After 3 Months In Hospital With COVID-19, Illinois Man Speaks Out

DOWNERS GROVE, IL — At the start of December 2020, Rich Kulovany was a "very healthy guy," who says faithfully worked out for an hour a day, five days a week. By Christmas, the Downers Grove Village Commissioner was in a medically induced coma and on a ventilator due to coronavirus, which hospitalized him for 99 days.

Kulovany was comatose for 16 days, then underwent a tracheotomy that temporarily left him unable to speak. Now, he's using his voice and telling his story to urge others to take coronavirus seriously.

“It’s not a glorified version of the flu, and it’s not a hoax," Kulovany told Patch. “For me, it’s the worst ordeal I’ve ever had to go through.”

Kulovany, 69, said he started feeling "a little bit off" the first week of December. As the week went on, what he thought was a sinus infection began to resemble the flu, so Kulovany went to urgent care for an influenza test Dec. 5.

When the results of Kulovany's influenza test came back negative, his doctor told him he likely had coronavirus. Kulovany got his positive coronavirus test result Dec. 6 and continued isolating himself from his wife of 49 years, Kathleen, his three adult children and his 10 grandchildren.

Nonetheless, Kulovany's wife, his daughter, his son-in-law and a family friend contracted coronavirus shortly after his diagnosis. “The strain I had was highly contagious," Kulovany said.

On Dec. 11, Kulovany's body temperature shot up to more than 103 degrees. His oxygen level, which he had been monitoring with a pulse oximeter, plunged to 82 percent.

Kulovany checked in to Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove later that day, but he had no idea he'd be spending the next three months in three different hospitals, fighting for his life.

"For a good portion of my stay, particularly at Good [Samaritan], I felt like I was dying," he said.

“I wasn’t afraid of dying, but I was really afraid of suffocating," Kulovany told Patch.

By Christmas Eve, Kulovany felt optimistic about his prognosis, but less than a day later, he was in critical condition. "They couldn’t keep my oxygen levels high enough," Kulovany said, so doctors put him in a coma to intubate him.

At one point, his oxygen level dropped to 62 percent and his lungs were only functioning at 20 percent of their normal capacity.

As the rest of the world celebrated the advent of what they hoped would be a bright, new year, Kulovany remained comatose in Good Samaritan's intensive care unit.

Things remained uncertain when it was finally time to bring Kulovany out of the coma, he told Patch, explaining that only a small percentage of people with coronavirus survive after they are placed on a ventilator.

“They weren’t sure I was going to wake up," he said.

Before Kulovany could come out of the coma, he had to be given a tracheotomy, which would allow him to breathe through a tracheostomy tube in his larynx. He also had a feeding tube inserted in his abdomen.

On Jan. 9, Kulovany was brought out of his coma. On Jan. 20, his 40 days at Advocate Good Samaritan came to an end. He was transferred to RML Specialty Hospital in Hinsdale, where he spent 45 days being slowly weaned off the tracheostomy and feeding tubes.

He also began physical therapy at RML.

“At first I couldn’t get out of bed. I couldn’t stand up on my own," Kulovany told Patch. Finally, he was able to take "three baby steps forward and three baby steps backward.”

Unable to speak for weeks because of the tracheostomy, Kulovany was given a whiteboard to communicate through writing, but he could not stop his hands from shaking.

“It was difficult communicating with people," he told Patch.

Kulovany left RML Specialty Hospital on March 5 and headed to Wheaton's Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital for two weeks in an acute rehabilitation program.

On March 19, Kulovany at last returned to his Downers Grove home, where his family members and pets were waiting to greet him." They had a nice 'welcome home' ceremony that was spread all across [the yard]," Kulovany said. "It was amazing."

Kulovany may be home now, but nearly six months after his coronavirus diagnosis, the disease is still taking its toll on his body.

“I’ve been struggling with a cough," he said, adding, "It’s getting better."

Kulovany says minor aches and pains he experienced before his coronavirus diagnosis have gotten worse. He's also experiencing newfound symptoms, including blurred vision, a burning sensation in his feet and "very serious insomnia."

Despite these challenges, Kulovany has a renewed sense of vigor. In mid-April, he attended his first Downers Grove village meeting in person since becoming ill. "It was nice, gratifying," Kulovany told Patch.

Ninety-nine days in three different hospitals may have sidelined Kulovany, but it also left him with a newfound purpose: to encourage people to take precautions against the dangers of coronavirus.

Kulovany said, “I really feel it’s so important for people to get vaccinated, and I feel it’s important for people to take this disease seriously until we are past it."

"It can cause serious damage," he said.