His health situation would get much worse.

Within a week, he tested positive for COVID-19 and was admitted to the critical care unit at UnityPoint Health — Trinity Regional Medical Center.

Things looked so grim that when his condition status was changed to critical, it was considered an improvement.

Eventually, he recovered and went home.

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
ABOVE: Jim Kesterson, of Fort Dodge, thanks a group of registered nurses who took care of him last August when he was suffering from COVID-19 at UnityPoint Health — Trinity Regional Medical Center. The nurses, from left, are Val McSherry, Shawna Allbee, Janey McCabe, Marie Zaharia and Amber Becker.

On Monday, Kesterson walked back into the hospital to thank the nurses and other care providers who got him through a life-and-death crisis.

“I truly believe that I am here because of the health care I was provided,” Kesterson said. “For that I am forever grateful.”

“I couldn’t be more blessed with the care that I received here in Fort Dodge, Iowa,” he added.

Kesterson met with about 11 of the people who took care of him Monday afternoon in a waiting room outside the hospital’s critical care unit.

He greeted the group by saying, “Thank you for me being here.”

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
Jim Kesterson, of Fort Dodge, thanks a group of registered nurses who took care of him last August when he was suffering from COVID-19 at UnityPoint Health — Trinity Regional Medical Center. The nurses, from left, are Val McSherry, Shawna Allbee, Janey McCabe, Marie Zaharia and Amber Becker.

Jessica Haub, a nurse practitioner, said after a year in which the hospital staff witnessed so much loss from COVID-19, it was nice to have a patient come back and say thank you.

Kesterson said he faced both a physical battle and a mental and emotional battle. To combat the isolation he felt while in the hospital, he tried to connect with his nurses and other caregivers. He said he interacted with nurses every two hours, respiratory therapists every four hours and doctors once a day. His plan was to make it to the next interaction.

He said he was in the critical care unit for about 12 days before being moved to a different room and eventually being discharged.

He recalled that when he went into the hospital, he figured he would be there for a couple of days.

On Monday, Kesterson reunited with registered nurses Tawny Odom, Amber Becker, Marie Zaharia, Janey McCabe, Shawna Allbee and Val McSherry.

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
Jim Kesterson, of Fort Dodge, thanks the nurses who helped him through a battle with COVID-19 in August 2020. He met with them Monday afternoon at UnityPoint Health — Trinity Regional Medical Center.

He also met with Doug Lanus, a registered respiratory therapist; Cheyenne Groat, a certified nursing assistant; Jenny Condon, a nurse practitioner; Amy Castro, clinic administrator for pulmonology; and Haub.

His physicians, who were not present Monday, were Dr. Elizabeth Day, Dr. Alexander Flower and Dr. Chakwuemeka Nzewi.

“I don’t think I could have gotten better help anywhere in the world,” Kesterson said.