Marlon Jimenea, the nurse who this week died of COVID-19, had not been well but tested negative for influenza A and B a few days before he was admitted to a Sharjah hospital’s Emergency Room and soon after transferred to its Intensive Care Unit where he was intubated that evening. He would be staying at the ICU for the next 21 days, going through six cardiac arrests – three of which happened in just a day – before finally passing on.
This according to the 44-year-old ICU nurse’s wife, Merry Janet Jimenea, 40 and a health care assistant, who told Rappler in an exclusive interview that her husband had a check up at University Hospital Sharjah (UHS) on April 2, a Thursday.
“Nagka-coughing na sya. Nagpa-check-up sya. The blood test was done and flu swab was negative so he was sent back home and given anti-biotic,” Merry Janet said.
“Sabi nya sa akin, i-proceed daw for COVID test kung mag-positive,” she added, referring to Marlon’s advice.
Merry Janet and their daughter, six-year-old Marianne Jane “Queenie” Jimenea, were quarantined after Marlon was admitted at UHS. The two tested negative for COVID-19.
“Hindi ko pa rin nararamdaman na wala na siya,” said Merry Janet. “Kau-kausap ko pa rin sya dito sa bahay. Wala na kaming magagawa, We didn’t expect this to happen,” she added, voice quivering on the phone, apparently holding tears back.
“Feeling ng anak namin hindi ko sya love kasi daddy nya lagi pinagdarasal ko mula nang na-confine sya until now. Hirap i-explain sa bata.
“Nakakaluwag naman na nakakausap ko saya kahit sa kusina. Alam ko nandito lang din sya. Magaan ang buhay pag katuwang mo sya. Masakit, kasi, sya ang nagma-manage at gabay mo sa buhay. Tapos biglang mawala. Kaya minsan parang di ko na alam ang gagawin. Mag-isa na ako…iniwan na nya,” Merry Janet said.
He was fine
Merry Janet said Marlon didn’t show signs of breaking down which was why, she said, they took it lightly.
“Malakas naman sya. Kumakain. Naliligo. Nag-a-anti-biotic. No throat pain. May ubo-ubo lang,”Merry Janet said.
“Feeling nya kaya naman nya. We were not that bothered. The fever subsided, May coughing na dry at matigas-tigas,” she added.
She noted that Marlon started having a bloated tummy.
Went dizzy
Saturday, April 4 came and Marlon started to deteriorate, recalls Merry Janet.
“He had no appetite. Hindi nakakalunok. But parang wala lang. We were not expecting it to be COVID. He handles patients so he knew,” said Merry Janet.
Merry Janet, who was on duty that day, said their daughter’s nanny, told her Marlon had a bout of dizziness, which would later on turn out to be caused a declining oxygen level in the body.
“Nahilo daw nang bumaba to buy milk. I still didn’t think it was that serious,” she said.
Merry Janet said she talked to Marlon in the early morning of the next day, Sunday, April 5.
“Sabi ko, ‘Dad, parang hindi na maganda ‘to. Baka gusto mong ihatid na kita sa ospital. Kaya mo pa ba?’” she shared.
Admitted
Merry Janet said her husband managed to book an appointment at UHS that day for his bloating.
“Three in the afternoon, hindi pa rin naka-uwi si Marlon. Hinahanap na sya ng anak namin,” she said, adding that she was on duty at work that day at another hospital.
By 4:30 pm, Merry Janet said, Marlon sent her a whatsapp message: “Tinanong nya kung anong oras ako makaka-uwi. Hindi naman nya sinabing ia-admit na sya. Sabi lang nya, ‘Ga, pakihanda ng yung mga gamit ko,’” referring to personal effects like shaver and so on.
She said Marlon would have asked her to bring his things over at the hospital but thought against it over worries that she could be caught in the curfew.
“I didn’t know he was a suspected COVID case. Kung alam ko lang, eh di sana lumipad na ako,” Merry Janet said, adding that she was later informed Marlon’s “oxygen saturation” level was continuously going down. Low levels of oxygen in the body is among early warning signs of COVID-19, doctors said.
That Sunday morning would be the last time the couple was together.
Marlon was admitted at the ER in the afternoon then was moved to ICU that evening where he was intubated, according to Merry Janet.
“Hindi na kami nakapag-usap mula nang umalis sya papuntang ospital,” Merry Janet said.
She said doctors told her Marlon had six episodes of cardiac arrest. “In one day, nag-cardiac arrest sya ng three times,” she said.
Merry Janet, as of press time, is doing the paperwork for the cremation of her husband’s remains. She said she plans to bring it home in the Philippines.
Shocked
Meantime, Misyl Jovero, Marlon’s colleague at UHS who looked after him during his confinement at ICU said there were “shocked.”
“All the while we thought that he went to the Out-Patient Department because of abdominal bloating. Then kinakausap ko din sya sa phone nung nilapat na sya sa ER, ok naman po sya. Tapos nalaman namin sa doctor na for intubation po pala sya. So, umiyak na po ako kasi kuya is kuya, not only a colleague but we are all family,” Jovero said.
Going on duty with him as ward was, Jovero said, “physically, emotionally and mentally draining.”
“Physically because it is very hot and uncomfortable po to wear the PPE every time we go inside his room at almost di ka mkahinga sa N95 mask then sa dami pa po ng procedures which will make you stay inside for long hours because our doctor was doing everything without hesitation to save him.
“Emotionally because it hurt me so much po doing nursing care for him like suctioning po for example because I know it’s painful but I need to do it. So mag-iyak ka na lang po ng iyak. And at the end of the shift, you need to update the family also, especially the wife kasi close din po ako sa kanya. Of course, iiyak sya so you wanted to comfort her as much as possible pero may limitations naman kasi sa phone lang sya.
“At mentally po kasi we never expected to see him as an ICU patient, someone from our own unit, hirap po isipin at i-digest,” said Jovero.
Jovero said Marlon did not show signs of respiratory distress when he arrived at the hospital. “COVID is really a traitor,” she said, “Hindi nga nya napansin na he’s oxygen level is low until kinabit sya sa monitor,” Jovero added.
Jovero said Marlon, “an exceptional father and husband who have never hesitated to help,” also didn’t know he was diabetic. “Na-discover lang upon admission,” she said.
“In the end,” Jovero said, “its heartbreaking, seeing him go right before your eyes.”
Marlon has been in the UAE for eight years. He was among the first batches of Filipino nurses at UHS, according to Jovero. He died in the morning of April 26, Sunday. (Supplied photos)
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