In December 2020, Travis signed up to work as a Front-line Disaster Relief Registered Nurse in order to directly care for Covid patients. The company sent him to an understaffed hospital in Amarillo, Texas, where the medical team was exhausted and overwhelmed.

One evening after a shift, Travis spiked a high fever and tested positive for Covid a few days later on January 5, 2021.  After his mandatory quarantine his wife, Shannon, flew to Amarillo to drive Travis 18 hours back home to Knoxville, Tennessee. In less than 24 hours after returning home, Travis’ condition worsened. He was admitted to a local hospital in Knoxville, where he spent the next nine days.

During his hospitalization, Travis received plasma, antibiotics, and steroids. He was on 15 liters of high-flow oxygen, and at one point he was told that he only had a few hours to improve or he would need to be put on a ventilator.

Grief-stricken with the possibility of a ventilator, Shannon felt compelled to ensure that life insurance policies and other end-of-life details were in place for Travis. Through tremendous despair, Shannon was able to feel the effects of the powerful prayers and healing vibrations from friends and family.

Upon his discharge home, Travis started his long road to recovery.  He needed physical, occupational, and speech therapy.  Additionally, he met with his primary care physician weekly and pulmonologist monthly.  Travis is still oxygen dependent for sleeping and is awaiting a sleep study to determine the effects Covid 19 had on his ability to sleep.

Unfortunately, Travis is still unable to return to work as a registered nurse and his physicians are unsure if he ever will be.  Starting the Team Covid Long Haulers Foundation with his wife was important for the Exum’s to help others cope and manage day to day life while continuing to live their best life.