The bubble bursts Mike is a professional musician who has toured the world both as a solo artist and with his bands Mike Mangione & the Union and Mike Mangione & the Kin. He’s been sharing the gift of his music at the Theology of the Body Institute courses and events since 2008. He is the director of events and international partnerships for the Institute and a contributor to the recently released “God Is Beauty: A Retreat on the Gospel and Art” (TOBI Press). Mike and his wife, Stacy, live in Wisconsin with their three children.
by Mike Mangione
supplemental oxygen. One unforgettable machine sounded an alarm every time my oxygen saturation dipped below 90 percent. It beeped day and night, an incessant reminder that I was not well. Every breath I exhaled felt like it could go on for miles, and it sounded like Rice Krispies were crackling in my lungs. I was getting worse rapidly, and I knew it. When the staff asked about my power of attorney and wishes regarding resuscitation, it was the end to any wishful thinking. I was not in a good place. On Oct. 10 a bed opened up at another hospital 30 minutes away. An ICU bed was far better equipped for my situation than an ER bed, so I agreed to the transfer.
On Oct. 4 of last year I tested positive for Covid-19. The nurse’s exact words were, “You are overwhelmingly positive,” and I was instructed to head home, isolate myself from my family and rest. On the night of Oct. 6, I awoke with a fever, increased heart rate and shortness of breath. My pulse oximeter display was hovering between 88–90 percent, so I headed to the emergency room. I received IV fluids and was given a chest x-ray, which revealed I had developed pneumonia. Later that morning the doctor prescribed some meds and sent me on my way. My oxygen dipped again early in the morning two days later, this time into the mid 80s, and I returned to the hospital. For three days I was confined to an emergency room bed, hooked up to multiple machines and given
UNCHARTED TERRITORY My new doctor informed me of the severity of my situation straightaway: I was receiving the maximum amount of oxygen possible before needing to be intubated. One tiny slip backwards and I would be placed in a medically induced coma with a breathing tube inserted down my throat. He also added that just the day before he had lost a 29-year-old male patient to Covid. The plan was to treat my disease with an antiviral for five days, a steroid and some vitamins in an effort to stop my decline and increase lung functionality. The 24
