{"id":33364,"date":"2020-07-27T11:14:37","date_gmt":"2020-07-27T17:14:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=33364"},"modified":"2023-07-12T16:15:21","modified_gmt":"2023-07-12T22:15:21","slug":"patient-first-at-hospital-to-get-life-saving-ecmo-lung-treatment-for-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/patient-first-at-hospital-to-get-life-saving-ecmo-lung-treatment-for-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Aurora man was first patient at University of Colorado Hospital to receive life-saving ECMO lung treatment for COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Robert
Robert and Chalice are reunited, six weeks after he was hospitalized and got ECMO lung treatment for COVID-19. Photo by UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Robert Carver recalls being in church one Sunday morning and speaking with an elder mother when the subject of the 91st<\/sup> Psalm<\/a> of the Bible came up.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s my favorite scripture, the woman told Carver. I\u2019ve always leaned and depended on that scripture.<\/p>\n

From its beginning, Psalm 91 advises people to put their trust in God as a \u201crefuge and a fortress.\u201d These are far more than words for Robert and his wife of 24 years, Chalice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe psalm speaks to how God puts you in a secret dwelling place and protects you from all hurt, harm and danger,\u201d Robert said. \u201cThat\u2019s the gist of the scripture. We live by that foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Robert
Robert leaves UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital after being the first patient to get ECMO lung treatment for COVID-19. The card he holds highlights the central role that Psalms 91 plays in his life and his recovery from COVID-19. Photo by UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

COVID-19 challenge<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In late March, Robert and Chalice found they needed that foundation more than ever, as the novel coronavirus threatened to sweep the ground from under them. With blurring speed, the virus attacked, bringing Robert to the brink of death. That he survived is a tribute to the medical providers who cared for him and to his own determination, the strength of his family and the faith that sustains them.<\/p>\n

The odyssey began innocently enough with a Sunday golf outing. The previous day, Robert, then 49, had developed a cough, but he didn\u2019t think much of it. As he chipped a few balls onto the greens, though, a sudden gust of wind coursed through him. In that instant, his seemingly mild illness took a vicious turn.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt sick,\u201d he recalled. \u201cI felt it in my body.\u201d<\/p>\n

A day later, on his daughter Chelsea\u2019s 13th<\/sup> birthday, Robert was so feverishly ill he couldn\u2019t make it to the bathroom unassisted. Chalice rushed him to the emergency department at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital<\/a> on the Anschutz Medical Campus<\/a>, where providers saw his oxygen levels plunge and put him on a ventilator. He tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.<\/p>\n

ECMO lung treatment for COVID-19<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cHe came in with full-blown respiratory failure,\u201d said Dr. Muhammad Aftab<\/a>, assistant professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery<\/a> with the University of Colorado School of Medicine<\/a>. Over the next three days, Robert\u2019s condition declined further, and he developed acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which occurs when the tiny air sacs in the lungs called alveoli fill with fluid, preventing oxygen from flowing to the body\u2019s organs.<\/p>\n