Craig "Moose" Nichols - COVID Support
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Craig Nichols, Engineer, New England Native (Great Barrington, Ma) Husband, Dad, Friend and Brother. Since birth was nicknamed “Moose” by his family. Our Moose embodies grace and represents adaptation, energy, strength, and movement. At this very moment he is in desperate need of prayers and financial support. He is a very proud man and will likely be mad we posted this when he wakes up.
He had been a professional engineer all his life, working in Nuclear plants such as Vermont Yankee and GE. He was so passionate about is field he became a consultant so he could work with many companies, problem solving and managing large Nuclear initiatives. While job flexibility can be key, benefits like health insurance can sometimes not be as supportive in a crisis situation. The hospital bills, inability to work and then continued rehabilitation could financially cripple his family. We have started a GO Fund Me Campaign to aid his family. The struggle of COVID is such a rollercoaster we want to help alleviate this stress.
21 days ago, this guy found out he was positive for COVID 19. He was admitted to the hospital on December 21st with breathing difficulties that escalated to double lung pneumonia. He needed oxygen and the hospital switched him back and forth between the cannula and a full mask. Craig is one of those guys that tries to fix things, everything. He looks for the solution. While tolerating the oxygen mask he was not a fan. He tried almost everything, sitting in a chair, lying on his stomach but the breathing difficulty escalated.
That “call” we feared the most came at 2:30 in the morning January 5th. His breathing difficulty had progressed, and he needed to be intubated in order to give his lungs and body time to heal. While he was somewhat sedated, his body continued to fight the ventilator machine and sedation needed to be increased. After a day the oxygen level needs stayed high and he required additional measures to improve oxygenation – turning him to his stomach for relief but increasing chemical paralization due to his position and being on a ventilator. COVID can cause small holes to develop in the lungs, which showed on a recent X-ray. We suspect that some of the ups and downs of this virus were caused from patient stress, which we sensed was happening even though he is now heavily sedated.
After a few days of no change, he spiked a fever and a bacterial infection. The emotional rollercoaster is as hard on our family as the virus itself.
Unfortunately, today did not bring great news. His oxygen saturation is in the high 80's so they are in the process of attempting a procedure called extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), blood is pumped outside of your body to a heart-lung machine that removes carbon dioxide and sends oxygen-filled blood back to tissues within the body. They will be placing large catheters in his legs and/or neck which bypass the lungs. Our hope is that this will let his lungs recover. This is such a lonely journey, not being allowed to be with him, speak to him or even hold is hand. We have recorded some of our voices and the recording has been placed beside his bed, hoping his subconscious can hear us cheering him on.
Your gift of prayers is so important to us right now. Any donation helps no matter what the size.
Peace be with you all, we will keep updating as much as we can.
Love the Nichols Family!
He had been a professional engineer all his life, working in Nuclear plants such as Vermont Yankee and GE. He was so passionate about is field he became a consultant so he could work with many companies, problem solving and managing large Nuclear initiatives. While job flexibility can be key, benefits like health insurance can sometimes not be as supportive in a crisis situation. The hospital bills, inability to work and then continued rehabilitation could financially cripple his family. We have started a GO Fund Me Campaign to aid his family. The struggle of COVID is such a rollercoaster we want to help alleviate this stress.
21 days ago, this guy found out he was positive for COVID 19. He was admitted to the hospital on December 21st with breathing difficulties that escalated to double lung pneumonia. He needed oxygen and the hospital switched him back and forth between the cannula and a full mask. Craig is one of those guys that tries to fix things, everything. He looks for the solution. While tolerating the oxygen mask he was not a fan. He tried almost everything, sitting in a chair, lying on his stomach but the breathing difficulty escalated.
That “call” we feared the most came at 2:30 in the morning January 5th. His breathing difficulty had progressed, and he needed to be intubated in order to give his lungs and body time to heal. While he was somewhat sedated, his body continued to fight the ventilator machine and sedation needed to be increased. After a day the oxygen level needs stayed high and he required additional measures to improve oxygenation – turning him to his stomach for relief but increasing chemical paralization due to his position and being on a ventilator. COVID can cause small holes to develop in the lungs, which showed on a recent X-ray. We suspect that some of the ups and downs of this virus were caused from patient stress, which we sensed was happening even though he is now heavily sedated.
After a few days of no change, he spiked a fever and a bacterial infection. The emotional rollercoaster is as hard on our family as the virus itself.
Unfortunately, today did not bring great news. His oxygen saturation is in the high 80's so they are in the process of attempting a procedure called extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), blood is pumped outside of your body to a heart-lung machine that removes carbon dioxide and sends oxygen-filled blood back to tissues within the body. They will be placing large catheters in his legs and/or neck which bypass the lungs. Our hope is that this will let his lungs recover. This is such a lonely journey, not being allowed to be with him, speak to him or even hold is hand. We have recorded some of our voices and the recording has been placed beside his bed, hoping his subconscious can hear us cheering him on.
Your gift of prayers is so important to us right now. Any donation helps no matter what the size.
Peace be with you all, we will keep updating as much as we can.
Love the Nichols Family!
Fundraising team (2)
Jennifer Nichols
Organizer
Lake Zurich, IL
Chris Nichols
Team member