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This is the update from earlier, today. I’m trying to call again tonight, but no answer, so far. I can’t sleep until I hear how he is doing at night. I’m a lit...tle tired, so this is short, but to the point: Ventilator oxygen setting down to 65% which is good. He said he would try to bring it down to 60%. Weaning slowly off oxygen. No dialysis in the last 2 days. Yay! The doctor says Joe is still critical, but he is seeing improvements. Sounded optimistic Please continue your prayers!

Special Edition Update 04/28/20: I’ve been waiting to update, with hopes of being able to tell you guys I was able to FaceTime with Joe tonight for our annivers...ary. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out with the nurse who was trying to help make it happen. I was, however, able to make a video message and send it her. She will take it to his unit and play it for him as soon as she gets a chance during her shift tonight. It was sweet of her to try, but I understand how busy nurses can get in the hospital, and she said they are slammed tonight. It’s ok. I’ll get to see him soon enough. So, they titrated his paralytics and sedation down today to pull him out of the coma. Well, in true Joe style, he woke up grumpy, and he was fighting them. He ended up misplacing the tube. They had to paralyze, sedate, and intubate with a brand new tube. Before all of this, the oxygen setting on the vent was down to 50%. He was definitely making some improvement. This is just a minor setback. By the time the doctor called me in the afternoon, they’d adjusted the setting from 100% to 70% and he said by the end of the day, he felt strongly they would be able to decrease it to 60%. The doctor said he was going to be moving slowly with his treatment, due to the unpredictable nature of the virus. Joe’s body is regulating his blood pressure without medication, today. His potassium is at a normal level, so no dialysis today. He has a feeding tube, and is receiving calories. As always, please continue your prayers!

Update 04/28/20 1am I know Joe isn't able to read this, but, for when he is able: Happy 25th Anniversary, my love! It's been a bit crazy lately, and we aren't a...ble to be together for our special day, but just know that you are right here in my heart, and as soon as you are recovered, we will celebrate one more year of sharing our love and lives together. I believe with everything inside of me that you are going to pull through, beat this virus, and come home to your family, who loves and misses you so much! On to Joe's condition...As posted on Sunday, he was placed in a medically induced coma Saturday. No change, just yet, but they are working on waking him soon. On Sunday, I received a call that they needed to place an arterial line, in order to better measure his blood pressure. Not long after that call, the phone rang again, and this time I was notified that his potassium level was double the normal value. Not good news. I had to consent for them to place a line in his jugular vein in order for him to receive dialysis to help clear some of the potassium. The doctor said they likely would only have to do the dialysis once. His levels did decrease slightly, but not enough. So he received dialysis again on Monday. His level is now decreased to 6.0. The doctor said he will need dialysis at least one more time to get his level back to normal. The oxygen setting on the ventilator was set to 100% on Saturday. They were able to reduce it to 80% on Sunday. He was still having fevers up to 101.7. Monday: I spent much of the day on the phone trying to get answers regarding the convalescent plasma. The night they intubated him, we both consented to him receiving it, but the doctor said it could be this Monday or Tuesday before it would arrive. A couple of days later, there was some confusion regarding the plasma. The doctor told me there may be an issue with obtaining the plasma. I'm not sure if the problem was with the hospital or with American Red Cross. We have had a multitude of willing donors reach out to donate and designate their plasma donation directly to Joe. I can't say how overwhelmed with gratitude our family is for so many people to reach out wanting to help. I did receive a call from his doctor today, who explained that he IS scheduled to receive plasma, that it is en route to the hospital, and they had it fast-tracked through the FDA. To those of you who did reach out wanting to help Joe, I urge you to go to the American Red Cross website and fill out the forms required to be able to donate regardless of your blood type. There are many Covid-19 patients waiting to receive plasma containing the valuable antibodies that can help them fight this virus. ONE donation can help THREE sick patients. Although it is still in the experimental stages, I have seen many articles about patients receiving the plasma and making marked improvement in their conditions. From personal experience, I can tell you that knowing my husband is closer to getting the antibodies he needs to fight the virus is very comforting. This virus wreaks so much havoc on the lungs as well as other vital organs. Joe has pneumonia and Acute Hypoxic Respiratory Failure, his blood sugar has been high, his kidney function tests are abnormal, but luckily, he is not in kidney failure. Once he gets the antibodies from the plasma, it is my hope that his body will be able to begin healing all of the damage Covid-19 has caused. They have begun the process of titrating the paralytics to start waking him from the medically induced coma, and the doctor says he should be awake tomorrow. I pray that will happen without incident. I apologize to anyone who has called, texted, or messaged me in the last couple of days. I've literally been on the phone all day, every day, either being updated on his condition, consenting to procedures, contacting his and my employer's human resources departments trying to get his short term disability applied for and approved or updating family members regarding all the procedures and his condition. Although I am still extremely fatigued, and still have a nasty cough, I feel like my health is improving a little every day. Hopefully, the doctor will re-test me for Covid-19 next week with negative results so that I may be able to return to work soon. I promise I will try to begin reading all of the messages I've received, soon. Again, there is no way to convey the gratitude I have for all who have reached out to offer help and lift our family up in prayer. I ask you all to continue to pray for Joe. He is far from out of the woods at this point, but I know that God is hearing our pleas.

Update 04/26, info received on Saturday, 04/25 I was unable to update on social media yesterday, due to the need to make some individual calls to family prior t...o posting. Joe’s doctor called yesterday morning to inform me of some changes in his condition, as well as his plan of care. He started with the fact that Joe seemed to be making some improvement on Friday, during the day; however, with this virus being so unpredictable, his condition began to deteriorate rather rapidly Friday evening. The doctor decided the best action to take due to that deterioration was to use paralytics, and place him in a medically induced coma for 48-72 hours. Hopefully, this will give his body and brain rest, while allowing the medications he is receiving, as well as the ventilator to work more efficiently, while helping to preserve his vital organs. Regarding his prognosis, the doctor did say he was hopeful, due to the fact that Joe doesn’t have any comorbidities (in other words, he is normally in generally good health), that would normally work against a patient in his condition. He did maintain, however, that Joe is in very critical condition. We are still awaiting plasma containing the antibodies needed to help fight the coronavirus. To those who have tested positive for Covid-19, are recovered, with no symptoms, and are in good health, please contact American Red Cross if you are willing to be tested for the antibodies against coronavirus, and donate your plasma to help patients currently fighting the virus. The more antibody-containing plasma that is donated will make it easier to be obtained by those who need it most, which includes my husband. I am still trying to find a way to cut through some of the red tape that is preventing directed donation; unfortunately the people I need to contact regarding this do not work weekends. I will be making some calls first thing Monday morning, thanks to receiving some direction from a friend who knows a little about navigating the system. I did get an update last night from Joe’s nurse. She said he wasn’t tolerating the semi-prone position in which they had positioned him, so they wedged him on his side, with the lung in the worst condition down. Again, they were having trouble maintaining his temperature, so they are using the body temperature regulation device to get it under control. His fever had reached 101.7. She said he was maintaining oxygen levels in the 90’s, which is good, but also expected, with the ventilator on the highest settings. I know all of this information does not sound good, but I’m committed to maintaining a positive and hopeful outlook that Joe will continue to fight this illness, and win. He is the strongest, and probably the most stubborn man I know, and I’m pretty sure I haven’t ever seen him give up on anything. He loves his family and friends with all of his heart, and he WILL recover from this. I refuse to to entertain any negative thoughts. I will continue to pray for him and his healthcare team, and ask that everyone else please do the same. I will continue to update as often as I receive information. #BelcherStrong