The Vegas Voice 1-21

A Thankful Survivor
By: Sam Wagmeister / People & Places
Jim Saracino shares the exuberant persona
that the late Las Vegas headliner Rip Taylor
used to delight audiences he showered with
confetti. Sadly, the world lost Taylor in 2019 and almost lost Saracino
in 2020 to Covid.
Saracino was in his office at Berkshire Hathaway Real Estate last July,
fighting off the morning “ouches” that often accompany a man in his
early 60s. As he put the finishing touches on his quarterly magazine
highlighting the company’s roster of vetted contractors, Saracino
deteriorated.
Luck was with the usually energetic Saracino. His doctor rushed him
into the busy office. Saracino was in bad shape.
An ambulance was summoned. Saracino was slipping away. His
oxygen plunged dangerously to 70 from a normal level near 95.
Efforts by the ambulance team to increase that level failed. Saracino
called his priest and received the Last Rights then phoned his family to
say goodbye. It seemed to all that the end was near.
Once at University Medical Center (UMC), Saracino was under the
care of his primary physician, Dr. Frederick Lippman and pulmonologist
Angelica Honsberg. “I was blessed to have them,” he said.
With no established treatment programs, doctors struggled to save
Saracino - struggled with the virus and struggled with their stubborn
patient who refused to be ventilated except “as a last resort,” he
whispered. The
d o c t o r s
successfully
implemented that
next-to-last resort,
an experimental
regimen of high
pressure oxygen
treatments
and drug
combinations.
Fighting the
complications
became a game
of Whack-A-Mole.
Massive doses of
blood thinners
were administered
to fight Covid’s
blood clots. A
carbohydrateheavy
Covid diet elevated his diabetes to dangerous levels.
Today, five months later, Saracino’s energy level is abnormally low
as he struggles to regain his pre-Covid public image; sweat pours from
his forehead, he’s required to keep his legs elevated and he suffers from
PTSD, often considered a war injury. He’s labeled a “long hauler”, a
group whose symptoms remain long term.
Images of his 3-week hospital stay linger: the masked doctors and
nurses…two patients per nurse… carts of medications, portable
machines wheeled from room to room and the black body bags. Of his
experience he says, “I’m grateful, thankful and blessed,” adding “but I
can’t un-see what I’ve seen.”
Sam Wagmeister is The Vegas Voice Nightlife Editor. He loves to
hear from our readers. Please feel free to contact him via email:
LasVegasHomeTeam@Gmail.com.
Love Our Magazine?
Support Our Advertisers!
And don’t forget to say
you saw their ads in
22
January 2021