Earlier this month, Gary Shirley shared some heartbreaking news.
His mother had tested positive for coronavirus.
He explained that she works at an assisted living facility, so she had a higher risk of catching the virus.
The whole story was very sad, obviously, made even sadder by the fact that Gary hadn't seen his mother for three months and wasn't able to take care of her the way he'd like.
His youngest daughter has an immunodeficiency disorder, he revealed, so he and his family have been taking the quarantine very seriously.
In his post about his mother, shared three weeks ago, he mentioned that his stepfather, Jody, had started showing symptoms as well.
And shortly after that, Gary shared a very scary update.
While his mother had started doing better, he wrote that Jody "was rushed to the hospital a few days ago with very low levels of oxygen."
"He was admitted into the Intensive Care Unit and diagnosed with Covid-19 & Pneumonia," he added.
It's been about two weeks since he posted that ... so how has Jody been doing?
Well, this weekend Gary let his followers know what the latest news is.
And while it's certainly not the worst news ... it's far from the best.
"Jody was hospitalized on May 13th with Covid-19," he began. "His health continued to decline quickly within the first few days of being admitted."
"They tried different breathing machines, new covid-19 drug trials, plasma transfusions, and antibiotics until the Doctors had exhausted all their options for Jody."
He said that on May 16th, "Jody was continuing to struggle with breathing, he was fighting 106 degree fevers and the Doctors suggested that Jody be placed on a Ventilator and a drug induced coma."
Reports have shown that once a patient is placed on a ventilator for this virus, odds are that they won't be able to come off of it.
But luckily, Jody was!
"Today," Gary wrote, "after being on a ventilator for almost 2 weeks we are happy to announce Jody was weaned off the ventilator."
"He is only on 2 liters of oxygen thru a nose cannula and following simple commands."
He said that "He has a long road of recovery which will involve physical therapy."
"Thank you ALL for your continued prayers, support and love for my mom, Jody, and our family," he finished.
Hopefully Jody is able to make a full recovery, but so far, this is such great news, isn't it?
Thanks for the update, Gary!