An Update on Alex

A lot of people have asked me about how Alex is doing. So let me tell you.

First, I have to explain that Alex and I have no formal relationship, so I have no legal right to know anything about his medical situation. When he texted me that he was sick, he was already at the hospital. I told him to give them my name as someone who can get updates, but he seems to have been too sick to actually do it.

The result is that my sources of information on him Saturday were all informal. A mutual friend was able to get some details out of Alex’ family, and from someone who worked at the hospital. And a third person provided me with a good deal of information but I can’t talk about it without getting that person in a lot of trouble. There have to be some big holes in this story.

Apparently, his medical team felt bad for him. They saw him as being polite, kind, and sad and somewhere along the line someone decided to break a hospital rule. They gave him what my third source called “the Trump Drugs”–unapproved drugs that President Trump was given when he got sick.

Alex responded extremely well. His breathing improved. He improved so much overnight that hospital administrators started paying attention to what was going on. They wanted to know how he was recovering so quickly. The team got caught and was reprimanded for what they had done. They were transferred off his case.

Alex woke up, but he was panicked (which apparently is not unheard of for people who have been comatose). He freaked out and had to be restrained. There’s a lot here I can’t say. but someone risked a LOT to protect him. I will be forever grateful to that person. I think they saved his life.

Late Saturday night, I got a call from Alex. He was trying to talk, but could only rasp incoherently. I knew immediately he was trying to apologize to me for not getting his radiation treatment. I told him not to talk and I just talked to him for a few minutes, assuring him that he was safe and he needed to stay calm and that I wasn’t angry with him. I said I was so proud that he was fighting his way back. Then the phone cut off. The whole call was odd; it was both comforting and unnerving at the same time.

This morning, he started texting me. His doctor said he can’t speak for a day (intubation is extremely hard on the throat), but he was fully-coherent and we texted a good deal. He kept apologizing (subs, you know? What can you do?). There’s a bunch of complicated stuff that happened, including Alex planning to sneak out of the hospital–remember what I said about him getting bad ideas when he’s scared? Fortunately, I was able to stop that one.

Then a huge shouting argument broke out between the old medical team and the new medical team, right in the hallway, about whether he should continue being given the ‘Trump Drugs’. The old team said that without them, he might struggle to continue his recovery. The new team insisted that since the drugs weren’t approved, they couldn’t be used. The old team accused the new team of playing politics and being anti-Trump. The new team seems to have the administration’s support (I’m sure there are worries about lawsuits). People were threatened with disciplinary action. So I think the new team won.

Right about that point, Alex began having breathing trouble. He had to be re-intubated. That’s the last thing I know.

So it seems as though the ‘Trump Drugs’ helped him a lot, but it also seems he might be having something of a relapse. So he’s not out of the woods.

Remember what I said about Alex having the kind of life most people can’t imagine? He’s told me that if he ever wrote his memoirs people wouldn’t believe his story. I’m starting to really see why.