Caitlyn Whyte (Host): Life can change in an instant. One moment you're celebrating the happiest day of your life and the next you're fighting for survival. Today on In Their Words, we bring you the extraordinary story of Holly Brown, a testament to resilience, hope and the incredible power of medical care. In the fall of 2021, just weeks after her wedding day, Holly's world was turned upside down. What began as unexplained symptoms, quickly escalated into a life-threatening battle with COVID-19. Blood clots, pneumonia, and three harrowing weeks in the ICU would change her in ways she never could have imagined. But this is not a story of defeat. This is a story of triumph. Through the dedicated support of her medical team at UPMC and her own incredible spirit; Holly would not just survive, she would rebuild.

From relearning to walk, to reclaiming her independence; her journey is a beacon of hope for anyone facing seemingly insurmountable challenges. This is In Their Words.

Holly Brown: Hi, my name is Holly Brown. Currently, I live in Toneytown, Maryland. When I had COVID, I lived in Hanover, PA. It all started November 2nd, 2021, when I was feeling bad, got tested, so I realized I had COVID. Actually, I didn't feel too bad to start out with. Kind of went for about a week. Felt like I had a cold. Then I started to get worse with, I guess, the flu symptoms, and not eating and the bowel issues. And actually, I had passed out at home and didn't realize it until the dog woke me up. But then we realized it was getting a little bit bad. So I went to the doctor. They, from there, sent me to Gettysburg Hospital to the emergency room. That was on November 9th, 2021.

That started my COVID hospital journey. I was in a room for about a week on oxygen. Oxygen started going down. And as the week progressed, it got worse. So then they rushed me into the ICU. I was in the ICU for about maybe three weeks. I was in there over Thanksgiving. I think it was December 1st that I finally got transferred to York.

But while I was in the ICU, I got worse with pneumonia. I had pneumonia and blood clots in my lungs with the COVID. So taking x-rays every day, keeping a check on it. The crazy thing from my point of view was I didn't really feel like I was that sick. It could have been, I guess, from the medications helping me.

The worst part was the oxygen. They were trying to keep my levels, at a good level without putting me on the ventilator. There was a few days where they kind of politely, I say threatened me, but that's not the perfect word. They were going to say, you know, if you don't get better, we're going to do this.

And, of course, in my head, I'm like, no, you're not, because I want to get better. So, at that point, I guess that was the climax, and I guess, by the grace of God, I got better.

They did not have to put me on a ventilator. I was able to get a good night's sleep, and I think that's what really helped, because I wasn't getting much sleep, I guess, from the prednisone. So, things started to improve and then December 1st, my oxygen was good enough that they could send me on for respiratory therapy.

So, I was transferred to there, in their respiratory floor, and I was just in a room to myself where they constantly monitored my oxygen. And were slowly trying to decrease, you know, the levels so I could gain more back on my own. And I also started some physical therapy there, which I had no idea how much the COVID had wiped me out.

I had to learn to walk again. That was very interesting. Strangest feeling I ever had. I felt like my feet were cement blocks. I got to working on that. And they had me walking down the hallway and back. It took a lot, but I did it. So that was a big improvement. And as they slowly worked on my oxygen, I was there until Christmas Eve, 2021.

And then that day I was transported to Helen Simpson physical therapy in Harrisburg. So I started that part and that was all physical therapy oriented. I was in a room with another lady, became good friends with her. She was not there for COVID. There was a handful of us there recovering from COVID. Had a lot of physical therapy during the days, which really helped.

And so I was there for two weeks again, still working on bringing my oxygen usage down. I left there on 2 liters of oxygen on January 5th, 2022, and was sent home with that, which was a huge eye opener. I never, at first, I was like, oh, gosh, how am I going to handle this? What am I going to do? You know, you're thinking, are you ever going to get better?

So I came home, it was day by day, and by the beginning of February, I think it was in February, end of January, somewhere in there, I started physical therapy through insurance and all that kind of stuff, but it was at a local physical therapy place. So I was doing that two days a week, and then I started pulmonary therapy, I believe in March.

So I was doing physical therapy two days a week, pulmonary therapy two days a week. And I just had one day a week break. They even said in the beginning, when I scheduled all this, it was a bit much. I said, I don't care. I want to get better. I can do this. So I did it. Both the therapies were somewhat similar.

The pulmonary therapy was really good because they teach you more and they monitor your oxygen, a little bit more, educate you on everything related to all of that. The ladies there were fabulous, it became like a big family. So I did that until July of 2022.

The physical therapy ended in May 2022. So I kind of graduated from both. Once I was finished that, I started back to work in the office that I work at, and since then, it's just been a constant push, perseverance, and a lot of educating myself, changing my nutrition, learning all kinds of things about the body because COVID just took my insides and totally turned everything upside down.

So the gals at the pulmonary therapy were saying that I kind of had like a perfect storm in my body. So three years later, I still have issues that I'm working with. A lot of joint and muscle issues, sensitivities, that kind of thing, but nothing that, I can't fight through and working on nutrition because I find now that what I eat can affect a lot of things quicker

and more intensely than they used to. So it kind of took whatever mild things I had before I was sick and just exponentiated them even more. So I'm like super hyper sensitive with some things now, but thank the good Lord I'm here, and actually really doing pretty well. I do, like for instance with this, when I talk for a long spell, and my voice will get cracky plus a little bit emotional, but the oxygen when I talk for a long time, my breathing gets a little off, so then I become short of breath, and it gets a little crackly in there.

 But just minor issues now, but I think if it wasn't for all the therapy and the pulmonary services that I was able to get, I would not be where I am now. That's for sure, but, um, it was quite a journey and it's not completely over yet, but I made it.

Host: In the moments of her recovery, Holly confronts a profound question that many long-haul COVID survivors know all too well. What lasting impact has this disease had on her body and her life?

Holly Brown: Shortness of breath. If I walk too fast or exert myself, more than I normally do now; I'll get a little bit short of breath, and if that happens, I just need to slow down and regain my breath back. Because I can tell every time and from all the therapies and stuff, you learn what your oxygen is doing by how you feel.

So, by using the pulse ox so much and relating the different numbers to how you feel, now I can tell if my oxygen's dipping for some reason and I can kind of guess what range it's in. But like if I get tense across my back, because I carry a lot of tension in my upper back anyway; but, like for instance, just talking through this, it's like you're a little, not tense in a bad way, but it just kind of gets you a little keyed up a little bit.

 That's why my voice is cracky, because it's starting to affect that whole area. And that gets annoying, because it sounds like you really have a problem, but you kind of don't. It just sounds weird. So, the breathing is an issue. Another thing that I experience a lot of is the joint aches, that can come with the weather, a lot of times, I think it comes from food, so I've learned now that I really have to watch my sugar and what kind of sugar I'm intaking.

And I really have to try to eat as healthy as I can, because if I start to cheat, then I feel it, I just like, ache all over, and you get sluggish, the inflammation is, you know, increasing, so I still have, the inflammation issues, and there's still some brain fog, but just some of the day to day simple things, or if you have a conversation with somebody, and then it comes back around, sometimes I forget bits and pieces, so, it's not like it's anything major, just nuisances.

It was a big adjustment, because now, like, physically I just can't go out and do what I normally did. I used to go crazy working outside gardening and, you know, just doing a lot of stuff outside where now I'm a little more limited or I can't do as much as quickly.

The Hallmark side of it is I was divorced for like about 11 years, and I had been dating somebody before I was sick for a while.

We were engaged July of 2021, and then we got married October 9th, 2021, and a couple weeks after that, my youngest son had his wedding ceremony, like the week before I got sick, so, I got remarried on October 9th, a month to the day, you know, here's my new husband taking me to the emergency room with COVID. Didn't know if he was ever going to see me again, and while I was in there, of course, the reports that he got were not always that promising, because they weren't going to sugarcoat anything, and they told him at some days, you know, they're just going day by day, and they don't know if I was going to make it or not.

So, it's not to joke or anything, but he would say, you know, he was sitting home with the dogs, and with his bottle of Jack, now he's not a drinker drinker, but he just jokes that, you know, between the dogs and Jack, that kept him going.

My husband, I mean, he was a godsend because he took care of everything. Here he is just getting married. I still had my house in Hanover, and all my bills. So here he's dumped with my financial burden while I'm in the hospital and I'm trying to communicate to him how to pay different things and trying to remember passwords, you know, and all that good, computer stuff. And he really got dumped big time, but he kept it all straight and got us through it. He's retired and works part time, so he cut back his part time work to stay home and transport me to these therapies every day. So yeah, he was amazing, he's still my cheerleader today.

Host: As Holly reflects on her journey, she turns to a deeply personal dimension of her experience, how battling COVID-19 impacted her spiritually.

Holly Brown: It's made my faith a heck of a lot deeper. Now it's going to get emotional. Yeah, definitely that because I'm a huge believer in the power of prayer, and I think a lot of that got me through it. Just praying my heart out every day, that was the big part, especially through the rough parts. And it was a huge eye opener too at the therapies.

Oh my gosh, seeing some of these people in the therapy places, especially the one in Harrisburg, because that was a physical therapy. It's a huge eye opener of what people have to go through, and it's like, wow, there's so many people so worse off than what I am. And it just gives you a whole different appreciation of everything.

My youngest has a 16-month-old n,w. cause they were newly married when I got sick, and then now, she's 16-months-old. She just started to walk this week, so she's walking on her own, and it's fun because it's a little girl, and I had boys, so, now I can enjoy the little girl stuff.

So yeah, my kids and I are really close. They were a huge, part of my cheerleading section. And the funny thing was, this is another weird thing; when I was in there, especially the ICU, it's like, I knew I was going to be okay. It was the strangest feeling because, they said, if you don't get better, you're going to go on the vent.

And I was like, no, I'm not. But I just had this very strange feeling. I knew I was going to be all right. And I can't explain it. And when you're sitting there and you're seeing people getting wheeled in and out, you know, on those beds, and then you don't know what's going on beside you, but you try to interpret it by actions and noises and all that kind of stuff. But I'm sure there were people, some came in and didn't make it, and some came in and did make it. Especially when I was in York for respiratory therapy, they always said they had to go do a procedure. Well, for them, that meant they had to go do a ventilating procedure.

And that was a lot. So that was kind of an eye opener for all the people that they had to do that procedure on. And one time my husband came in and he said when he left, the person in the next room beside me didn't make it. He was covered up.

The other thing that they said when I was at York, when I got there, which I was shocked, they said, you are the mildest case that we have. So, when I got there on the level of oxygen that I was on, they said I was the mildest level that they had. I was like, wow. So, everyone else that was there, apparently was worse. Even though I've moved back to Maryland, I continue with everybody up there because I like the doctors that I'm working with.

And I think after I came home, I was looking at some of them, and I don't know if it was just like PTSD or what it was, but I'm like, I just didn't want to dive into that at that time. If your struggling with long-COVID issues, I would say definitely concentrate on your nutrition.

It is a key part. It's a key part now. It's a key part for future. I don't know if this is going against the grain or not, but I've also worked with an occupational therapist that does functional medicine. I've learned a lot with that, which led me to the nutrition part, and also just try to learn more about your body and where the symptoms are coming from.

Because I have learned that a lot of it does come from nutrition and exercise. You've got to keep moving. You have got to keep moving. Whether you just walk, just take daily walks. Because I have an office job and I sit all day and it does kind of drive me nuts because I don't get to walk like I should.

I would definitely recommend the pulmonary rehab. Yeah, any type of rehabilitation, if you can get it, take advantage of it. The pulmonary, I thought I never knew it was out there and I was a little intimidated at first. But once I was there and even afterwards, when we go to exercise, but it helps so much. It really does wonders and they teach you a lot. Definitely, if someone was in need of that, I would recommend that.

Host: As our journey through Holly's remarkable story comes to a close: we want to thank you, our listeners, for being here. By sharing her experience. We've opened a window into the incredible family of patients and providers at UPMC in Central Pennsylvania. Each story like Holly's, reminds us of the profound human connections at the heart of healthcare. Connections of compassion, resilience, and hope.

For those whose lives have been touched by UPMC's exceptional care in Central Pennsylvania, the UPMC Pinnacle Foundation's Grateful Patient Program offers a meaningful way to honor the healthcare professionals who make such recoveries possible. You can visit UPMCpinnaclefoundation.org to learn more. Thank you for joining us on this journey. This has been, In Their Words.