Benton, Arch. – Rhonda Whitham’s family was ready to say goodbye to her after she made a tough decision to get out of the ventilator while fighting Konda-1.
Doctors said Witham may only live for a few hours without a ventilator, but she “comes alive” when they remove her, daughter Nicole Brewer told CNN.
Brower, his sister and sister-in-law were watching the glass door on Nov. 29 when staff at Saline Memorial Hospital in Benton, Arkansas, pulled him out of the machine.
“When they pulled everything out, she woke up and saw my sister and [was] “Raise his hand to wave at us,” Brewer said.
Brewer said she could see Whitham trying to smile at her.
Whitham, 62, tested positive for COVID-19 on Nov. 7 and was contracted sitting at home.
Initially, he just had a headache, cough, and congestion, Brewer said. But her condition worsened and a week later she was admitted to the hospital and immediately put on a ventilator.
Breather said Whitham did not respond to her attempts to wean the machine, and about two weeks later, her doctor cutter said she would not be able to breathe again.
Hospital staff lets the family wait outside the room so they can be nearby for their final moments.
The family found hope in seeing the whitham wave and smile, but she still didn’t know if she was making it.
Whitham kept getting stronger and over the next few days, he was able to move into a regular COVID-19 room outside the ICU, his daughter Rebecca Goshien told CNN.
She was a little confused at first after being out of the country for so long, but she was able to have facetime conversations with her daughters and grandchildren.
December 10 – Goshin’s birthday – Goshin was able to see his mom and give her a hug. After being bedridden for so long, Whitham was moved to a rehabilitation room to increase his strength.
“I was the first to visit him, so it was a good birthday time for me,” Goshien said.
Whitham can now have one visitor per day, so the sisters turn to see it.
Goshi saw her on Friday and said she also stood five times during her treatment session, which was a big improvement from day one.
She is increasing her arm strength and playing bingo in therapy so that she can achieve endurance of moving her elbows and sitting up.
Goshin said his mom is also doing word search puzzles and she can use her phone.
Witham has lived in Benton all his life, and credits the prayers of the family community and his loved ones for his recovery.
“My family has seen a miracle … and that is the glory of God and everything.”
The family has set up a GoFundum account to help Whitham pay his medical bills and other expenses.
.
