“Inspiration for all of us,” says the doctor who treated Oregon’s first coronavirus case

The first thing Dr. Katie Scharf noticed when he entered Hector Calderon’s room was how ill he was.

A man in Hillsboro was being treated for pneumonia and had severe respiratory distress. The doctor couldn’t understand the cause of his illness.

At age 46, he was fighting for his life.

“The situation didn’t suit me at all,” she said.

Infectious disease specialist Sharff, 40, dropped in at Kaiser Permanente Westside Medical Center that day in February.

Calderon was the caretaker of his son Lake Oswego Primary School Forest Hills. She was there to deliver the sympathy card that her son’s first grade classmate made for him.

But when Scharf saw the serious condition of Calderon that day, she was involved in his care.

It may be hard to imagine now, but the coronavirus was not considered a very urgent threat at the time. No one in Oregon had this disease, and the few cases that occurred in the United States were associated with travel to and from affected countries. Outbreaks at nursing facilities in the Seattle area have yet to be noticed.

The coronavirus crossed Scharf’s heart that day, but it was that night when he discovered a virus-infected patient in California through community expansion, wondering if it was destroying the calderon’s lungs. It was.

The next morning, Dr. Kaiser questioned county and state public health officials. At that time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention restricted testing to people who had traveled to affected countries or had viral symptoms and were in contact with confirmed cases, but Scharf and her colleagues found that Requested patient examination.

It was February 27th. By the afternoon of that day, the CDC had revised its guidance to allow examination of patients who could not explain their symptoms. Within 24 hours, the test returned positive. This was the first coronavirus test processed by the State Public Health Laboratory.

Governor Kate Brown and the commander of public health officials rushed to a press conference, announcing that the coronavirus reached Oregon through an apparent community expansion.

Calderon spent an additional 60 days on the ventilator. After staying 71 days this week, he was mostly discharged in the intensive care unit.

“It’s difficult to get enough oxygen because your lungs are so inflamed by the virus,” Scharf said. “You need to use a ventilator and a significant amount of supplemental oxygen to support you.

“It was his situation for days,” she said.

The medical staff that Calderon has arranged to take lembicivir is an antiviral drug currently in clinical trials as a potential treatment for COVID-19. The trial has shown promising results in limiting the duration of the virus.

Calderon was one of the first patients to get the drug in the country and took it within a day or two after a positive test, Scharf said.

It’s too early to know that, but she suspects that drug therapy played a role in his recovery.

“I don’t know for sure until I get more data,” she said.

The pharmaceutical company, Gilead, has shipped the drug directly to hospitals currently participating in clinical trials.

Calderon’s wife and family could not be visited due to COVID-19 restrictions, so a nurse was represented.

Chad Cave, a nursing supervisor in the intensive care unit, said Calderon appeared calm despite being having difficulty breathing on admission.

“He had a special composure about him,” said Cave, 46.

He said over the years, he has seen that more capable patients tend to feel better.

“I call it Chill Factor,” he said. “Hector cooled him considerably. He remained calm even when he was suffering.”

Calderon deteriorated rapidly and he needed a ventilator, he said.

At a particularly difficult time in the treatment of Calderon, Cave entered his room, gave him a “lively story,” and prayed. Calderon was sedated.

“I told him I knew he would get better,” Cave said. “I saw his fight.”

When Calderon left sedation, Cave promised that Mariachi’s band would be there to send him out.

Oregon Coronavirus: the latest news | Live map tracker |Text alert | Newsletter

Slowly, Calderon got better. He left the ventilator.

Scharf said Calderon was an exceptional case. Sick patients usually do not recover, she said.

“His prognosis was not good,” she said. “The fact that he is now all off except for a little bit of supplemental oxygen is just amazing.”

She said his long stay in the intensive care unit and ventilator added only to the extraordinary nature of his recovery.

Charderon declined to say if Calderon was in an underlying medical condition that made him particularly vulnerable because of patient confidentiality.

While the majority of patients with serious illness from the virus are elderly, Scharf said a subset of the younger patients have also been hit hard.

So far, 115 people in Oregon have died of this disease. According to the Oregon Health Authority, 2,916 patients are believed to be positive or otherwise coronavirus.

Kaiser Permanente said 111 patients with coronavirus were discharged from the hospital.

Eleven COVID-19 patients are being treated at Kaiser Permanente Westside Hospital and two are being treated at Kaiser Permanente Sunnyside Hospital.

Scharf said it was the team’s effort to help Charderon to be in sufficient condition to be released. He was moved to a rehab center where he is expected to continue his recovery.

She is optimistic about his prognosis.

“He’s strong, courageous, and he’s resilient,” Scharf said. “I think Hector will get over this ….

“He is just the inspiration for all of us.”

-Noel Crombee; [email protected]503-276-7184; Azuki

Subscribe to Oregonian / Oregon Live Newsletter And Podcast Check out the latest news and top news.