When lawyer David Lat first started tweeting from his hospital bed on March 17th, he was primarily known within the legal community for founding the blog Above the Law. But his frank, detailed description of his experience with coronavirus quickly captured a wide audience that was hungry for information and increasingly invested in his recovery.
“Initially, I went on Twitter just to alert anyone who interacted with me [that I tested positive for COVID-19] so they would know if they came down with symptoms they should get tested,” Lat told Gothamist. “But then I noticed there was such a response to my posts I thought, ‘Why don’t I chronicle in real time what I’m going through?’”
In his first Twitter thread, Lat, 44, shared that aside from experiencing exercise-induced asthma, he led a healthy lifestyle and had run two marathons. “This morning, this ex-marathoner could barely walk the five feet from the bed to the toilet,” Lat tweeted from the hospital.
Even though Lat had asthma, it was still shocking at that point in the outbreak to see how severe coronavirus symptoms could be for someone relatively young and healthy. It was even more shocking when Lat was put on a ventilator a few days later, with not-very-encouraging updates trickling in from his husband over the six days he spent unconscious.
By the time Lat was discharged from the hospital on April 1st, his recovery was mainstream news. Gothamist recently had a call with Lat, who is rebuilding his strength at his parents’ house in New Jersey, where he’s accompanied by his husband, Zachary Shemtob, and their two-year-old son. Here is a full timeline of his coronavirus experience in his own words, constructed from our interview and his tweets.
March 7th-8th
On the evening of Saturday, March 7th, David tweeted that he had been with his husband "out to dinner with friends. After dinner, we were going to have a round of drinks — but I suddenly felt unwell, so I excused myself and went home."
Gothamist: Before you got sick, did you ever think you were at risk for coronavirus?
David Lat: No, not in particular. It was something that was certainly in the news and I followed it like any concerned person would, but it wasn’t really something I thought would necessarily become a reality for me.
When I first started feeling symptoms, I didn’t really entertain the possibility that it was coronavirus. I started feeling sick around March 7th to 8th, in terms of fatigue. At that point, there were fewer than 50 confirmed cases in New York City. If you have a city of more than 8 million people with fewer than 50 cases, it seems like a long shot that you would have it, especially since I hadn’t traveled to any coronavirus hotspots.
March 9th-11th
On Monday, March 9th, David recalled, "I felt decently. I even went into the office for a few hours. But upon returning home that night, I knew something was off. My fever and chills began that night going into Tuesday, March 10th. I didn’t go into work that day (and basically didn’t leave my apartment since then, except when I finally went to the hospital)." On Tuesday and Wednesday, the 10th and 11th, Lat noted "my fever ranged from 101-104, with the 101-102 range most common."
March 12th
On Thursday, March 12th, "I woke up fever-free without having taken fever-reducing meds, which struck me as great. In fact, by that afternoon I was thinking that maybe I was over whatever little three-day bug I had... Boy was I wrong. On Thursday afternoon/evening, I developed a nasty cough, replete with heavy chest congestion. This continued into Friday, which is when my fever returned (101.6)."
March 13th
"I called my internist on Friday, March 13th. The physician’s assistant I spoke with said it sounded like a flu that turned into bronchitis. She prescribed cough syrup and a Z-Pak and said I could feel better as early as the next day."
March 14th-15th
"Unfortunately, I got worse over the weekend," Lat tweeted. "My coughing having progressed to the point where it was making it hard for me to breathe. On Sunday, 3/15, I made my way to the emergency room at NYU Langone Medical Center, my nearest ER." He added that, "During that first visit to the ER, they did give me the cold/flu panel, which tests for a wide range of viral and bacterial agents that can cause cold/flu symptoms. My test came up... negative. So, I said when they told me this, NOW can you finally give me a covid test? Alas, no. I don’t know the source of this rule or regulation, but I had to have my primary doctor call the hospital back the next day to schedule me for the test."
G: What was it like getting turned away the first time you went to the ER?
DL: That was very frustrating because by then I thought coronavirus was a very real possibility and I wanted to get tested. They gave me a test for the common strains of the cold and flu and it came back negative the same day. So I said, “OK, can you give me a COVID-19 test?.” They said, “You can get tested, [but you have to] come back tomorrow,” which made no sense to me. It was a real runaround.
March 16th
I came back the next day partly to get the test but more importantly because my symptoms had worsened and I couldn’t breathe. When I arrived on Monday, the 16th I could barely stand or walk and when I got to the ER they took me back immediately and gave me supplemental oxygen. I was in very bad shape and they admitted me, gave me a COVID-19 test and put me in a regular hospital room. At some point after that, I found out I was positive.
March 17th
"In my current state... I am constantly weak and winded. I’m hooked up to oxygen 24/7. Even with oxygen, the simplest tasks are extremely difficult," Lat tweeted. "This morning, this ex-marathoner could barely walk the five feet from the bed to the toilet - and I had to pee as quickly as possible, chest heaving with the labor of breathing, because I was going to collapse if I stood too long."
March 20th
G: What was going through your head when you were told you would need to be put on a ventilator?
DL: That was very scary because I knew at the time that a lot of patients don’t survive the ventilator. I’m glad I didn’t know at the time that the statistics are probably even worse than I thought.
G: Do you remember anything about being on the ventilator?
DL: I don’t really remember my time on the ventilator. You’re just knocked out. They give you anesthesia so you’re totally out of it. I don’t even remember what the machine looks like and even after you come out of it you’re still in a bit of a haze. They give you all these drugs so it takes a little while before you get clear headed again. I was very fortunate. I didn’t have any of the nightmares or hallucinations that some patients on ventilators report.
March 17th-25th
Lat tweeted that the coronavirus-related drugs he received were:
- lopinavir/ritonavir (brand name Kaletra), 3/17-3/20
- hydroxychloroquine with azithromycin, 3/20-3/25
- clazakizumab (trial), 3/21 and 3/23
G: You were given a few different experimental treatments while you were in the hospital. What was it like to be the guinea pig in this case?
DL: I was happy to be the guinea pig for many different COVID-19 medications. When you’re very sick you’re willing to try anything, so whenever a doctor said, “Here’s this medicine would you be interested?” I pretty much said yes. I was not worried about side effects. I was in a pretty serious state so I was willing to try anything.
G: Were your doctors able to speculate at all about what worked?
DL: No, it’s tough because I received multiple things. So, did the medications help? Did the medications do nothing? Did the medications hurt? Who knows? It’s really hard to say.
March 28th
G: What’s the first thing you remember after being extubated?
DL: I don’t remember the extubation process very well either. It took a little while for me to get my bearings again. But eventually, I realized, “OK, I’m off a ventilator, I’m breathing again, I’m in the hospital, I know where I am.” It took a little while for me to figure out what was going on.
April 1st
Lat discovered media outlets were already working on his obituary; on April 1st, he tweeted: "When you learn that a major American newspaper was interviewing prominent lawyers and journalists for a draft of your obituary."
G: How did you find out that a major newspaper was interviewing people for your obituary?
DL: There turned out to be two papers. One I heard about from a friend who had been contacted by a reporter. My friend declined to be interviewed, saying he knew I’d pull through. Then I posted that on Twitter and another friend who works at a different paper as a reporter contacted me and said, “We never assigned a reporter, we just talked about it in our meeting.” I won’t name the papers but it was flattering. But I’m glad they didn’t have to use them.
G: That must have been a very surreal moment.
DL: Yeah, but it’s funny, I can’t fault them in the sense that I was in critical condition in the ICU for about a week, including six days on a ventilator. And, given the survival rates we’re now hearing about, it was not an unreasonable possibility that I would die.
G: What’s it like to have that realization? Do you feel like you have a new perspective coming out of all this?
DL: It’s pretty clichéd, but I do feel I have a greater appreciation now for life, having almost lost it. This will probably fade after some time, but for now, I don’t really get worked up over trivial things because I just see the big picture.
G: Before you were discharged what kind of instructions did you get?
DL: Overall, I received great care and I’m so grateful to the doctors and nurses for taking such good care of me. But I do think the discharge instructions could have been more robust. They focused a lot on the coronavirus part of it, even though I was told by an infectious disease doctor on the day of my discharge that I was no longer contagious. But the discharge instructions didn’t really address my lung issues, even though I had been on a ventilator for almost a week. I think it’s tough right now because they’re so busy. Typically, you schedule a follow-up appointment with a pulmonologist but I think a lot of the pulmonologists are still working with COVID-19 patients. So, it’s a tough time because some people are starting to recover but other people are still in the hospital and very sick.
G: What were you most looking forward to when you got out of the hospital?
DL: Obviously, seeing my family. My husband and I have a two-year-old son and I hadn’t seen him in weeks. But there was a lot to look forward to. Even just taking a nice, hot shower in your own bathroom was something to look forward to.
G: Did you and your husband tell your son anything about what happened or where you were?
DL: No, not really. My husband got the illness, too [although a much milder case] and when we started to feel sick we sent him off to my parents who live in New Jersey, where I am now. It was good because he could get out of the city and when we were sick we didn’t have to deal with the additional challenge of caring for him. At some points, if I was trying to rest and he was trying to play with me or bug me a little, we might say, “Oh, leave papa alone, papa’s sick,” but we didn’t really explain the whole hospital thing to him.
April 1st-6th
G: How have you been feeling since leaving the hospital?
DL: I have a slight cough. Not the COVID cough, but a bacterial cough for which I was given antibiotics. I have this hoarse voice, which I really should be resting more. And I get short breath from doing very minor things like walking up a flight of stairs or walking through a few rooms. I have to stop and catch my breath. This is all fairly typical. I was told to expect this. It can take weeks or months to get back to normal. I’ve heard from a lot of people who have recovered from different illnesses who report similar things. It just takes a long time to get back to your former self, but, you know, it’s OK. I’m going in the right direction.
G: What has it been like receiving all this feedback from the public?
DL: Mainly my reaction is just gratitude. I’ve gotten a lot of support from people, not just family and friends but also total strangers. It’s really gotten me through the last few weeks.
G: Has all the feedback been positive?
DL: Most of it is positive. Occasionally, there’s something negative and it tends to be connected with something political. It’s amazing that something like this can be politicized but the issue of ventilators has become politicized, with some on the right saying the need for them has been exaggerated. The issue of medications has become politicized with this whole issue of the hydroxychloroquine medication I received. But really 90-plus percent of what I hear is positive, wishing me a strong recovery, thanking me for sharing my story.
G: Are you concerned about how much your hospital stay is going to cost?
DL: To be honest, I’m not hugely concerned. Under my health insurance, which I’m fortunate to have, there is a cap on out-of-pocket expenses, which I think I’ll hit, but it’s fine. I’m in a fortunate position. I should be able to pay the out-of-pocket cap. I know a lot of Americans are not in that fortunate a position, but I feel like, again, I’m just glad to be alive. It’s kind of a weird question: How much is too much to pay for having your life saved?
G: What do you hope people take away from your story?
DL: My main point is this is something to be taken very seriously. It can affect younger people like myself as well as older people and we need to maintain the focus on fighting this, as opposed to letting up.
