Though the doctors had said she may not have more than 24 hours to live after being diagnosed with severe COVID-19, a 75-year-old woman in Mumbai was discharged from the hospital last week after battling a fierce fight for 13 days.
Doctors and nurses in Ghatkopar’s Sonagra Medical and Surgical Centre on Wednesday, celebrated after Shailaja Nakwe was discharged by cutting a cake, TOI reported.
“Her recovery was a sweet victory against the virus we are all so desperately fighting. She was a diabetic who came to us with near 100% lung involvement, went on to need complete ventilator support and came out of it,” said Dr Rajaram Sonagra.
The 75-year-old had been suffering from fever for 3-4 days before one of her sons visited her and found that her oxygen saturation was 69%. The family rushed her to the Ghatkopar hospital. Shailaja Nakwe had a 25/25 CT score, the most severe count. Hours after admission on April 8, she had to be put on a non-invasive ventilator.
“Her oxygen dependence went up from 80% to 100%. All five lobes of the lung had over 75% involvement. She was breathing with great difficulty,” said the doctor. A CT score of 25/25 is a textbook case for referral to a higher centre, but Shailaja refused to be moved.
The doctors started treating her with Remdesivir and a group of antibiotics. Shailaja’s son Prashant Nakwe said he will never forget the struggle to arrange for six doses of Remdesivir. The family could finally source it from Kalyan. “When we were told she may have just 24 hours to live, my mind had stopped working but my heart said she was a fighter. None of us gave up,” Prashant told TOI.
Prashant said her condition started to turn around after five days when her oxygen dependence started falling. Dr Sonagra said she was taken off Bipap after 12 days, but she needed regular oxygen support. She currently needs 2 litre oxygen at home and could take up to six months for complete recovery.