When COVID-19 struck, Rev. Doyle Mitchell, pastor of Liberty Hill United Methodist Church, first thought he was having heart problems and called his cardiologist in Jackson. It hurt him to breathe and he was positive that he was having heart trouble.
After a medicine change and a few more calls to the cardiologist, Mitchell realized he was getting no better. By that point, he had heard that a patient he had visited in the hospital on Mar. 12 had been diagnosed with COVID-19, so he went to Trace Medical on Mar. 25 and got tested.
A few days later, he found out that he was definitely positive, and another few days later, his wife, Marie, tested positive, as well.
“I can’t tell you a lot about that period because I really don’t remember a lot about it,” said Doyle, who said he is very grateful to his daughter, Angela Clark, who cared for her parents.
“She was here for 10 days and nights. We would not have made it without her,” he said.
Marie, too, said she remembers little of the time when she was most-severely ill.
“I don’t remember much at all. I just know that I was as sick as I had ever been,” she said.
Both the Mitchells had aches, high fever, shortness of breath, excessive chills, and Marie had stomach issues as well.
“The nurses told us that for some reason more women with the disease have the gastrointestinal symptoms than men do,” said Clark.
Marie’s breathing issues were also worse than those of her husband.
“I couldn’t take a deep breath because of the pain. I thought it could be my heart,” said Marie. “We wanted to recover at home and avoid the hospital if all possible.”
Luckily for them, Clark lives down the road from the Mitchells in Ethel and was able to check on them every day.
“I left soup and other food at the door since I couldn’t go in. But they wouldn’t eat. They had no appetite, and Daddy said nothing tasted good. I called every morning to check on them. One morning when Daddy answered the phone, he was not making sense. Then the phone went dead. I knew at that point I had to go in,” said Clark.
Protecting herself with gowns, gloves and masks, Clark moved in with her parents. She learned from home health staff how to change IV bags, and she video-called nurses that she knows when she needed help or had questions. She also sent their vital signs to the cardiologist twice a day.
Luckily, the Mitchell’s only granddaughter is a nurse at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis and was able to talk Clark through changing the IV bags. Both the Mitchells had IVs for several hours a day and were on oxygen 24/7.
“I was also told to keep them separate. I had Mama in their bedroom and using that bathroom and Daddy slept in the recliner and used the hall bathroom,” said Clark.
Doyle did not mind being relegated to the recliner.
“I couldn’t lie down and breathe,” he said. “The recliner was the only place I could sleep.”
Asked if she was nervous caring for her parents, she said she was too busy to think about it.
“I didn’t have time to get nervous,” said Clark. “I kept busy looking after them and disinfecting everything in sight. To top it off, the dishwasher went out right in the middle of everything.
“At one time, both their cell phones were ringing, the house phone was ringing, and my cell was ringing,” Clark said with a laugh. “The church family and other friends called to check on them. They all wanted to do something, but Mama and Daddy couldn’t eat.”
Doyle said dehydration and a change in taste caused by the disease was the culprit.
“My mouth was dry from the dehydration, and everything I tried to eat left an awful taste in my mouth,” he said.
As a result, Clark asked those who wanted to help to contribute supplies rather than food.
“So I started telling people, ‘Don’t send food; send supplies,’” said Clark.
At that point, the supplies started coming in. Disinfectant, gloves, masks and other items started arriving from all over the state.
“I’ve been a pastor all over the state of Mississippi since 1964. I know worlds of people, and they were all so good to us. They would send boxes of supplies to help. It’s hard to comprehend that kind of love. How do you thank people for that?” Doyle said tearfully.
He is also quick to compliment others who helped.
“Angela’s husband, Roger kept the road hot getting whatever we needed,” said Doyle.
“It was nothing for Roger to go to town two or three times a day,” Clark added of her husband’s role in caring for his in-laws..
“Hailey Upchurch with home health was so good and caring. JJ Warrington opened up Sullivan’s for us on a Sunday afternoon and would call to check on us. Kelly Powers of Trace Medical was wonderful. We are so grateful for God’s mercy, for Angela, for all the calls and texts that we received,” Doyle said.
Clark said one of the best moments came out of a simple request her father made.
“I was so happy the day that Daddy said he wanted one egg,” said Clark. “That was a joyful day, and he ate one egg for several days; later, he started wanting two.”
Another joyful day was the one when her parents were sort of reunited. The couple had to be five days free of fever before Doyle was allowed to go to the doorway of the bedroom and see his wife of almost 60 years, Marie.
“It was so sweet. He told my sister on the phone that night, ‘I got to see Mama,’” Clark said.
During their month-long quarantine, the Mitchell’s grandsons, Conner and Hunter Clark, would come to the doorway of the sunroom to see their grandparents. But they weren’t the only ones who missed the Mitchells.
“The German shepherd Shadow stayed at the sunroom every day until he finally got to see Daddy,” Clark said.
The Mitchells are no longer contagious, but are still being very cautious about getting out.
“I always wear a mask, and I don’t go anywhere that I don’t have to,” said Doyle.
“I’m still not getting out,” Marie said.
Both lost weight and strength as a result of the disease, but they are regaining both slowly.
The whole experience was best summed up by Clark.
“They are absolute miracles,” she said.
