Hamilton widow with COVID-19 credits ‘COVID Care @ Home’ program with saving her life. Her husband didn’t make it
They could hear it in each other's voices.
One sounded weak and breathless; the other was heavy with concern.
As Carol Hoblyn spoke on the phone from her home in the North End, she was fighting COVID-19.
The nurse on the line asked her questions, and listened.
She was very kind," says Hoblyn. I told her that walking from the bedroom to the bathroom felt like an Arctic expedition, and I guess she told me that was not good, and I should go to the hospital. When I heard the concern in her voice I thought geez, I better do this."
This was on April 10. Three days earlier, Hoblyn's husband, John Winn, had been admitted to St. Joseph's Hospital with COVID, and with an underlying lung illness, he was struggling.
They had both been vaccinated, but too late: six days after getting their shots, symptoms began.
Hoblyn, at first, wouldn't return the nurse's calls, and resisted going to hospital, even as she got sicker. She's not sure why, and wonders if perhaps she felt like she needed to stay home for the day John returned.
She had plans to camp with him in Algonquin Park this summer if the pandemic allowed it. John had said how much he wanted to return and walk the trails again, 20 years after his last visit.
The registered nurse who convinced Hoblyn to call 911 was Victoria Zychowicz, one of four co-ordinators who run COVID Care @ Home," a program designed and delivered by St. Joseph's Home Care.
Its purpose is to help people infected with the virus self-treat at home before symptoms worsen.
The care is done by monitoring symptoms over the phone, or, depending on the patient, dispatching paramedics or home-care resources such as respiratory therapists, for example.
If necessary, a co-ordinator will direct the patient to hospital.
Since the program started last November, more than 430 people have been referred to participate. If you have tested positive for COVID-19 and live in Hamilton, Niagara, or Waterloo Region, you can receive a referral from your family doctor, or submit a self-referral by calling 1-877-611-0669 or registering on the St. Joseph's Home Care website.
(The wait to hear back can take 24 to 72 hours; if you are experiencing severe symptoms don't wait, contact your doctor or call 911.)
Of the 119 clients currently in the program, only four have been directed to hospital.
That means it's working, says Zychowicz, who has 34 participants on her roster she helps over the phone.
Early intervention usually leads to better outcomes. COVID patients can deteriorate quickly."
In Hoblyn's case, Zychowicz requested paramedics visit her, but when they offered to take her to the hospital, Hoblyn said no. Zychowicz spoke to her again the following day, and told her to see an emergency medicine doctor.
Hoblyn was treated in St. Joseph's Hospital 17 days. While she was there, she read an article about how Ontario's chief coroner had reported that some COVID patients were dying at home after waiting too long to seek treatment.
I truly feel if Victoria had not convinced me to go to hospital, I would have been one of those statistics," says Hoblyn. She saved my life."
Hoblyn turns 58 this summer. Physically, living back at home, she tires easily but is slowly getting stronger.
Mentally, there is a longer road ahead. She is grieving and is in a state of disbelief.
Her husband did not make it. John Winn died on April 13 at 78.
He had been a Hamilton police officer, who also served with the Royal Canadian Navy. Among his activities in retirement, he captained Hamilton Harbour boat tours.
His two adult children saw him in St. Joseph's Hospital, one at a time, at the very end.
He had known he was up against it, battling COVID while burdened with COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease).
He asked that doctors take no heroic measures to keep him alive.
At the same time, Hoblyn was also being treated in St. Joe's.
In her bed she wrote John a letter, anticipating that she would not be able to say goodbye to him in person.
I wrote telling him how much I loved him, and thanking him for being part of my life."
He died before he received the letter.
Hoblyn says it feels like she's still in denial. They were married 20 years.
Sometimes, when she hears a sound in the kitchen, she expects to see John walk around the corner, and in the next moment hear that great voice of his.
I miss his warm comforting hugs," she says. He was my best friend."
Their home is down on the west harbour. He is gone, but the view remains.
Out the window she sees the water, and in the distance the High Level Bridge.
We used to like to watch the weather; see the storms coming in from the west."
She still hopes to make it to Algonquin this summer, with his children, to leave traces of his ashes where he had yearned to be.
Jon Wells is a Hamilton-based reporter and feature writer for The Spectator. Reach him via email: jwells@thespec.com