a322x1n
2021-09-04 23:55:08 UTC
<https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/florida-teen-paulina-velasquez-spent-w
eeks-in-hospital-and-advises-others-to-get-vaccinated/ar-AAO6BY6?ocid=mse
dgdhp&pc=U531>
<https://tinyurl.com/4c4be829>
Florida teen Paulina Velasquez spent weeks in hospital and advises
others to get vaccinated. By Randi Kaye, CNN, 2 hrs ago.
"My message, technically is: If you're eligible to get the vaccine,
please do," Paulina Velasquez told CNN from her home in Coral Gables in
Broward County, Florida. "I plan on getting vaccinated as soon as my
doctor lets us know when I can."
Paulina, 15, had intended earlier this summer to get vaccinated. But
then she got a runny nose, and then came headaches. She lost her sense
of taste and smell. Breathing became hard.
On July 11 she tested positive for the coronavirus. Less than a week
later, the healthy, energetic high school sophomore was in a Fort
Lauderdale hospital emergency room struggling to breathe normally.
It was very scary, she said.
Because her oxygen levels were low, doctors immediately put her on a
ventilator.
"That was the scariest moment when they told me because I didn't know
what to expect," Agnes Velasquez said. At first, she didn't want her
daughter on a ventilator but she was told her daughter's condition could
get worse.
Then she told the medical staff: "Just do what you can do to save my
daughter's life."
Paulina also had pneumonia and was put in a medically induced coma. Mom
made the decision to stay in her daughter's room, where she was told she
couldn't come out.
Agnes Velasquez told CNN last month that she told her daughter every day
to, "Fight for your life."
Paulina's doctor, Dr. Venu Devabhaktuni, the medical director for
Broward Health's pediatric ICU, said in August that the teen was "kind
of touch and go" while she was on a ventilator.
"Things could have gone bad quickly, but she recovered because she's one
young, healthy child. That, I think that was in favor of her
recovering," Devabhaktuni said.
After almost a month, Paulina was well enough to go home from the
Broward Health Medical Center.
She is doing physical therapy to get stronger. Her arms and legs are
still weak but she is now able to walk on her own.
She also has to work on learning how to pick things up and hold things.
Paulina said she is improving every day and she wants others to avoid a
similar experience.
"It is a very serious virus. This virus does not pick and choose who to
infect," she said, her words aimed at the unvaccinated. "It could hit
you as hard as it hit me. And I don't want anybody to go through what I
went through."
Doctors say when Paulina is strong enough she can get vaccinated.
eeks-in-hospital-and-advises-others-to-get-vaccinated/ar-AAO6BY6?ocid=mse
dgdhp&pc=U531>
<https://tinyurl.com/4c4be829>
Florida teen Paulina Velasquez spent weeks in hospital and advises
others to get vaccinated. By Randi Kaye, CNN, 2 hrs ago.
"My message, technically is: If you're eligible to get the vaccine,
please do," Paulina Velasquez told CNN from her home in Coral Gables in
Broward County, Florida. "I plan on getting vaccinated as soon as my
doctor lets us know when I can."
Paulina, 15, had intended earlier this summer to get vaccinated. But
then she got a runny nose, and then came headaches. She lost her sense
of taste and smell. Breathing became hard.
On July 11 she tested positive for the coronavirus. Less than a week
later, the healthy, energetic high school sophomore was in a Fort
Lauderdale hospital emergency room struggling to breathe normally.
It was very scary, she said.
Because her oxygen levels were low, doctors immediately put her on a
ventilator.
"That was the scariest moment when they told me because I didn't know
what to expect," Agnes Velasquez said. At first, she didn't want her
daughter on a ventilator but she was told her daughter's condition could
get worse.
Then she told the medical staff: "Just do what you can do to save my
daughter's life."
Paulina also had pneumonia and was put in a medically induced coma. Mom
made the decision to stay in her daughter's room, where she was told she
couldn't come out.
Agnes Velasquez told CNN last month that she told her daughter every day
to, "Fight for your life."
Paulina's doctor, Dr. Venu Devabhaktuni, the medical director for
Broward Health's pediatric ICU, said in August that the teen was "kind
of touch and go" while she was on a ventilator.
"Things could have gone bad quickly, but she recovered because she's one
young, healthy child. That, I think that was in favor of her
recovering," Devabhaktuni said.
After almost a month, Paulina was well enough to go home from the
Broward Health Medical Center.
She is doing physical therapy to get stronger. Her arms and legs are
still weak but she is now able to walk on her own.
She also has to work on learning how to pick things up and hold things.
Paulina said she is improving every day and she wants others to avoid a
similar experience.
"It is a very serious virus. This virus does not pick and choose who to
infect," she said, her words aimed at the unvaccinated. "It could hit
you as hard as it hit me. And I don't want anybody to go through what I
went through."
Doctors say when Paulina is strong enough she can get vaccinated.