A well-known Nebraska agriculture leader with deep roots in Tribland shared his recent experience with the novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19, during a news conference with Gov. Pete Ricketts.
Craig Buescher, who grew up in the Deweese area and farmed there for more than three decades before relocating to South Bend, was in the hospital for nine days after he was confirmed positive for COVID-19 and his blood oxygen levels dropped.
He thanked Ricketts for the invitation to share his story, which he hopes will prompt others to take COVID-19 and the related public health measures seriously.
‘Prior to my getting COVID, I’ll have to be honest: I didn’t necessarily take it real serious,” Buescher said. “I wore the mask most of the time, (but) I went ahead and felt that I was probably healthy enough that I could lick it – it wouldn’t be more than a cold, because some people had those symptoms and got by real well.
“After getting COVID, I’ll tell you emphatically that it’s something that made me a believer. We all need to make sure we can do things that will help (thwart) the spread.”
Buescher, 69, said his primary symptom was difficulty breathing, and while he was hospitalized his legs were so weak he became a fall risk.
“I’d walk around the room and get winded very easily,” he said. “I had to hang onto something.”
Buescher said he went to his doctor on Sept. 18 because of leg weakness and persistent fatigue, but at that time he had no other symptoms associated with COVID-19.
The doctor sent him home to see how the weekend played out before administering a coronavirus test. Sure enough, by Monday he was back in the clinic with a fever and difficulty breathing, and a rapid test confirmed him as positive for COVID-19.
The doctor again sent Buescher home, this time with medication and instructions to monitor his blood oxygen levels carefully. He was told to go straight to the emergency room if the levels fell below 90.
The morning of Sept. 25, Buescher’s blood oxygen levels were riding consistently around 87, so his wife Marge drove him to the hospital and he was admitted. That was a time when hospitalization numbers related to the virus were much lower than they are now.
“I feel fortunate I was able to get in and get a place on the COVID floor there,” he said.
Buescher developed a blood clot in his leg during his hospital stay and was put on blood thinners. He appeared at the Tuesday’s news conference with a blackened left eye, which he attributed to a minor bump on the head that caused his thinned blood to fill the eye socket.
He said the black eye, while ugly, isn’t serious or painful – but that it is a visual reminder that the novel coronavirus, while microscopic, is real.
“I hope my testimony can encourage others to take this seriously so we can get through this epidemic,” Buescher said.
Buescher urged those hearing his message to follow the public health guidance voluntarily. “I myself don’t like mandates,” he said.
Craig grew up on the family farm before attending the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he earned a degree in animal science. He then worked at the Senek Swine Test Station at Wymore and at the U. S. Meat Animal Research Center near Clay Center before establishing his own diversified farming operation, which included commercial alfalfa production.
For a number of years, Buescher was show manager for the Nebraska Alfalfa Marketing Association’s Mid-America Alfalfa Expo, which took place each winter on the Adams County Fairgrounds in Hastings.
Buescher is a graduate of Nebraska LEAD Program Group 5. Through the years he has been active in Catholic organizations and Republican Party politics and has made a name for himself as a motivational speaker.
Today, Buescher is a fundraising team member for the University of Nebraska Foundation, working on behalf of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at UNL.
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