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LONG BEACH, California (Reuters) – As a veteran ICU nurse whose job it is to care for the most seriously ill patients at her Long Beach, California hospital, Merlin Pambuan was well aware of the deadly havoc COVID-19 can wreak on the human body.
Last spring, in a tragic role reversal, Pambuan became one of those patients: he was admitted to the intensive care unit at St. Mary’s Medical Center, his place of work for the past 40 years, where he was left unconscious from sedation. which induced paralysis and was placed on a ventilator to breathe. A feeding tube was added later.
He was close to death on several occasions, his doctors later revealed. So serious was his condition at one point that end-of-life options were discussed with his family.
When she woke up and was able to breathe on her own again, she was too weak to stand up. But she fought back and struggled through weeks of painful therapy to regain her strength and mobility, celebrating her 66th birthday in St. Mary’s acute rehab ward in late October.
On Monday, Pambuan beat the odds of his eight-month ordeal by walking out the front door of the hospital, drawing cheers, applause and euphoria from colleagues who lined the lobby to rejoice at his discharge.
“This is my second life,” Pambuan said moments before, as she prepared to leave the hospital room, accompanied by her husband, Daniel, 63, and her daughter, Shantell, 33, an aspiring social worker who he spent months by his mother’s bed. as your patient advocate and personal cheerleader.
The sight of Pambuan walking slowly but confidently through the hospital lobby (she had insisted on getting out without the aid of a wheelchair or walker, although she was still on supplemental oxygen) marked a transformative victory for the tiny but tough nurse from the ICU.
‘WHAT WE LIVE FOR’
The outpouring of affection she received from her colleagues, including many of the physicians, fellow nurses and therapists who were involved in her care, also reflected a rare moment of community triumph for hospital staff weary from the pandemic.
“This is what we live for … to see our patients return home alive and well,” said Dr. Maged Tanios, a pulmonary and intensive care specialist at St. Mary’s. She said that Pambuan’s recovery was especially gratifying as she is part of the extended “family” at the hospital.
Tanios said he was not aware of other St. Mary’s medical staff being admitted to the ICU for COVID. However, studies show that close and frequent contact by frontline healthcare workers with coronavirus patients puts them at higher risk of contracting the disease, hence the decision to give them the highest priority to get vaccinated.
Ironically, Pambuan’s discharge coincided with the recent launch of COVID-19 vaccines to medical workers, as well as a crushing increase in coronavirus infections that has overwhelmed hospitals and, in particular, ICUs across California. (Graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/34pvUyi)
Pambuan said she does not remember the four months she spent on a ventilator, from early May to early September, but she does remember waking up for the first time from deep sedation unable to move her limbs.
With encouragement from the nursing staff and her daughter, Pambuan said she was determined to regain her mobility and life.
“I said, ‘No, I’m going to fight this COVID,'” he said. “I start to move my hand (and) a physical therapist comes in and says, ‘Oh, you’re moving your hands,’ and I said, ‘Oh, I’m going to fight, I’m going to fight. I’m trying to move my toes. . I’m going to fight ‘”.
Pambuan spent the last months of his hospital stay undergoing physical and respiratory rehabilitation and will continue to recover from home while making up, he said, with a change of pace.
“It’s going to be very difficult for me,” he said. “But I have to accept it, that I’m going to be on oxygen for a while and slow down a bit.”
When or if he will return to work at the ICU remains an open question, he said.
Meanwhile, Pambuan said she feels indebted to her co-workers for their “really professional” care, grateful for the support of her loved ones and recently convinced of the power of optimism.
His message to others in his shoes: “Don’t lose hope. Just fight. Fight, because look at me, you know. I’m going home and I’m walking.”
(Reporting by Steve Gorman in Long Beach, California; Edited by Lisa Shumaker)
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