Gabriella Akna had already given birth to a premature baby, was on a ventilator, and was in cardiac arrest when her family received a call last week.
A medical evacuation helicopter landed at a hospital in Las Vegas, where she was treated and taken to California. Double lung transplant— Her best chance to recover from the damage Virus infected when she was 23 weeks pregnant..
Acuna’s sister, Paula Olmeda, says the nurse said she would receive the next call while her new 29-year-old mother was in the air on her way to lifesaving treatment.
However, when the second call was made, the family was told that the flight was canceled and the helicopter flew without Acuna. Nevada Medicaid was found not to cover lung transplants. Kidneys and liver, yes, but not the more expensive heart or lungs.
“It changed from’your sister will be safe’to’your sister will die’ in seconds,” Olmeda told The Daily Beast. “It was like a joke.”
Acuna has fought with the tenacity she has shown since she was first admitted to Centennial Hills Hospital on August 30th. It happened to be the 22nd month. Pregnant women die nationwide from COVID, The best since the start of the pandemic.
Dr. Alabama talks about the “horrible” reality of pregnant women with COVID
Olmeda says Acuna was among 69 percent of fully unvaccinated pregnant women. Acuna delayed taking shots until it was approved by OB-GYN. She planned to do so in the week of August 23, a few days before becoming one of the 125,000 pregnant women who tested positive for COVID. She was sent home twice from the emergency room and hospitalized as one of them before her blood oxygen levels became very low. 97% of unvaccinated pregnant inpatients with COVID..
“All the timing was terrible,” Olmeda said.
The total number of pregnant women dying nationwide has increased to 161 as Akuna fought for the lives of her unborn son and her son. She was 24 weeks pregnant when she was hospitalized, and the doctor wanted to extend it by another six so that his lungs were more developed.
The family was unable to visit her due to COVID precautions, but saw at FaceTime she postponed her own invasive treatment to give her son a better chance of survival.
“Everyone wanted to reach the baby for at least 30 weeks before taking it out,” Olmeda later said.
Meanwhile, the family witnessed the painful confirmation of the CDC’s discovery that pregnancy significantly increased the likelihood of serious illness due to COVID.
“It ate her alive,” Olmeda said.
Acuña reached just 26 weeks on September 13, when doctors worried that her heart might fail. Her family spoke to her at FaceTime shortly before anesthesia in preparation for an emergency caesarean section and immediately performed a tracheostomy to house the ventilator.
“The last thing she said to my mom was,’Mom, I have nothing for my baby,'” Olmeda recalled. “I’gab, don’t worry, I’ll take care of you. I’ll prepare your nursery, I’ll get your register, I’ll take care of it.”
Acuna managed the response before it was put down.
“Smile,” Olmeda reported.
Acuna’s son, Ryden, weighed only £ 1 and 10 ounces at birth. He was immediately taken to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), as was the case with a newborn whose mother was infected with COVID.
Acuna’s son, Ryden, weighed only £ 1 and 10 ounces at birth.
Acuna’s son Ryden weighed only £ 1 and 10 ounces at birth.
Family handouts
“She couldn’t see the baby because she was under anesthesia and they immediately ventilated, and since then it has been a journey,” Olmeda said.
Olmeda boarded the car with her husband, two children, and a dog, and soon departed from Colorado for Las Vegas, fulfilling her promise with Acuña.
“We came to some families and helped us paint,” Olmeda said. “We prepared a nursery for her. We got the registry. She is ready to go. We just need her to get better.”
Meanwhile, when the NICU worked to save the baby, the adult ICU fought to save the mother.
“I know they did their best to keep both of them alive,” Olmeda said. “It’s pretty good to ride a roller coaster with Gabby.”
The hospital has begun to allow visitors. The family was hospitalized two at a time.
“They do it only when they think the person will die,” Olmeda later said.
The possibility of losing Acuna was increasingly disastrous, as the family always felt very protective of her. She was deaf, bullied at school and always shy. Family figures that are part of why she became a day care worker.
“Children don’t judge her, they just see her as Gabby, and that’s it,” Olmeda said. “They see her real. She has a golden heart, and that’s why she kills us all. She’s like an angel in heaven. Among all people, we Sweet, innocent and pure Gabby, Gabby. “
Akuna.
She was late blooming when it came to romance, but she found it with her fiancé, the baby’s father.
“She always wanted a baby,” Olmeda said.
On October 1, Gabby fell into cardiac arrest. Their prayers seemed to be answered when the family witnessed and the medical team managed to revive her.
“I thought we had lost her,” Olmeda said.
The mother and father leaned on Akuna’s bed and tried to comfort her while she continued her painful efforts to stay alive.
“At that moment, her eyes are rolled back, her mouth is open, and her tongue is hanging. It’s like,” Oh, don’t let me feel this anymore, “Olmeda said.
“From the prayer,’God, save her,’ we went home that night and prayed,’God, take her.'”
But in the next few days she has stabilized.
“For some reason, she’s just starting to get better, it’s a miracle,” Olmeda said.
But now, the big problem was the lungs of my new mother. The family says the doctor recommended a double transplant. The family also reported that USC’s Keck Medicine accepted her as a candidate.
“Gabby is a perfect candidate,” Olmeda said. “She was young and passed all the tests needed to enroll in the USC. Centennial Hills Hospital said her insurance approved the transfer to the USC for a lung transplant. There are no words to describe the moment. “
Despair turned into hope on October 6, when Acuña was told by her family to move from a Las Vegas hospital to the USC between 6 and 7 pm. My parents went home to meet her by car. The nurse told them that the next call would come when Acuña was in the air.
Then the parents answered the phone to find out that the helicopter flew without her.
“How can they tell us to fulfill our wishes and suddenly become no?” Olmeda asked. “How cruel is it?”
she GoFundMe page We are about to raise $ 2.5 million in external costs for a double lung transplant with aftercare. She promised that unused money would go to others in need of a transplant.
“Who will fight on our side?” Olmeda wrote on that page. “I’m calling out to everyone who flew the helicopter! Be ashamed of robbing us of hope.”
Olmeda continued. “She came back to life. She wasn’t ready to leave her son. She fights. Well, Gab, if this is your war, we’re all your soldiers. We fight with you. The only thing Gabby wants to live as normal as possible is a lung transplant. “
This page has a photo of Acuna in a hospital bed with a piece of Leiden’s baby blanket from a NICU nurse. The family put it by her nose on Saturday.
I have a blanket of Acuna and my son Ryden on the hospital bed.
Akuna puts her son Leiden’s blanket on the hospital bed.
GoFundMe
“So she was able to smell him,” Olmeda said. “When I saw her, I just closed my eyes and smelled the baby for the first time. It was painful.”
On Saturday, Acuna saw her son for the first time through a live video from the NICU. It was the second day she seemed to have turned enough to get a complete picture of what was happening. But she stayed on the ventilator and couldn’t speak when she saw the little Leiden.
“She cries, and you can say it’s like this fierce cry, but nothing comes out,” Olmeda said. “But tears fall. It’s terrible. It’s terrible. She tries to talk and looks at us.” How can I help you? “
Help comes to this baby who currently weighs 2.02 pounds.
“She can now see her baby and is conscious enough to really understand what’s going on. It only gives her great hope,” Olmeda said. .. “She is very happy to see him and then has these moments when she collapses as she likes.”
She then recovers herself and struggles for a time when she can actually be with Leiden.
“She is fighting. She said,” I have to see my baby. I have to see my baby, “Olmeda said. “You can see her struggling … it’s crazy how strong she is every day.”
On Monday, Acuna sat on the edge of the bed.
Akuna sitting on the edge of the bed.
Akuna sitting on the edge of the bed.
Family handouts
“Of course, with help,” Olmeda said. “If I could meet her three days ago, it would be a miracle.”
There are still four tubes on Acuna’s chest, and you should always be careful not to crush your injured lungs. The family says her best hope for a good life with her son remains a transplant.
Olmeda YouTube video About Acuña and her plight “Nevada Medicaid has denied a new mother trying to survive a COVID 19 lung transplant. Help her save her life!”
She also wrote to Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak and heard that he was the only one with the authority to make exceptions to the state’s Medicaid transplant rules. She is waiting for a reply.
Centennial declined to comment. Neither Keck Medicine nor the Nevada Governor’s Office was asked to comment.
On October 18th, Acuna turns 30 and Olmeda knows what a perfect gift is.
“It will be the best gift:’You have been approved, Gabby!'” She said. “Happy birthday. You get those lungs.”
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