Alessia's Story
At 34 years old, Alessia Cruz has already proven she can persevere. The New Jersey woman spent her childhood in foster care until she was old enough to live alone. Lacking a strong support network, Alessia struggled through young adulthood, coping with depression and anxiety, often skeptical of those trying to help her. She fondly talks about the moment she found her “little slice of heaven” – her first apartment, a place where she finally felt safe and comfortable.
It was in that apartment where Alessia one day felt sick to her stomach. She remembers thinking, “I’ll just take some TUMS and it will go away.” When her symptoms escalated and what initially felt like heartburn turned into three days of chest pain, Alessia feared she was having a heart attack. She called 911 and was taken to Virtua Voorhees Hospital.
The problem was her gallbladder, but she hemorrhaged during surgery to remove it and developed pancreatitis. She transferred to the intensive care unit at Penn Presbyterian Hospital in Philadelphia and needed extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a machine that pumped for her heart when she could not. She was intubated and connected to a ventilator, all while in a medically induced coma.
After nearly two months at Penn Presbyterian, Alessia stabilized and transferred to Select Specialty Hospital- Willingboro, a critical illness recovery hospital known for helping patients with challenging pulmonary conditions. Alessia couldn’t breathe, eat, walk or talk on her own. She was going to need to rely on her persevering spirit to heal and get back home.
When she arrived, she had a tracheostomy, which is a surgically-made hole in the windpipe with a tube that connected to a ventilator. Alessia also had a partial obstruction in her airway and, coupled with her anxiety, liberating her from the ventilator presented additional challenges to her care team. Alessia struggled to trust the staff as they tried to help her strengthen her lungs through personalized exercises supervised by her pulmonary team.
Alessia said she was so afraid she would never get off the ventilator that at times she needed mental health intervention to stay focused on her recovery and to do what the care team asked her to do.
“The respiratory therapists and rehabilitation team never gave up on me,” she said. “They kept coming back day after day to push me, even when I was scared and making not-so-good decisions that prevented me from getting better.”
She recalls how patient care staff would sit with her and play her favorite music to make her feel safe.
As she was still on the ventilator, she passed a special study that examined whether she could swallow without aspirating. She reached her first milestone – being able to eat again. That was empowering.
Approximately six weeks after admission, she reached another milestone: breathing on her own. She said she knew she “was going to make it” when she was able to breathe on her own for nine hours one day. Within a few days, she no longer needed the ventilator and it was wheeled from her room.
She spoke again for the first time in more than three months using a special valve connected to her tracheostomy tube – another milestone – and a few days after that, the tracheostomy tube was removed.
From the time of her admission, Alessia also participated in physical and occupational therapy to improve her mobility. Sometimes that meant sitting in a chair, balancing herself on the edge of the bed, feeding herself or brushing her teeth. All of the exercises helped to rebuild her strength and stamina and prepare her for the next step in her recovery.
She recalls two other moments that brought joy: being able to get up and walk to the bathroom and going outside in a wheelchair and feeling fresh air on her face.
Alessia says the entire Select Specialty Hospital team rallied around her to make her feel safe and for the first time in her life, she felt like she had a team rooting for her.
Eight weeks after admission, Alessia transferred to an inpatient rehabilitation hospital to continue her recovery, particularly to focus on walking better. And eight days after that, she was back in her apartment.
It was in that apartment where Alessia one day felt sick to her stomach. She remembers thinking, “I’ll just take some TUMS and it will go away.” When her symptoms escalated and what initially felt like heartburn turned into three days of chest pain, Alessia feared she was having a heart attack. She called 911 and was taken to Virtua Voorhees Hospital.
The problem was her gallbladder, but she hemorrhaged during surgery to remove it and developed pancreatitis. She transferred to the intensive care unit at Penn Presbyterian Hospital in Philadelphia and needed extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a machine that pumped for her heart when she could not. She was intubated and connected to a ventilator, all while in a medically induced coma.
After nearly two months at Penn Presbyterian, Alessia stabilized and transferred to Select Specialty Hospital- Willingboro, a critical illness recovery hospital known for helping patients with challenging pulmonary conditions. Alessia couldn’t breathe, eat, walk or talk on her own. She was going to need to rely on her persevering spirit to heal and get back home.
When she arrived, she had a tracheostomy, which is a surgically-made hole in the windpipe with a tube that connected to a ventilator. Alessia also had a partial obstruction in her airway and, coupled with her anxiety, liberating her from the ventilator presented additional challenges to her care team. Alessia struggled to trust the staff as they tried to help her strengthen her lungs through personalized exercises supervised by her pulmonary team.
Alessia said she was so afraid she would never get off the ventilator that at times she needed mental health intervention to stay focused on her recovery and to do what the care team asked her to do.
“The respiratory therapists and rehabilitation team never gave up on me,” she said. “They kept coming back day after day to push me, even when I was scared and making not-so-good decisions that prevented me from getting better.”
She recalls how patient care staff would sit with her and play her favorite music to make her feel safe.
As she was still on the ventilator, she passed a special study that examined whether she could swallow without aspirating. She reached her first milestone – being able to eat again. That was empowering.
Approximately six weeks after admission, she reached another milestone: breathing on her own. She said she knew she “was going to make it” when she was able to breathe on her own for nine hours one day. Within a few days, she no longer needed the ventilator and it was wheeled from her room.
She spoke again for the first time in more than three months using a special valve connected to her tracheostomy tube – another milestone – and a few days after that, the tracheostomy tube was removed.
From the time of her admission, Alessia also participated in physical and occupational therapy to improve her mobility. Sometimes that meant sitting in a chair, balancing herself on the edge of the bed, feeding herself or brushing her teeth. All of the exercises helped to rebuild her strength and stamina and prepare her for the next step in her recovery.
She recalls two other moments that brought joy: being able to get up and walk to the bathroom and going outside in a wheelchair and feeling fresh air on her face.
Alessia says the entire Select Specialty Hospital team rallied around her to make her feel safe and for the first time in her life, she felt like she had a team rooting for her.
Eight weeks after admission, Alessia transferred to an inpatient rehabilitation hospital to continue her recovery, particularly to focus on walking better. And eight days after that, she was back in her apartment.