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Grateful To Still Be Here: How RSV Affected Me Personally

Grateful to still be here: How RSV affected me personally

On January 16, 2023, I didn't know if I would still be alive to tell this story.

As I sat gasping for air in agonizing pain, I thought to myself, "What could possibly be wrong with me causing me to feel this way?" Two days prior to being admitted to the hospital, I was diagnosed with walking pneumonia at an urgent care in Myrtle Beach while on a trip with my dad and a longtime friend of his.  The magnitude in which it was harming me, I had no clue. There was over two liters of fluid and bacteria slowly filling up my right lung, causing intense pain. The doctor described it as like sandpaper rubbing against a satin-like material.  

What caused it?

Respiratory Syncytial Virus – or RSV for short.  

In December 2022 I had what I felt to be just a common cold. I had a fever, cough, the typical symptoms. Well, it turns out that a lot of the symptoms of RSV are like a common cold.  

My airways were inflamed and started to collect this fluid and bacteria that led to pneumonia. When I got to the hospital on Martin Luther King Day in 2023, I had to have my dad get a wheelchair to get me into the emergency room because it was so difficult to breathe and walk.  

As the nurses started hooking me up to machines and taking blood for cultures, my back was aching like I had never felt before. The nurses and doctors were perplexed as to what had me in the shape I was in.

Once a room was ready for me, they scheduled me for an X-Ray and CT scan. The CT scan helped the doctors get a grasp on what was going on, knowing I had already been diagnosed with pneumonia. They saw large amounts of fluid pockets around my lungs. So, they did what they thought would get it out.

On that Tuesday morning the doctors tried extracting the fluid using an ultrasound machine with a large needle. They got a good bit out. They also thought I would start feeling better. Oh, how wrong they were.  Another CT scan revealed how much more fluid remained on my right lung. So, they scheduled a minor procedure to put a picc line under my right shoulder blade area for a chest tube to drain fluid out.  

The nurses had to raise the hospital bed up to the level of the operating table and roll me onto the table because at this point it was exasperating just to move. I was highly numbed and felt mild poking and prodding but overall didn't feel any pain.  

The doctors gave me and my family a disclaimer though. If the chest tube was unable to pull enough fluid out of my lungs, they would have to do outpatient surgery to go in and clean up the remainder.

As the week went on, the more fluid was removed, I started to feel a little better. However, I still couldn't move much due to my oxygen levels dropping whenever I would. Then on Saturday – six days after being admitted to the hospital – the doctors came back to my room right after some of my family members left.

I'll never forget the words that the lady said.

"Your latest CT scan came back great. There is not much fluid there at all anymore. We believe we can remove your chest tube. After that, you are more than welcome to go home."

After the slight jolt of pain caused by the picc line being removed, the doctor had left the room and I sat there and cried before calling my family to tell them the great news. I was so happy and thankful to still be alive. One thing I haven't told a lot of people other than those in my family is that if the pneumonia hadn't been caught when it was, doctors said it may have been fatal.

This is my message to you: if you think you may have symptoms of RSV, make sure you are taking medicines like Mucinex or drugs with what are called expectorants which help bring up mucus and fluid that can settle in your lungs.  

Take care of yourself and your loved ones during cold, flu, Covid and RSV season.  

Cameron Williams is a reporter at The Post.    

I'm A Doctor Who Lost My Brother To RSV. Here Is What I Want Parents To Know

Dr. Sean Cullen, of New York, was 9-years-old when his 9-month-old brother Kevin died due to respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, a common respiratory virus.

Today, nearly 30 years later, Cullen works as both a laboratory researcher and neonatologist at New York-Presbyterian Alexandra Cohen Hospital for Women and Newborns at Weill Cornell, the same neo-natal intensive care unit, NICU, where Kevin was treated.

Cullen, one of six siblings, said his youngest sibling Kevin was born with a congenital heart defect that required emergency surgery shortly after he was born.

Sean Cullen, as a child, holds his brother Kevin at his baptism in 1994.

Courtesy of Sean Cullen

Kevin went on to become a healthy infant, according to Cullen, until one day he became "very sick, very quickly" with RSV, a respiratory virus that circulates in the winter months and is the most dangerous for infants under six months of age and children who were born prematurely or with weakened immune systems and/or underlying heart, lung or neuromuscular problems, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Because of how quickly everything had happened, [my siblings and I] had all gone to sleep the night before not really knowing that anything major, from a medical perspective, was going on with my brother," Cullen told "Good Morning America." "One by one, we all woke up in the morning, just thinking it was a regular, you know, Thursday morning, going to school, and just coming down and seeing my kitchen filled with basically all the members of my extended family."

Sean Cullen, as a child, holds his brother Kevin at his baptism in 1994.

Courtesy of Sean Cullen

Cullen said he still remembers to this day the "profound shock" he felt when his parents told him his brother had died, a sense of grief that he said his family still feels to this day.

MORE: With an RSV shot for infants in short supply, here's what parents should know

In his role now as both a neonatologist and researcher, Cullen said he wants parents and caregivers to know the advancements that have been made over the last three decades when it comes to treating and preventing RSV, a virus that is so common that nearly all children are infected with it before their second birthday, according to the CDC.

"For me personally and for my family, it's still a devastation that I wouldn't ever want another family to experience," Cullen said of losing his brother to RSV, adding that people in today's world are, "incredibly blessed to live in the time of the scientific advancements that we do."

Sean Cullen's family remembers their late brother Kevin with an "angel tree" each Christmas.

Courtesy of Sean Cullen

Although most cases of RSV infection are mild, the virus can be dangerous among infants and young children as well as senior citizens. RSV can also spread rapidly, with people becoming infected by simply coming into contact with the droplets of an infected person or by touching a surface that has the virus on it and then touching their faces before washing their hands.

Mom describes daughter's hospitalization with RSV amid warnings of holiday 'tripledemic' surge

Why are pediatric hospitals filling to capacity?

6-year-old with RSV dies as hospitals see alarming rise in new virus cases

Currently, there are no medications developed specifically to treat RSV, but there are new vaccines and medications available to help prevent the viral spread.

Here are six things Cullen said he wants parents and caregivers to do to help protect infants and children from RSV.

1. Take advantage of available medications.

Pregnant women are now eligible for an RSV vaccine, known as Abrysvo, that provides antibodies to the fetus to protect from RSV. The vaccine is given to pregnant mothers in the third trimester between 32 and 36 weeks' gestational age.

If your infant is under 8 months old, they can receive a new preventive RSV shot, nirsevimab, that is designed to help fight off the virus and prevent complications from RSV. The shot, given as one dose in a child's first or second RSV season, was recently recommended by the CDC for all infants younger than 8 months old and children between 8 and 19 months of age who are at increased risk for severe RSV infection..

If your child is older than 8 months but has a history of congenital heart disease, being born prematurely, or has chronic lung disease, ask your pediatrician if they are eligible to receive nirsevimab.

2. Avoid heavily attended events in enclosed spaces as much as possible, with the caveat that it is also important to see family and friends acting as support systems, visit grocery stores and other necessities, and to continue check-ups with pediatricians and health professionals as needed.

MORE: RSV in winter 2023: Everything you need to know about symptoms, treatments, shots

3. Encourage good handwashing practices, especially prior to holding your infant.

4. Recommend those who visit your family be up to date on vaccinations including vaccines against RSV (if aged 60 years or older), influenza, and COVID-19.

For adults over age 60, two RSV vaccines are currently available.

5. Discourage a visit from anyone who is showing any signs of a respiratory viral illness, like a fever, runny nose or cough.

6. Speak with your pediatrician about worrisome signs and symptoms of a respiratory viral illness that would require evaluation by a healthcare provider such as dehydration (i.E. Poor feeding, vomiting, diarrhea, decreased wet diaper counts) and respiratory distress (i.E. Breathing too fast, using extra muscles to breathe).

ABC News' Mary Kekatos contributed to this report.

RSV And Other Illnesses Are Crowding Emergency Rooms, Health Department Warns

A surge in respiratory illnesses caused increased patient volumes and long wait times at Vermont emergency departments this week, according to a health update from the state Department of Health. 

The department said that a rise in RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, was responsible for the surge, but that Covid-19 and influenza were also circulating and driving patient numbers higher. 

"This surge of illness is straining health care systems across the region, causing bed shortages, staffing shortages, and long wait times for medical care," officials said in the update, which was sent to health care providers and health care facilities across the state. 

The department requested that providers take certain actions to lighten the strain on hospital beds, such as giving their patients information on alternatives to emergency departments for late nights and weekends. 

It also recommended that long-term care facilities rely on care within facilities rather than sending patients to hospitals, and that doctor's offices consider telehealth as an option over in-person care.

It's unclear how many people are hospitalized for RSV statewide. But the state has reported a cumulative increase in emergency department visits for the three viruses in recent weeks, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

The health department reported on Wednesday that 59 people had been hospitalized for Covid in Vermont in the past week, the highest number the state has reported since January 2023. 

Also on Wednesday, the University of Vermont Medical Center announced a partial return to staff masking in patient care settings.

Annie Mackin, a spokesperson for the hospital's operator UVM Health Network, said via email that a variety of factors contributed to long wait times in the emergency department. Among them is a shortage of long-term care beds that limited the number of patients who can be discharged from the hospital, "which in turn limits the number of beds available for new patients who need acute care."

The health department recommended that patients follow universal disease prevention guidelines, including staying up-to-date on recommended vaccines. Everyone 6 months or older is recommended to get an updated influenza and Covid vaccine. 

The department also recommends that infants, young children, adults over 60 and pregnant people receive an RSV vaccine or preventative treatment for the disease, depending on their exact ages and underlying health conditions. Infants and older adults are particularly susceptible to severe cases of RSV. 

The department recommends additional measures to prevent transmission, such as washing hands frequently. It suggests people wear masks when they have mild respiratory symptoms or are spending time around vulnerable people. 

The department said that people should isolate themselves if they have acute respiratory symptoms, even if they have tested negative for Covid — a reflection of the prevalence of multiple types of illnesses circulating in the community. 

To protect infants during RSV season, the department said that families should practice good hand hygiene and limit the number of people holding, kissing and touching the infant.

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