AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |
Back to Blog
Coronavirus patient coming back to life12/20/2023 And that's me."Īfter a few weeks, Ramirez said, she finally understood what happened to her. "It was weeks later, actually, that I took a second look and realized, 'Hey, that's my grandmother. "I was actually sort of upset about it, 'Who are these strangers and why are their pictures in my room?'" Ramirez said. Her family had sent photos to post by her hospital bed, and Ramirez said she couldn't recognize anyone in the pictures. She recalled being sad that her mother wasn't with her in the hospital, not understanding that visitors weren't allowed because of the pandemic. It was frustrating, but at the time I didn't have the cognitive ability to process what was going on," Ramirez said. When Ramirez woke up after the operation, she was disoriented, could barely move her body and couldn't speak. And early research shows that up to half of COVID-19 patients on ventilators survive the illness and are likely to recover on their own.īut for some, like Ramirez, Bharat said, a transplant can be a lifesaving option of last resort. In fact, I can say without hesitation, the sickest patient I ever transplanted."īharat said most COVID-19 patients will not be candidates for transplants because of their age and other health conditions that decrease the likelihood of success. "Most patients are quite sick going into lung transplant," Bharat said in an interview in June. Ankit Bharat, Northwestern Medicine's chief of thoracic surgery, performed the 10-hour procedure. She thanked God all went well, and for giving her the strength to make it through.ĭr. Her mother agreed, and within 48 hours of being listed for transplant, a donor was found and the successful procedure was performed on June 5.Īt a recent news conference held by Northwestern Memorial, Romero shared in Spanish that there were no words to describe the pain of not being by her daughter's side as she struggled for her life. Ramirez was a candidate for a double lung transplant, they said, although the procedure had never been done on a COVID-19 patient in the U.S. When they arrived, the doctors told Ramirez's mother, Nohemi Romero, that there was one last thing they could try. Her family was told she might not make it through the night, so her mother and sisters caught the first flight from North Carolina to Chicago to say goodbye. She began showing signs that her kidneys and liver were starting to fail, with no improvement in her lung function. One theory about why Ramirez became so sick is that she has a neurological condition that is treated with steroids, drugs that can suppress the immune system.īy early June, Ramirez was at risk of further decline. In late April, she started experiencing chronic spasms, diarrhea, loss of taste and smell, and a slight fever.īefore the transplant, Mayra Ramirez spent weeks on a ventilator and an ECMO machine which oxygenated her blood, at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. Ramirez had been working from home since mid-March, hardly leaving the house, so she has no idea how she contracted the coronavirus. She enjoyed walking her dogs and running 5K races. She is strong enough now to begin sharing the story of her ordeal.īefore the pandemic, Ramirez worked as a paralegal for an immigration law firm in Chicago. On June 5, Ramirez, 28, became the first known COVID-19 patient in the U.S. "I attribute that to me not being able to breathe, and struggling to breathe." "Most of them involve me drowning," she said. Mayra Ramirez received a double lung transplant after COVID-19 caused irreversible damage to her lungs.ĭuring six weeks on life support at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Ramirez said, she had terrifying nightmares that she couldn't distinguish from reality.
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |