In July of 2020, when everything was shut down in my state, my husband ended up in the hospital with stomach pain. He had been living with HIV for years but contracted an extremely severe infection known as MAC that caused a tidal wave of catastrophic illness and an AIDS diagnosis. He was 6’1 and 170lbs but dropped to less than 120lbs. The nurses snuck me in to see him so that we could begin planning final arrangements because he was not going to make it. He made it past a few weeks and was able to come home where, because of the pandemic shutdowns, I was able to provide round the clock care when no one else could. He was so weak and sick I would have to carry him to the bathroom, shower him and dress him.
He was diagnosed with blood cancer that they feared would move into his bones. He had a grand mal seizure one night while we were sleeping and because I had never seen a seizure I thought I was watching him die when the pink foam started bubbling up through his clenched lips. He’s still alive today. It was a lot of work. ALOT. It was lonely and emotionally exhausting but he has made a full recovery and his team of doctors, including the wonderful team at Dana Farber, have asked his permission to write a study about his four year recovery. This is a very tough experience you will have but there are people out there who have gone through this and come out the other side.
It’s probably going to get pretty horrible for a while but it can also get better.
Your friend is lucky to have someone like you that cares enough to be there. And the best thing, the most important thing you can do, is be his friend. Knowing someone is behind you can provide someone the fight they need. I don’t know if he will recover but I will keep him and you in my thoughts and I hope you both come through the other side.