GEE AND URSULA

Tacoma nurse credits remdesivir for helping in husband’s coronavirus battle

Apr 29, 2020, 5:46 PM

coronavirus nurse...

Tammy and Brian Edwards are avid Seahawks fans. (Photo courtesy of Tammy Edwards)

(Photo courtesy of Tammy Edwards)

Last Friday, we introduced you to Tammy Edwards. She’s a nurse in Tacoma who has been recovering from coronavirus at home while her husband has been on a ventilator in the hospital. She joined the Gee and Ursula Show for an update.

“There’s some improvement,” she said. “He’s still not able to respond, but they’ve lowered the sedation to a point where … if I asked him to open his eyes, he’ll open him. He’ll look at the phone, and I asked him last night to blink if he loves me and he gave me butterfly kisses.”

“Small improvements. He still critical and quite ill but things are taking a positive turn,” she added.

Dr. Anthony Fauci says remdesivir, an experimental drug originally used to fight Ebola, will likely become the standard of care for COVID-19 patients. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is working now with the manufacturer to green-light the drug for widespread use. Tammy said this drug has played a part in her husband’s treatment.

Local nurse recovers from COVID-19 while her husband fights to stay alive

“Hydroxychloroquine — when they did give that to him the first day, his blood pressure tanked, they had to get a crash cart available and didn’t need to use it. But they took him off of it,” she said. “Then he got a dose of actemra, followed by the next day he got a plasma transfusion, then the remdesivir was started up again.”

“He’s been on that, and today will be his sixth injection of [remdesivir]. So, yes, I believe those are the keys to helping him get through this.”

Plasma from COVID-19 survivors may help patients fighting the virus

Based on her personal experience, she believes we need to be as patient as possible when considering reopening.

“I think that we need to have this broad testing to be able to track, and then we can reopen our economy safely at a slow pace. We need to open our economy back up, but we can’t be negligent.”

Listen to the Gee and Ursula Show weekday mornings from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

Gee and Ursula Show

Gee and Ursula

belltown hellcat social media...

Frank Sumrall

Infamous ‘Belltown Hellcat’ social media influencer charged with reckless driving

The social media influencer has been accused of driving 107 miles per hour through Belltown in a Dodge Hellcat.

15 hours ago

Photo: Yale players, including guard Yassine Gharram, center, celebrate with fans after their 78-76...

Julia Dallas

Gee and Ursula: Idaho band turns ‘Van-Dogs’ as they rep. Yale for March Madness

Yale took down Auburn in a major upset during March Madness. But, they might've not been able to do it without the help of a marching band.

3 days ago

boeing negligence...

Ursula Reutin

Ursula: Boeing has finally taken a step in the right direction

Boeing CEO David Calhoun acknowledged that the mid-air blowout of an Alaska Airlines door panel was a watershed.

4 days ago

Image: Photo of "The Ascent" by Larry Anderson...

Julia Dallas

‘Gee and Ursula’: Bonney Lake mayor search reveals ‘tea’ on candidate

The City of Bonney Lake is searching for a new mayor after the former mayor accepted a job with the Puyallup Tribe of Indians.

10 days ago

Both President Joe Biden and Republican Donald Trump have locked the nomination for their respectiv...

Bill Kaczaraba

Medved: ‘People didn’t really know (or care) there was a primary’

Medved believes that people are unhappy with their choices during this presidential cycle.

13 days ago

Photo: The homeless encampment outside city hall is being moved around Burien to another home at Do...

Ursula Reutin

Ursula: The Burien homeless crisis highlights an even bigger problem

Because of the lack of alternatives, the King County Sheriff has ordered her deputies to not enforce a camping ban in Burien.

17 days ago

Tacoma nurse credits remdesivir for helping in husband’s coronavirus battle