Pambuan spent the last few months of her hospital stay undergoing physical and respiratory rehabilitation and will continue recuperation from home, while making peace, she said, with a change in pace. 'I start moving my hand (and) a physical therapist come and say, 'Oh, you're moving your hands,' and I said, 'Oh, I'm going to fight, I'm going to fight. 'I said, 'No, I'm going to fight this COVID,'' she recounted.

With encouragement from nursing staff and her daughter Pambuan said she grew determined to regain her mobility and her life. Pambuan said she has no recollection of the four months she spent hooked to a breathing machine - from early May to early September - but recalls first waking up from deep sedation unable to move her extremities. Pambuan's discharge, ironically, coincided with the recent rollout of COVID-19 vaccines to medical workers, as well as a crushing surge in coronavirus infections that have overwhelmed hospitals, and ICUs in particular, across California. However, studies show frontline healthcare workers' frequent, close contact with coronavirus patients puts them at higher risk of contracting the disease, hence the decision to give them top priority in getting immunized. Mary medical staff being admitted to the ICU for COVID. Tanios said he was not aware of other St. He said Pambuan's recovery was especially rewarding since she is part of the hospital's extended 'family.' Maged Tanios, a pulmonary and critical care specialist at St. seeing our patients going home alive and in good condition,' said Dr. The outpouring of affection she received from colleagues - including many of the physicians, fellow nurses and therapists who took part in her care - also reflected a rare moment of communal triumph for the pandemic-weary hospital staff. The spectacle of Pambuan striding slowly but confidently through the hospital lobby - she had insisted on making her exit without assistance of a wheelchair or walker, although was still connected to supplementary oxygen - marked a transformative victory for the diminutive but tough ICU nurse. 'This is my second life,' Pambuan said moments earlier, as she prepared to leave her hospital room, accompanied by her husband, Daniel, 63, and their daughter, Shantell, 33, an aspiring social worker who spent months at her mother's bedside as her patient advocate and personal cheerleader. On Monday Pambuan beat the odds of her eight-month ordeal by walking out the front door of the hospital, drawing cheers, applause and exhilaration from colleagues lining the lobby to rejoice in her discharge.

My second life