Ken Roth is still too weak to stand alone, let alone walk.
Roth, 66, is a recovering patient with COVID-19 who is receiving care, first in Calgary and now at St. Paul’s Hospital in Saskatoon for 27 months, 279 days, to be exact.
His daughter, Kendra Roth, takes him out of the hospital in a wheelchair to get some fresh air and a break from the hospital room.
“I’ve been to every floor of this hospital,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of ups and downs. It really affected me. I’m 240 pounds now and I was 300 pounds before.”
He choked, adding, “It was hard… COVID really robbed me.”
Roth, seen here Aug. 20 in the intensive care unit at Calgary Medical Center, where he was treated for six weeks before being transferred to St. Paul’s Hospital in Saskatoon. (Kendra Roth)
Roth is the head of a water treatment plant and a retired fire chief from La Loche, Saskatchewan, 600 kilometers northwest of Saskatoon.
The unvaccinated grandfather was hospitalized for COVID-19 at Calgary Medical Center on July 24, 2021, while on a family vacation in Alberta. He spent weeks in a coma and was transported to Saskatoon in early September.
His wife, Lorraine, and daughter, Kendra, have moved into a hotel near St. Paul’s Hospital, where they have been staying since last fall.
“I went in several times, even at 3 o’clock in the morning… he had anxiety attacks because there was no one around him to know. So when I come in, he immediately calms down. So, I sit here for all the occasional hours of the day and night, “Kendra said.
I have had many ups and downs. It really affected me. I’m 240 pounds now, I used to be 300 pounds. – Ken Roth, recovering patient with COVID-19
When Saskatchewan’s intensive care units were overcrowded in October, Roth was among 27 patients sent to Ontario for care. Roth told CBC News at the time that his sudden transportation – without any notice or time to call his wife or daughter – reminded the Metis man that he had been taken to school as a child.
After returning to Saskatoon, Roth’s recovery was interrupted by pneumonia, drug side effects, bladder infections and other failures.
WATCH Details of the patient from the local population traumatic relocation outside the countryside:
Details of the patient from the local population traumatic relocation outside the countryside
A Saskatchewan Metis man calls on health officials to be more sensitive when transferring COVID-19 patients out of the province. He says the process has taken away emotional consequences and brought back painful memories of school. 2:04
Long hospital stay
There are more than 400 COVID-19 patients in hospitals in Saskatchewan, more than any other wave of the pandemic. However, more than half were admitted to diseases other than COVID, but were also positive for the virus. And only about 20 require intensive care by April 27.
Some patients with COVID continue to spend long periods in the hospital.
Ken’s wife, Lorraine, spent nine months in a hotel to be close to her husband while he was in hospital. (Submitted by Ken Roth)
Dr. Alexander Wong is an infectious disease specialist who has treated patients who have spent months at Regina General Hospital.
“Especially with Alpha and Delta [waves] – when we had so many critically ill patients who were just so sick – we had so many people who died, but those who did not die obviously require a huge amount of time, energy and resources to recover to the point where they can leave the system, “Wong said.
Most recently, according to the Saskatchewan Health Authority, 3,587 people with COVID-19 were admitted to hospitals in Saskatchewan between October 2021 and the end of March 2022. Of those, 98 – or 2.7% – remained in hospital for more than 60 days.
“Even if there are only a hundred people left for more than two months, the total amount of energy and work and system resources and people and everything else needed to keep those people alive is astronomical,” Wong said.
Patient Ken Roth recovering from COVID-19 in his hospital bed on April 28, 2022, after 279 days in hospital: “COVID really understood me.” (Kendra Roth)
Wong says that although there are fewer patients in critical care in the Omicron wave who will require this level of care, this is still happening.
Roth is grateful
Roth appreciates the medical staff who saved his life, and now those who are trying to get him back on his feet.
“Some of them are actually running to try to help their patients,” Roth said.
The avid hunter is tired of being separated from his children and grandchildren, friends and former colleagues.
He is also worried about paying the bills at home.
As the sole breadwinner in his family, Roth ran the water treatment plant in the northern village of La Loche for more than 40 years, first as an employee and then as a private contractor.
But in February, his village cut wages without even a phone call, Roth said.
The mayor of La Loche, Georgina Joliboa, declined to comment.
Robert St. Pierre, a former mayor who has watched Roth’s work for years, said he was surprised the village did not make an effort to help Roth with benefits.
“I would find a way to work with Ken and alleviate what he was going through,” said St. Pierre.
I am going home
Roth appreciates the support he has received from Métis Nation-Saskatchewan.
Kendra hopes to take her father home, even in a wheelchair, once he’s strong enough to take a few steps. (Bonnie Allen / CBC)
Before that, a healthy man needs to get a little stronger to be able to move to a rehab center and eventually return to La Loche.
“If he can stand up on his own and take a few steps, I’ll take him home,” Kendra said. “This is my goal, to take him home. Even if we have to use the wheelchair at home, I will take him home and take care of him there. We have support there.”
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