he said he stayed in his house's guest room to avoid contact with his wife, an ovarian cancer survivor.

"We use separate bathrooms," Troy said. "If I need anything from the kitchen, my wife gets it and puts on a mask and gloves and brings it into the corner of the room by the door."

Through his ordeal, Troy offered praise to the doctors and nurses putting their health on the line to treat coronavirus patients.

"They were not only my caregivers but they were also my family extension," Troy said. "They were people I could talk to and find out what was going on in the outside world."

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