BUTTE — Tammy Fisk and her husband had both been diagnosed with COVID-19. They were extremely ill, but as her husband recovered, Fisk got sicker.
“I couldn’t keep anything down, even a sip of water, and I called my mom and the only thing I could say to her is that I was dying,” Fisk said.
Fisk’s mother rushed her to the hospital and Fisk said that she was grateful for the quick work Dr. Eric Leber did to find out what was wrong.
“[Leber] was compassionate and he was kind to me and he listened to me and instantly started doing tests, every test probably that they could do, they did,” Fisk said.
Fisk found out that COVID had caused her pancreas to swell and she was near death.
“I was dying, that's all I could say and I was very close. I actually ended up with severe sepsis that went through my whole body and I am lucky by the grace of God that I am here.” Fisk said.
Fisk was in the hospital for three days. Once out, she wanted to thank the doctors and nurses at St. James for being there for her and saving her life.
“Every person there showed me kindness, compassion, care. They never acted like they were tired or put out or not wanting to be there. They comforted me. I’m blessed that St. James is here. That I had a place to go to that gave me such wonderful care and I just want to say thank you so much.” Fisk said.
Now able to recover at home, Fisk has had time to think about her near-death experience surrounded by doctors instead of family.
“I remember seeing my mom at the door and I was so sick that I... I think about it now and that maybe could have been the last time that I saw her.” Fisk said. “I think of all the people that are around this world that are, those are the last people they’re seeing. They’re not seeing their loved ones or their families and that’s when it really hit when I saw my mom at the door when she dropped me off and that could have very well been the last time I saw her and its comforting to know that the people who did take care of me, they were the ones that would have been there. . . they would have been the ones that would have been there with me and they were the reason I’m home because of their care.”