Colorado man who spent months in COVID ICU visits health care team 5 years after start of pandemic; "I'm blessed"
It has been five years since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. The organization reports that 7.1 million people have died from the disease to date.
Wednesday, a Kiowa man who nearly lost his battle with COVID-19 returned to the Castle Rock ICU where he spent two months to thank the care team that saved his life.
Charles Valenzuela doesn't remember much of his 2021 stay in the AdventHealth Castle Rock ICU.
"What memories I had was right here, looking out," said Valenzuela while pointing outside the window of his former ICU room.
After becoming sick with COVID-19 in October 2021, and experiencing symptoms including a fever of 103 degrees and hallucinations, Valenzuela was rushed to the hospital.
"It was kind of like a slap in the face for me because I was one of the biggest smack talkers about COVID at the time," Valenzuela said.
At AdventHealth, he joined an ICU packed full of critical COVID-19 patients.
"Chuck was very similar to a lot of patients we saw. He was frightened. He probably had never been this sick before in his life. He had heard a lot of things about once you get on a ventilator. It's a death sentence," said Dr. Darren Boe, ICU medical director.
Boe intubated Valenzuela and put him in a medically-induced coma.
"Up until that time, I had six years clean," Valenzuela said. "I just said, if that's the six years that I got back to be healthy and free from all that, I was happy with that."
"Without the ventilator, he almost certainly would have died. With the ventilator, he had a fighting chance," Boe said.
That fighting chance was all Valenzuela needed. After spending weeks on a ventilator and losing more than 100 pounds, he woke up.
"When I opened my eyes, and I was staring at the ceiling, the first thing I thought was, well, you're not done with me yet," Valenzuela said.
Today, Valenzuela is disabled, and an oxygen tank is a daily reminder of his battle with COVID-19. But he's grateful to be alive.
Valenzuela explained he lives with underlying health conditions that include, "asthma, COPD and emphysema, and getting COVID and living through a coma."
"I've met people whose fathers, parents or friends, healthy people that got COVID, were gone. So for me, I'm blessed," Valenzuela said.
During a recent visit to AdventHealth, Valenzuela mentioned his battle with COVID-19 and his desire to visit the ICU to a receptionist. Soon, the hospital team reached out to invite him to see his old room. What he didn't know was that a team of a dozen health care workers who had cared for him were waiting in the room to surprise him.
Valenzuela teared up upon seeing them and proceeded to shake hands with or hug each one.
"Thank you all, thank you all, the staff, for all you guys coming here," Valenzuela said tearfully. "Sometimes, we don't feel like we're worthy, but God has a way of making things work out for reasons and things beyond my control."
"It's pretty rewarding to see him back today, walking into the ICU on his own two feet," Boe said.
It was a welcome reunion for the health care workers who risked their lives during the pandemic and saw too many patients who never made it home.
"I think a lot of us, nurses, respiratory therapists, physical therapists, kind of suppress some of those memories because it was a hard time," Boe said. "To bring it back in such a positive light and to revisit those success stories is really rewarding."
"COVID wasn't a joke. I made fun of it. People in this hospital, they're amazing," Valenzuela said while fighting back tears.
Valenzuela brought his beloved dog, Girl, with him to the ICU, along with his best friend, Bart. He says the pair are a huge part of his life. He also credits his Christian faith with getting him through.
