Woman, 67, Makes Miracle COVID-19 Recovery after 196 Days in Hospital

A 67-year-old woman from Michigan was discharged from the hospital after surviving COVID-19. She spent 196 days in the hospital, one of the longest confinements for the illness.

According to Deanna Hair, "It completely changed my life. The entire process, from feeling sick and going to the hospital to recovering and then rehab and being on a ventilator - all of it has just been so draining," reported NBC News.

Hair left the University of Michigan hospital in Ann Arbor with cheering from her "Team Dee" supporters. Her family and friends were present to celebrate her discharge following a 196-day-long bout with the novel coronavirus.

Barbara Noll recalls well that day in February when her friend Deanna Hair had her first day-long chemotherapy treatment for pancreatic cancer at Ann Arbor's Michigan Medicine.

Noll said to her, "You can walk around or something. Get a snack." Hair responded, "Oh no, I'm fine here," promptly holding her book and chatting with nurses until late afternoon, reported USA Today.

Four days prior to her hospitalization for ischemic colitis, Hair was on a Zoom book club call.

Hair and her husband started experiencing coronavirus symptoms following their visit to California's Palm Springs. Her husband merely suffered mild symptoms while she experienced worse symptoms.

Both tested positive for COVID-19 on March 31.

Hair was coughing, feverish, and vomiting. Three days afterward, she was hospitalized in Michigan Medicine. According to Dr. Philip Choi, a pulmonologist at the hospital, Hair was diagnosed with ischemic colitis or "essentially a dead gut."

Also Read: Antibody Promises COVID-19 Treatment, But Not Cure

The 67-year-old woman had an underlying pancreatic cancer, which makes her battle reportedly triumphant.

Hair was hospitalized on April 3. She underwent an operation for her ischemic colitis caused by the virus.

She returned to Michigan Medicine six weeks after her chemotherapy treatment. This time, she was combatting a new illness, one that was affecting the rest of the world.

Hair was discharged on Thursday after 196 days of being admitted for COVID-19.

A "dead gut" is caused by diminished blood flow to the large intestine as a result of the novel coronavirus. She was reliant on a ventilator to breathe and struggled to combat infections following the doctors' removal of her colon.

According to Choi, "The condition is caused by reduced blood flow to the colon and for Deanna, the surgeons had to take out her colon." He continued that studies have confirmed that COVID-19 patients in ailing condition could develop major blood clots. Hair's doctors surmise that the inflammation and the novel coronavirus are related.

Hair's family called numerous times to bid "goodbye." Hair eventually became the one who bid farewell to the hospital, reported WCRZ.

She stated that her life was transformed "physically, mentally, and emotionally." According to Diane Flucht, a friend of Hair's for over 15 years, "We were all very surprised that we had seen her at book club and then got the call on April 4th," Flucht said. "I thought it was going to take a miracle for my friend to survive."