Texas City woman back home just in time for holiday after battling COVID-19 for 5 months
TEXAS CITY, Texas (KTRK) -- A young mother from Texas City is waking up in her own bed just in time for Thanksgiving after months in the hospital battling COVID-19.
At 36 weeks pregnant, the mom of three thought it was allergies, maybe sinuses, but then she started to feel flu symptoms.
She went to the emergency room on June 26, saying goodbye to her husband. They had no idea she wouldn't come home for five months.
Thankfully, after five months at HCA Houston Healthcare in Clear Lake, fighting COVID-19, 36-year-old Crystal Gutierrez returned home to her family on Tuesday.
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She was surrounded by her three boys, refusing to leave their sides, with her husband close by, holding who she calls her miracle baby, delivered by an emergency C-section on June 28.
Gutierrez says she can't even remember parts of her hospital visit because she was put into a medically-induced coma as both of her lungs failed.
"They told my family to call a priest twice for me. I almost lost my leg due to a blood clot. I still can't walk right now," Gutierrez recalled. "The farthest I've gone is 30 feet with a walker."
She says she isn't even sure where she caught the virus. Because she was pregnant, her family was very cautious.
At one point, she says she almost gave up. She even asked the doctors to let her go home and die with her family.
She is still battling even now that she is out of the hospital.
Gutierrez lost most of her hair. She is still on oxygen and using a wheelchair.
"There's so many that think it's a hoax, or some conspiracy theory, or it's not a big deal," Gutierrez said. "You know, I spoke to my grandmother, and they say that the pastor from her church prayed for me over the phone. I said, 'You know, I would like to go over there and thank him.' But she tells me nobody in that congregation wears masks when they go to church."
After recovering, Gutierrez's biggest message for others is, "Don't take anything for granted."
