Given 24 hrs to live, 75-yr-old recovers in 13 days

Given 24 hrs to live, 75-yr-old recovers in 13 days

Mumbai:  26.04.2021 

A 75-year-old woman, whose family was told she may not have more than 24 hours to live after being diagnosed with severe Covid, went home last week after putting up a fierce fight for 13 days, reports Sumitra Deb Roy.

As Shailaja Nakwe walked out of Ghatkopar’s Sonagra Medical and Surgical Centre on Wednesday, doctors and nurses there celebrated her discharge by cutting a cake with her CT (computed tomography) score of 25/25—the most severe count— iced on it. “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, her treating doctor.

The Dombivli resident 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 that had an oxygen bed available.

Shailaja Nakwe had a 25/25 CT score, the most severe count

‘My mother says she has touched death and come back’

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 upto six months for complete recovery. “My mother says she has touched death and come back,” the son added.

Intensivist Dr Rahul Pandit said a CT score of 25/25 can be treated with good ICU support and provided the patient has come on time and doesn’t have any comorbidities.