Reyna Lopez’s recovery has been a bright point for many Mayo Clinic health providers, said Stephanie Blakeman, an ICU nurse and coordinator of the ECMO program at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona. / Selfy courtesy of Reyna Lopez
By Stephanie Innes
Arizona Republic
When she first woke up on Sept. 11, Reyna Lopez thought it was still June.
She had no idea that she’d been sedated through the entire summer — she’d missed the Fourth of July, her fifth wedding anniversary and Labor Day. Her newborn was about to turn 5 months old.
She did not know that more than once, her husband, extended family and providers at the Mayo Clinic Hospital had braced themselves for her death.
After spending more than four months in the hospital for COVID-19 — most of that time attached to an artificial lung — 31-year-old Reyna Lopez went home Friday for the first time since June 12.
All told, Lopez spent 88 days attached to an artificial lung and was in the ICU for 119 days.
Lopez set a record at the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix for the length of time she spent on what’s known as ECMO — extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, a last-ditch high-level treatment that works like an out-of-the-body, artificial lung.
ECMO adds oxygen to the blood, removes carbon dioxide and buys time for extremely ill patients, like Lopez, whose lungs need to heal.
Lopez, a Tempe mother of three, is still incredulous at how long she was ill.
