Yu Changping: A Doctor and Online Influencer Diagnosed with COVID-19

By Yan Wen & Du Weiwei

Doctor Yu Changping making a simple selfintroduction余昌平医生做简单自我介绍

“Do you want to know who I am? I am not a celebrity, but you would take interest in me...”

“I am a cheerful guy and I want to share interesting stories with you.”

Wearing a nasal cannula, Yu Changping was quite optimistic and confident in the video.

He posted 4 short videos online, in which he spoke with a strong Hubei accent, describing his condition after being infected and his treatment process. In this way, he encouraged the viewers to stay calm. Unexpectedly, the videos made him an online celebrity.

Yu Changping, a doctorate degree holder and deputy chief physician of the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, was infected with COVID-19 in the fight against the epidemic. Later his condition unfortunately worsened and he became severely ill.

Reporter: How did you, a respiratory specialist, get infected with the virus?

Yu Changping:I started to run a fever of 38.5 degrees Celsius on January 14. There were no other symptoms: no running nose or cough. However, then a strange thing happened to me: Once I started to eat, it came with hiccups and farts. Then I was suspecting it could be caused by gastroenteritis. But these were not any symptoms of gastroenteritis, and I did not have diarrhea. On January 17, coworkers in our department were about to dine together, and suddenly I realized that I might have been infected with the novel coronavirus. So, I immediately called my colleagues to help me to have a CT examination.

The results revealed that something was wrong with my lungs and I must be hospitalized immediately. Almost at the same time, one of my colleagues, who experienced fatigue, also did the examination, and then was diagnosed with COVID-19 and hospitalized.

In the first 3 days at the hospital, I felt quite okay. Without any chest tightness or breathing difficulty, I was even able to go downstairs for CT scan myself. However, the re-examination results showed that my lung problems were becoming worse. I knew that, the condition of a patient infected with coronavirus only got worse day by day. I hoped the deterioration would be a little slower. Unfortunately, on the third day after the reexamination, my condition began to deteriorate rapidly beyond my expectation. I could not get out of the bed for 5 days. I could not sit up in the bed. I experienced chest tightness, suffocation, and breathing difficulty, I felts a little bit better only when using oxygen.

“大家知道我是谁吗？我不是大人物，但你们一定对我感兴趣……”

“我很潇洒的，我的性格很好，我有很多故事。”

戴着氧气管，视频里的余昌平，乐观自信。

他发了4 条短视频，用浓重的湖北口音，风趣幽默地描述自己感染病毒后的状况及治疗过程，鼓励大家消除恐慌，正视疫情，成了网红人物。

余昌平是武汉大学人民医院呼吸与危重症医学科副主任医师，医学博士，在一线救治过程中被新型冠状病毒感染，并发展成危重患者。

“早期症状连我都被迷惑了”

记者：您是呼吸科专家，怎么感染病毒的？

余昌平：1月14日我开始发烧，38.5℃，别的一切正常，不流鼻涕不咳嗽。当时有个现象就是，吃东西就打嗝、打屁，我很疑惑，是胃肠炎吗？不像，也不拉肚。1月17日，科室要一起吃饭，我突然意识到，自己可能感染了病毒。于是立即给同事打电话，申请做CT 检查。

结果显示，双侧肺部都有问题，必须马上住院。与我一起检查的，还有另外一个同事，有点乏力，一查，也是这个问题，我们俩同时住院。

住院前3 天，我感觉还好，没有胸闷气喘，还能自己下楼做CT。复查结果出来，双肺病变在增加，这个是我能料到的。病毒性肺炎肯定是一天比一天加重的，就是看程度，我希望它慢点。没想到复查之后第三天，病情急速恶化，有5 天都没起过床，坐起来都没机会了，胸闷、憋气、呼吸困难，只有吸氧才能好受一点。

“熬过一周危险期就能活”

记者：用您的话说，这次是在“鬼门关”走了一遭。怎么挺过来的？

余昌平：除了医护的精心治疗和家人的照顾，最主要的就是两点：信心加抵抗力。

第4 天时，我开始问自己：我会不会死掉？我当时估计，这个可能性是30%。

5 天时间我都没有好转，再加重两三天，可能就活不过来了。但如果5 天过后稳住了，就有希望了，甚至会好转，所以我总还是有60%～70%的期望能活过来。

我迷迷糊糊地躺着，想起自己平时身体比较好，抵抗力强，可以和这个病毒打下去。当时还有个信念，虽然呼吸困难，但是能吃能喝能睡。呼吸不畅时吃不动，我就慢慢吃。

确诊后，我的第一个想法就是要活下来，想着自己的那些病人怎么办，我很有信心：因为我了解这个疾病，所以没关系。

第5 天复查CT 对我来说很重要，看能不能稳住。结果显示，真的稳住了，接下来就是拉锯战了。

“用轻松的方式消除大众恐慌”

记者：怎么想到用短视频跟大家讲自己的经历？

余昌平：挺过了最难的那几天，我的身体和精力都在慢慢恢复。

大概到了1月底，我开始刷手机了解外面的疫情。信息太多，看得难受。

作为一个专业医生，我着急，想到我身份特殊，又有亲身经历，总觉得自己能做点什么事。于是，我用短视频为大家科普一下新冠病毒以及医学常识，让人们不要过度恐慌，学会科学理性的看待。

“最想感谢的人是妻子”

记者：大家都很关心您和您妻子最新的近况，你们两人估计什么时候可以出院？

余昌平：谢谢大家的关心。生病以来，我最想感谢的人是我的妻子。隔离期间，中途她过来陪护，本来是不被允许的。但当时我几乎已处于弥留，医院人员调配又紧张，没人护理，我可能会死掉，于是就同意了，好在我对疾病比常人更了解，知道她即使患病，多半也是轻症。

Reporter: This experience, inyour words, was “out of the jaws of death.” How did you get through it and survive?

Yu Changping:Apart from the professional medical treatment and meticulous care from my family, the other two important elements that helped me out were confidence and my immune system.

On the fourth day, I started to ask myself: Will I die? I expected the odds as 30% then. If I did not get better in 5 days and even get worse in two to three more days, I might not be able to survive. But if my condition could stabilize after 5 days, I still had hope. So, I had a 60% -70% chance to survive.

I had laid in a daze, believing I could beat this virus because of my good physical condition and my good immune system. Although I was having difficulty breathing, I tried my best to eat, drink, and sleep as normal, though I could only eat slowly when I had shortness of breath.

After the diagnosis, my first thought was to survive. Otherwise, who would treat my patients?

I was very confident in defeating the disease. Since I understand this disease well, it would probably be easier for me to overcome the virus.

Therefore, the result of the CT examination in the 5th day was crucial for me, which could tell whether I was in a stable condition. Luckily enough, it showed my condition was stable. Then a seesaw battle between me and the virus started.

Reporter: How did you comeup with the idea of shooting a short video to share your experience?

Yu Changping:After the most difficult days, my physical condition improved and I felt better day by day.

At the end of January, I could read the news on my mobile phone. There was too much pessimism and rumors on the internet, which upset me a lot.

As a doctor and an infected patient, I was eager to do something to make a difference. So, I decided to make a short video to help people know more about novel coronavirus. I also shared some precautions so that people can be better informed and stay optimistic in combating against COVID-19.

Reporter: We are concerned about your health and your wife’s. When will you two be discharged?

Yu Changping:Thank you all for the concern. Since I got infected, the person I want to thank most is my wife. During the quarantine, she came to accompany and took care of me, which was not permitted at first. But at that time, I was almost in a state of neardeath and there was a shortage of medical professionals. Inadequate medical care might make things worse. So my wife was permitted to take care of me. To my knowledge, even if she could get infected while caring for me, the condition would be mild.

Later, she was infected. Although it was mild as I had expected, it was still my fault to drag her into such a dangerous situation. Currently, she is all right and will be discharged soon. I’m getting better every day. Just because of the recent increasing attentions brought by the video clips, I have not gotten enough rest. But in short, I’m getting better.

Doctor Yu Changping eager to return to his work after recovery康复后，余昌平先生着急回到自己的工作岗位

On February 24, Yu Changping was discharged from the hospital. After two weeks of isolation, on March 10, Yu returned home. At present, he has been resting at home for more than 1 month, and he gained weight and went up from 75 kg to 81 kg. He said happily: “After May Day holiday, I will return to work.” He also explained the reasons for not posting new video clips recently. “As a doctor and also COVID-19 patient, I shared my experience of treatment and recovery online through videos. I just hoped through watching my video, other patients could stay positive and develop proper recovery plan. But, now I want to go back to my work and engage in the fight against the virus.”

As the overseas epidemic situation turns severe, Dr. Yu Changping also participated in videoconferences with overseas students in the UK on how to take precautions amid COVID-19 outbreak and with doctors in the United States to exchange experiences in treating critically ill COVID-19 patients.

(Translation: Zhao Yan)

后来她被感染，虽然是轻症，但也是我不对的地方，毕竟把她置于危险之中了。

目前，她没有大问题，很快就可以出院了。我现在也一天比一天好，只是因为视频的原因，最近受关注比较多，所以这几天没有休息好，但我们的情况都越来越好。

2月24日，治愈出院后，经过2 周隔离观察后，3月10日，余昌平已经康复回家。目前，他在家已经调养1 个多月，体重从150 斤回到162 斤。他高兴地说：“五一之后，我就将重返工作岗位了。”

他说最近很少发视频了，以前发是因为他自己是医生，也是重症感染者，分享治愈过程，是希望大家病后能有正确的疗养方式，也给大家信心。现在他一心想回到工作岗位，继续与病毒斗争。

面对海外严重的疫情，余昌平医生还参与连线英国的海外学子，为他们科普防治知识；与美国的医生同行交流沟通，为他们提供救治新冠肺炎危重症患者的经验。