'New lease on life': Hempfield man recovers from covid-19, donates plasma to help others
Monte Swauger had been coughing for weeks.
One night in March, he got worse.
An emergency room visit to AHN Hempfield Neighborhood Hospital on March 19 set off six excruciating days for his wife, Carrie, and their three sons. Swauger, 49, was diagnosed with bacterial pneumonia.
His positive coronavirus test wouldn’t come for another few days.
Carrie Swauger waited in the hospital parking lot for hours that first day, desperate for any news about what was happening inside. When she learned he was being taken by ambulance to AHN Forbes Hospital, she raced 18 miles to Monroeville, hoping to see him before visitors were restricted.
She didn’t make it in time.
Back at home in West Hempfield, 22-year-old Benjamin had some more bad news for his mother: he wasn’t feeling well. It was almost too much for her to handle.
“There was a lot going on that day,” said Carrie Swauger, 52. “It was quite an ordeal for me.”
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Monte Swauger was one of Westmoreland County’s first confirmed cases of the coronavirus that has disrupted life across the globe while government and health officials try to slow its spread. His family was on the leading edge of the virus’ grip in the county, they believe even before the statistics started being calculated.
Andrew Swauger, 20, got sick on Feb. 1, his parents said. The University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg student tested negative for the flu and strep throat, but he was sick for about 12 days.
Later that month, Carrie Swauger fell ill. She never got tested.
As she started feeling better, Monte Swauger’s health declined. Fever, cough, fatigue — the same symptoms Andrew and Carrie had experienced, leading them to believe they all had the coronavirus after Monte’s positive test. In a doctor visit before the hospitalization, Monte was prescribed cough medicine after a chest X-ray and flu test provided no answers, they said.
Benjamin tested negative for the coronavirus, but his parents said he they assumed he was another case because he had the same symptoms. Daniel, 15, a Hempfield Area student, never got sick.
But for some reason, Monte had it the worst.
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While Monte fought for his life in the hospital, his family sat helpless at home.
“A lot of the hospital stuff is a blur,” he said. “I slept most of the time I was there.”
He was on oxygen and used FaceTime to talk to family when he had a few minutes of energy. It was a “very emotional time” for Carrie and the boys as they tried to stay afloat while fearing the worst, she said. They weren’t able to visit him because of hospital restrictions and had to try to manage his care from afar. Monte didn’t have any underlying health condition.
“He had some pretty rough days at the hospital,” Carrie said. “We didn’t know whether or not he was going to be coming home to us. It was very hard for us to not be there with him.”
Then one day, there was a turning point.
Monte lost his sense of taste and Carrie could see through FaceTime calls that he was struggling because he wasn’t eating.
“I could tell his morale was low, the isolation was getting to him,” she said.
A relative picked up an MTO sandwich from Sheetz and a bottle of Gatorade for Monte and handed it off to a nurse to deliver to his room. That made a huge difference.
“I slept good that night because that was the first time I heard the old Monte back again,” Carrie said.
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Monte was released from the hospital March 24. He has returned to work and is finally feeling back to normal, but those six days are never far from his mind.
“I’ve been doing a lot of stuff with my kids lately,” he said. “When I got out of the hospital and found out how bad they had it at home, not having me here and not knowing if I was coming home, it was just something that hit me after I got home.”
“I just felt like I was sick and going home,” he said. “It never really hit me how bad it could’ve been.”
This year, Carrie and Monte will celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary with a new perspective.
“It was as if we all got a new lease on life,” she said. “The little things didn’t matter anymore.”
Monte donated plasma for the first time on April 30. Antibodies found in the plasma of those who have recovered from the virus are being used to treat critically ill patients. Allegheny Health Network and UPMC are working with Vitalant in a national trial to treat coronavirus patients.
Carrie and Andrew got tested Tuesday to see if they also have the antibodies. She is hoping to help others in any way possible.
“We will go every week,” she said. “If this can save one person, it’s definitely something we’re going to want to do.”
Renatta Signorini is a TribLive reporter covering breaking news, crime, courts and Jeannette. She has been working at the Trib since 2005. She can be reached at rsignorini@triblive.com.
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