Bengaluru: Suma (name changed), a 37-year-old covid-positive woman who has only lasted 36 days in life support but also gave birth to a healthy child while in a ventilator.
He struggled to struggle with septic shock and against the virus for 55 days in the hospital before finally recovering.
Stayed at the hospital including 36 ECMO days (additional physical membrane oxygenation) and 19 days in the ICU.
Banking executives are 31 weeks pregnant when he signed Pneumonia Covid and was treated at Apollo Hospital, Road Bannerghatta on May 21.
His health deteriorated with his lungs did not appear at its peak capacity.
He was placed on a ventilator and two days later, he delivered a boy through C-Section.
Even though it’s preterm, he is healthy and Covid is negative.
He joined a family that included a professional husband of IT Suma and siblings six years old.
Immediately after, his health became worse.
Team Pulmonology (led by Dr.
Ravindra Mehta), a critical care team (led by Dr.
Jagadish), Dr.
Vinay Devraj (specialist infectious disease), Dr.
Dharmesh Agrawal (Heart Anesthesi Expert) and Dr.
Arul Furtado (Heart Surgery) Joined for care.
Having post-shipping complications: Dr.
Furtado said after shipping, he showed some improvements but three days later, his lungs changed from black to white and he could not maintain enough oxygen levels.
“He used Ecmo,” Dr.
Furtado said.
(ECMO Lung function Mimics – provides oxygen and removes carbon dioxide and helps the lungs rest while recovering from pneumonia covid.) He added that Suma might not survive but for ECMO, and even it guarantees a survival rate of 30-35%.
After leaving Ecmo, he has a full covid pneumonia along with bacterial pneumonia.
Dr.
Mehta said he went to septic shock when his blood pressure fell and poison brought a disaster.
“He is in several antibiotics and high-dose drugs to maintain blood pressure.
But, more than a week, he recovers and the air channels and lungs are cleaned through bronchoscopy,” Dr.
Mehta said.
After 36 days, Suma was released from ECMO and, for the next two weeks, he gradually began to breathe alone.
He was dismissed on July 17 after conducting a total recovery.
He never gave up: Dr.
Furtado said Suma’s care team was happy to see him recover.
“We support each other through difficult days,” he said.
Dr.
Mehta said the multidisciplinary approach and the committed Nursing & Perfusion team facilitated recovery.
“It was very satisfying because he had covid during pregnancy and septic shock too.
He was a warrior, never gave up and inspired us to make sure he recovered back to his family,” he added.