He went demon hunting

We purchased a house mid July. We had other houses we needed to fix before we could get to this one. Then when we had started working on it my world was brought to a screeching halt by a case of covid. The last 2 weeks we finally got back on track and Matthew coming for a weekend to help out really speeded up the process.

Yesterday we took out the last of the debris and swept the floors. The new tenant walked through and was pleased with the house. 

The owner who sold us the house had owned it for a long time but the last tenant had badly damaged the house and she did not think  she had the energy to put it back together.

After listening to stories and evidence we found in the house, I am sure the tenant was using drugs. This led him to the belief, while he was high, that there were demons hiding in the house. He tried to destroy the demons and that was where it got interesting.

The walls had a lot of damage. The previous owner had insulated the house with blow in insulation from the inside. I had never seen that done before. After drilling through the plaster they had put up paneling. Well the paneling was gone. If you are looking for demons pull off the wall covers I guess. 

We filled the holes in the plaster and fixed the walls. Paneling is not our thing.

The kitchen cupboards had used up their useful days.

The bottom ones were torn out and part of the floor was missing. Those demons might have been under the house in the crawl space. Yes, there was an egress to the crawl space, but when under the influence tearing out the cupboards and the flooring must have seemed to be the right thing to do.

We replaced the flooring and put in updated cupboards.

He had torn the gas line off the gas range and used it as a flame thrower. I guess if you are hunting demons nothing works as well as a flaming gas line. 

Now the house has an electric stove and the window and wood around it has been replaced.

Must have been demons in the toilet tank as well. Probably a good thing he had water spraying around when he had the flame thrower gas line working.

Yep, got that replaced.

Hmm, suppose they were in the medicine cabinet or did he think his reflection was a demon? These are the questions inquiring minds ask.

Put in new vanity top, as he cracked the last one and new faucet.

Also put up a new medicine cabinet.

Maybe those demons were in the attic. Tore a hole in the top of a bedroom closet.

I had Micah fix that hole. Recovering from covid and standing on a ladder while leaning over to fix a hole over my head was not on the list of things I was going to do.

Must have been some demons in the furnace duct work. I am not sure you can shoot a non physical being with a gun, but he gave it a shot ( Ok, that play on words might have been a bit much).

Brandt put the duct work back together and sealed the holes.

After that it was just fixing walls and painting.

New coat of paint makes a house look so much better

All carpeting always has to go.

Love laminate flooring and some brands snap together quickly and easily. 

Yesterday Micah dug around the sewer cleanout, that was 3 inches underground, so we could find it in the winter if the need arises, and we walked away from the house. All done.

I hope the last tenant of the house gets the help he needs. Since we do not know what his name is, I also hope we never end up with him as a tenant. I do believe in evil spirits but I do not think they were hiding where he was searching, if anything they may have been inside him. 

There is a lesson for me to learn here. What is lurking inside me to skew my view of what is going on around me? I too often think I know all the answers when at times I am not even sure I have a good grasp on what the questions are.

To hold everything I believe up to the truths found in the word of God is the only way for me to have a good grasp on the world around me and to live a righteous life.

 

Covid

It has been a long 3 weeks. 

 Sharon took this picture of me just before they took me away to isolation. I was so cold from the fever but I could only have a sheet. When I requested a blanket I was told, "no blanket you have a fever."

I know most people who become infected with Covid 19 will have mild symptoms. Some such as Sharon will have symptoms that make you know this is serious but their immune system kicks into gear and beats it back. then there is the percentage whose immune system doesn't beat it back and that is the story I am sharing today.

Sharon was not feeling well on September 10 and I am thinking this looks like Covid. By Friday morning she asked me to take her up to the hospital. The doctor was of the opinion she had an infection and it was not covid. She was given antibiotics and asked if she wished to be tested for covid. The Doctor did not think she needed to be but since she worked at school they would test her.

Sunday morning early, she was calling the hospital and telling them the antibiotic was not working. She was getting worse. They looked up her records and said, "You are positive for covid." Yea, well I am listening to her make this call and hear the news while my neck hurt so bad I could not sit up. Stomach was queasy and just felt awful. I knew at that point that not only was Sharon positive, so was I.

By 11 am Sunday I was feeling quite a bit better. Monday started the same way. felt awful and weak in the morning and by afternoon thinking, hey this isn't that bad and I will get through it in a few days and then I will be immune. Not a bad deal. Tuesday was a decent day and then I learned to respect the waves.

Wednesday was not a good day. Piercing short term headaches. Stomach off, making food something to be avoided. That lasted through Thursday and by Friday I was back feeling, this thing is beatable, you just have to wait it out. By Friday evening I was just tired. really tired.

Saturday the 19th I could barely get out of bed. I could no longer sleep more than 30 minutes at a time. I was hallucinating and the thought patterns continued if I was awake or asleep. I was running a fever and was keeping it under control as best I could with Ibuprophen. That was the medical advice Sharon had been given.

After that the days begin to run together. By Tuesday my vision had gotten blurry, I could see where capillaries were breaking under my skin. Wednesday morning I drug myself out of the house thinking "Royce you may need to go to the hospital.". When I started coughing up blood, I knew I was in trouble.

4pm on Wednesday, Sharon asked me if I had thought I needed to see a doctor. I had to admit I had and she hustled me off to the walk in clinic. Once again as in Sharon's case I was told, I don't think this is covid. Blood work showed I was anemic, and liver enzymes were not normal. The Doctor sent me home to wait for the test results and her parting words were, "you look like crap." In a later conversation with this doctor she said I do not see patients in as bad shape as you were. I was really concerned about you. 5 days later she certainly remembered me vividly. I always like to leave an impression.

She called Sharon a couple of hours later and told her to take me to the emergency room. It was a good thing Sharon was allowed to be with me at the Doctor's visit and in the emergency room, because she was the one who was answering the questions. I was past that ability. They ran a CT scan to check for blood clots in my lungs and then admitted me to the hospital. 

By this time my oxygen saturation levels were getting pretty low. I would ask each time what they were and if they reached 94%, I thought that was a win and I was doing better. Funny how the nurses would just look at me and not reply but just leave the room. 

Temperature running at times as high as 102.8 and all they would give me is Tylenol. Tylenol doesn't work for me, never has, but no one would listen to me and give me ibuprophen. On Friday a doctor explained to me that no one with covid should take ibuprophen, because it is possible it carried the virus into your cells.

I was released from the hospital and went home, finally able to sleep an hour at a time. That was when the really not fun part began. My lungs were trying to clear out the covid and I would cough and not be able to draw air back into my lungs. There is a panic that sets in when you can not get oxygen. At times I was staggering around the house just trying to breathe.

As I write this 3 weeks after the first symptoms, life is good. I am still tired but I can breathe. It doesn't take much for me to be breathing like I am running when all I am doing is walking slowly or just standing. 

There were a few times when I did not know if I was going to survive. That was OK, I know I have eternal life waiting for me. I also know there were a lot of people praying. An older man stopped me on Friday this week and said, "Royce, I have been praying for you everyday and I bet you would be surprised how many people were praying." I don't even know how he found out I was sick.

I know there were times it was difficult for Sharon. Her only way to get information was to call the hospital and wait for the nurse to get back to her. I was not capable of even calling her to say I was going to be alright. The hospital staff were overworked and dealing with all the extras of isolation only made everything more time consuming. 

I share this story so you have an idea what it is like if covid goes bad on you. I never expected me to be one of those. I was healthy and had no reason to fall apart as I did. 

My advice is very simple. Stay away from anyone who will not wear a mask. The mask you wear will help but it will not protect you from an infectious person who isn't wearing a mask. That is how it got into our home. I am not sure why mask wearing has sort of become a political statement, but I repeat if they won't wear a mask, they don't care if they infect you, endanger your life, and cost you thousands in medical bills. Avoid them like the plague they are.