By Denise Williams | News & Views

Sri D. is pulling for the Pope.

Of course, he’s not the only one praying for the ailing pontiff, who’s been hospitalized since Valentine’s Day with bilaterial pneumonia. But Sri understands first-hand what Pope Francis is going through, medically speaking.

Christmas Crisis

The 57-year-old’s own ordeal involving a respiratory infection, breathing apparatus, and a prolonged hospital stay began just as the festive season kicked off in 2023. Thanksgiving saw him in good spirits, as usual; but by December 1, a dry cough, which felt different from what a typical cold or flu might produce, was starting to drag him down. COVID tests came back negative — no surprise, since Sri had kept current with vaccination and boosters. Yet and still, his symptoms persisted until the combination of pounding chest and abdomen, extreme light-headedness, and labored breathing reached a crescendo that sent him staggering into the emergency room feeling like “never before in my life.”

His respiratory distress visually evident and subsequently confirmed by dangerously low oxygen saturation readings, the ER medical staff at El Camino Health recognized the gravity of the situation and admitted Sri immediately. A battery of blood tests followed. After initially diagnosing and then ruling out bronchitis, the culprits were finally confirmed: pneumonia, plus Influenza 1A.

Wait, what? Influenza 1A?!

The world was still learning to live with SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19…and here he was, infected by SARS-CoV-1, the ancestor SARS coronavirus 1 variant that had wreaked havoc in Asia 15 years prior.

“Obviously, I got exposed to somebody who had it and came here, and I interacted with them,” suspects Sri, who works in Healthcare IT. “There’s no vaccine for it.” To make matters worse, the only treatment is Tamiflu, administered within 5 days of symptom onset — and he was already at Day 7 by the time of diagnosis.

Meanwhile, attempts to increase Sri’s oxygen levels weren’t working, and doctors were increasingly concerned about the risk to his organs. The only remaining option, he was told, was intubation. That December 8th discussion about consent for intubation was the last conversation the Cupertino, California, resident recalls having before he woke up on New Year’s Eve, in a different city. During a particularly critical period, the doctors at El Camino Health had transferred him to the Cardiac-Pulmonary ICU at the University of California San Franciso (UCSF), which is equipped with an ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) machine specifically for extended duration with 24/7 monitoring for better outcomes and long-term care. The life-support device provides an artificial heart and lungs to do the work of real organs that are compromised and need time to rest or heal. As it turned out, one of Sri’s lungs was completely filled with fluids from the pneumonia infection and the other filled to about 79%, leaving only about a 20% air pocket to sustain lung function. He received the lifesaving ECMO treatment for about 3 weeks and was discharged in mid-February, thankfully with no signs of organ dysfunction or degradation of mental capacity.

PR Performed Miracles

Over the course of 2024, however, breathing issues resurfaced. The lungs were completely clear and functioning properly, he was assured, but they had lost strength due to the infection. To bring his lung capacity from about 50% up to normal levels, Brian Block, MD, from UCSF Pulmonary and Critical Care referred Sri to El Camino Health Pulmonary Rehab Center. He presented for his first session on January 3, 2025 — just over a year to the day that he woke up from intubation — and graduated from the program at El Camino Health on March 7. (Pictured, right, with El Camino's Missy Von Luehrte, RN, BSN, GERO-BC, CN IV.)

It was a hard-won victory, admits Sri, who started the program with very low exercise tolerance due to acute shortness of breath. “Just five bicep curls, and I was out of breath,” he recalls. By the end of 10 weeks, he could do 25 curls in 30 seconds and just about as many sit-ups, not to mention his 6-minute walk test improved more than threefold.

“I feel great now because of the rehab. I’ve learned so many new and different techniques,” Sri says, such as using pursed-lip breathing, practicing how to breathe from the diaphragm, and discovering the benefits of HITT (high-intensity interval training). “I just sent an email to my prescribing doctor, a pulmonologist at UCSF, that going to pulmonary rehab was a game-changer!”

Sri also feels blessed by his newfound balancing prowess, also compliments of PR. He hadn’t expected the drills requiring him to stand on one foot but thanks to those and similar exercises, he reports, “I’m not afraid that I might fall backwards and not be able to prevent the fall.” He hadn’t ever taken a tumble before but used to worry about that happening after spending 30-40 minutes on the treadmill or elliptical. “Initially, I used to feel kind of wobbly, kind of light-headed,” he explains, but now he feels confident using the equipment without that trepidation.

Although they say that his own determination had much to do with his impressive PR outcomes, Sri credits the pulmonary rehab staff at El Camino for their work with him. “These are amazing people,” he says with genuine gratitude. “Their sincere and caring attitudes really uplifted me. What they did for me — and they do this for everyone — but what I got out of their efforts…helped me understand I was more capable than I thought I was. And the results bear that out.”

The results are indeed favorable, but there’s still a long road ahead. Sri has signed up at the local YMCA, where he’ll continue to work on his physical self. Meanwhile, El Camino has directed him to resources to get healing for his mental state. He’s noticed that his normally cheerful disposition has been less sunny some days, and that’s worrisome to him. Doctors believe the dejection and feelings of isolation he’s experiencing may be the result of his extended stay in ICU or may be tied to medication he was given while hospitalized. Regardless, he’s anxious to pinpoint the root of the problem and address it.

As for Pope Francis, whose recent health scare shares elements of his own, Sri plans to keep praying. “If they were able to help this little ole guy here,” he says of himself, “I’m sure the doctors in Italy will do everything that’s possible to help him, too.”

**Note from Sri: The timely, expert care rendered by the ER staff at El Camino Health and the various ICU doctors and nursing staff at UCSF was crucial. I'm enormously thankful to Dr. Biswas, Dr. Block, ICU nurses Emily and Audrey, pulmonary rehab nurses Missy and Kelly, Dr. Sehgal, Dr. Erika, Dr. Kim, and the entire medical team at UCSF Parnassus.