ARDS Survivor ECMO Survivor
I was rushed to the ER with breathing issues right around the time Covid 19 was at its highest point. We all thought I had covid. I got to the ER and got hooked up to a low flow of oxygen. Later that night I ended up with a very low oxygen level. Somewhere in the 80’s. I passed out throughout the night. Then the next day I woke up in a room, with a breakfast tray, still struggling to breathe. The smell of the breakfast made me feel worse. I ended up passing back out and not waking up for another 6 days. After I passed out, I was vented, and put on high oxygen flow. That same night I got worse, and my oxygen tanked to the low 70’s. I was dying from something that the doctors couldn’t figure out. Around 3am I was placed on VV ECMO and stayed in a coma for 5 days. I was tested for everything throughout that time. The doctor kept me on the life support so my lungs could heal and I was given antibiotic after antibiotic to see what I could tolerate. The very last day I was on ECMO, the doctors decided I was doing better and could come off the machine. I remember a doctor very clearly on top of me, saying “this is going to hurt a lot, take a deep breath and I will try to keep you alive”. I was extubated and I felt the tube come out and I was taking my first big breath. It hurts so much to take such a deep breath, I passed out again from the pain. I was finally off all the big machines that were keeping me alive. I was on an extremely high flow of oxygen with a feeding tube down my nose and iv’s everywhere. I was bruised up and down and I had bandaids on all of my major boo-boos. When I finally woke up , my father was sitting next to me. I had no idea how long I had been asleep, I thought so many things and it was hard for people to explain what was happening. The next few days I was transferred out of the ICU. In the step down unit I finally got my hair washed by the wonderful nurses that helped me every single time I needed something. I got to see the rest of my family as well. During the height of covid, only one person was allowed to come visit and only for 1 hour. I saw my husband one day, then my mother the next. On the 9th day I was passing all the tests that they needed me to and I was cleared to go home. Before I went to the discharge unit, the doctors that saved my life came in and told me that I had a very rare case of pneumonia. I had Ards, and eosinophilic pneumonia. I unfortunately had a hereditary condition from my father’s side of our family. Our lungs just don’t tolerate things like other people. I was one of the people that needed ECMO life support because I had a very low chance of survival with my sickness. 5% chance of living. Not many people survive being treated with ECMO, I was a miracle case for them. I have been suffering with PTSD from the whole ordeal. I have nightmares that can only be controlled with medications. I have pain from a wire that went around my lung. I take pain medications everyday for the nerve damage I have. Sometimes during the day, I’ll have flash backs from the ICU. It’s very hard on our family and we talk about it often. We survived. I survived. I am so glad the doctors knew what they were doing and they saved my life. I’m grateful for everyone of them.
