Colorado Springs woman recovers from COVID-19 after 32 days in the hospital

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- A woman from Colorado Springs has been released from the hospital and is back with her husband after being diagnosed with COVID-19.

On July 16th, Carmen Padilla started experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, but her shortness of breath is what made her call her primary doctor. Padilla is in renal failure and needs nightly dialysis to survive. Considering her health condition, doctors recommended she go to the hospital where she tested positive for COVID-19.

Within hours, she was relieved to have oxygen nearby.

"I was at 65 liters, maximum flow, at 100% oxygen. I just wasn't breathing on my own," she explained.

Over the next week, her breathing capability got worse and the need for oxygen increased.

Panic set in when Padilla was taking those small breaths. "And they say take a deep breath, and you can't," she said.

For weeks, Padilla sat in her hospital room alone. Her only visitors were the nurses and doctors who looked after her care. On Aug. 15, her husband, Jose, was finally allowed inside after they both tested negative for COVID-19.

"The possibility existed, that I may never see him again," Padilla said.

"Every other situation, I come under control, this I had no control over," Padilla explained.

She credits her recovery to the hospital staff who kept her company.

"They were my light. I could think about my family. I could think about my loved ones and so on and so forth, but I knew that if I was not going to come out of this, the last people that would have been there for me would have been them, and they never once made me feel like I was a burden," she explained.

On Sunday, Padilla was released from the hospital, but still requires oxygen in addition to her nightly dialysis. She'll need the supplemental oxygen for at least another 30 days until her doctor can take a look at what damage COVID-19 might have left behind.