Elkridge Man Spends 31 Days In Hospital Battling Coronavirus

ELKRIDGE, MD — The 1,000th coronavirus-positive patient to be discharged from a University of Maryland Medical System hospital spent 31 days at University of Maryland Baltimore Washington Medical Center, wondering if he'd ever make it home. Steve Nicewarner of Elkridge, 57, walked into his Elkridge home where he resides with his wife and two grown daughters.

“I’m thankful that God brought me through this ordeal and for being able to come home to be with my family,” Nicewarner said. “I’m also thankful for all the prayers and for the support of our friends and family.”

The Nicewarner's youngest daughter Johnna, 25, works as an emergency department nurse at UMBWMC and tested positive before her dad, as did her 31-year-old sister Jenny, who is a third grade teacher in Anne Arundel County. While their son Rob, 28, is in West Virginia working on his doctorate and did not contract the disease, he did have to postpone his May 9 wedding.

The Nicewarner family credits the UMBWMC care team, friends and family, and their faith community at Lighthouse Church in Glen Burnie for their support. A federal government employee, Nicewarner was home ill for a week before his family took him to the hospital. He developed a fever May 17, tested positive the next day and headed to the hospital May 24 as his condition worsened.

"We have been very moved by the outpouring of love and support evidenced in so many ways from messages to meals and everything in between,” said Cindy Nicewarner, Steven's wife. “We are surrounded by love and comfort during this journey and are so grateful for all who have lifted us up by walking with us. Many of these people we don’t even know. Steve was added to so many church prayer chains all over. So our story is a testimony of love—of God’s love for us and for the love we share for one another.”

Nicewarner was on a ventilator for 10 days, had to be proned – a medical procedure where he was flipped onto his stomach in order to better oxygenate his lungs, and he lost part of his memory. He couldn’t remember being taken to the hospital.

“It was very hard not to have eyes on Steve,” said his wife Cindy Nicewarner. “The hardest part for us was knowing he was in the hospital, going through some very scary things and was feeling all alone.”

Before he was put on a ventilator, the family was able to text and talk via cell phone, and utilized the hospital’s virtual patient connect service to communicate via a tablet in his room with the assistance of a nurse because Steve could only mouth words and use hand motions.

"Mr. Nicewarner was critically ill for several weeks and our interdisciplinary care team utilized advanced care therapies in his treatment,” said Peter P. Olivieri, MD, a pulmonary and critical care physician who was a member of the patient’s care team at UMBWMC. “It was a wonderful feeling to see him recover and be discharged after a long and, at times, challenging hospital stay."

Cindy Nicewarner thanked God for allowing her husband to go home. The family intends to take a vacation together when Steve Nicewarner has fully recovered. He hopes to regain his sense of taste soon.

“We feel so very grateful to God for sparing his life,” she added, noting that when her husband is fully recovered, the family is most looking forward to taking a vacation together.