Jenn Salazar Nash’s Road to Recovery After Covid.

Back in March, beginning of April, Jennifer was not feeling well and went to the doctor to get checked. They tested her for COVID and at that time she tested positive. Being 24 weeks pregnant, she was quarantined to her bedroom at home and treated through the care of her OBGYN. As time persisted she was having extreme difficulty breathing and not improving, Jenn went to the ER at St. Jude Hospital in Fullerton. Jenn was then admitted to the hospital Easter Sunday, April 4th with COVID Pneumonia.  Jenn's vitals were checked, showing they were very low. She was immediately placed on oxygen and a C-pap machine. Jenn's anxiety spiked and levels were dropping, she was then placed on a ventilator. Jennifer spent a couple days at St. Jude Hospital before being transferred to UCLA Medical Center where she was immediately placed on an ECMO machine. (The ECMO machine pumps blood outside of the body to a heart and lung machine where it removes the carbon dioxide and sends oxygen-filled blood back into the tissues of the body.) This machine is used to assist with the most severe cases of COVID-19. Jennifer had to be placed on paralysis while on both the ventilator and ECMO machine. She spent over a month completely sedated in the ICU at UCLA on multiple machines, while pregnant before finally testing negative for COVID. At this time she was 29 weeks pregnant and the decision was made to deliver the baby by C-Section. Pressley Marie Nash was born on May 3, 2021 weighing 2 pounds 13 ounces and 15 1/2 inches long. Jenn was doing well at this time, until her blood began to clot. She underwent multiple procedures to assist with stopping the blood clots. Jenn fought long and hard to regain her strength during this time. It has been a roller coaster of procedures, medications, sedation, and constant scanning. Picking and poking her to fix one problem while another would arise. With four nurses and a team of doctors persistently checking in on her at all hours of the day, this has been gut wrenching for her family and friends to experience. What we know of her as one of the strongest people and most loving mother, wife, daughter and friend; to see in a state of complete desperation is something we would never, ever imagine her to be in. We don't even have enough writing room to explain all of what she has gone through, but all we do know is that Jenn has a long road of recovery ahead of her. At this time we do not know exactly when she will be home, how much damage has been done, or the extent of therapy she will have. Out of everything she has gone through, we hope that this can help with medical and therapy costs for both Jennifer and Pressley. As we all know, medical bills can be extremely expensive and overwhelming and that is the last thing we want her to have to worry about when she is focusing on healing.