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For @latimesopinion, Dr. Halleh Akbarnia wrote about a COVID-19 patient who changed her life: “Whether he knows it or not, he will be my silent warrior and guide as I take care of every patient, COVID or not."

Here's the story. latimes.com/opinion/story/…
Dr. Halleh Akbarnia has worked as an ER physician for almost 20 years.

"I’m used to the daily grind of heart attacks, gunshots, strokes, flu, traumas and more," she writes. "Yet nothing has made me feel about my work the way this pandemic has." latimes.com/opinion/story/…
She writes that she met her patient, Mr. C., on her first real “pandemic” shift, the first day her Chicago-area medical center began seeing the surge of COVID-19 cases.

latimes.com/opinion/story/…
"Gasping for breath, he kept asking if we needed anything, and reassuring us that it would all be OK.

He told us he was a teacher but he was learning so much from us, and he told us how he respected what we were doing.

I felt the same way about him." latimes.com/opinion/story/…
Dr. Akbarnia explains they had to decide how long they would try to let him work through his low oxygen state before intubating him — a procedure that involves putting a tube into his lungs to keep him breathing — but his saturation levels kept falling.

latimes.com/opinion/story/…
"He told us he didn’t feel great about this, but then added, 'Doc, I trust you and am putting myself in your hands.'

latimes.com/opinion/story/…
It was not an easy intubation, Dr. Akbarnia writes.

latimes.com/opinion/story/…
For the next 12 days, Dr. Akbarnia writes that she watched his progress, knowing the grim statistics, and how sick he was. But that after more than a week on the ventilator, he was successfully extubated. latimes.com/opinion/story/…
"Mr C. was in the COVID stepdown unit, recovering, without family. Nobody was allowed to visit him. ... I cautiously went into his room, wearing my PPE, and when he saw me, he stopped for a second.

A moment of recognition. I introduced myself." latimes.com/opinion/story/…
“I’m Dr. Akbarnia, Mr. C. I was the last person you saw in the ER. You told me you trusted us to get you to this side. Looks like you did just fine.”

He started to cry. He said, “I remember your eyes.” latimes.com/opinion/story/…
Then Dr. Akbarnia started to cry, she writes.
"I told him that while he is in the hospital, we are his family, and that he will always have a place in my heart."

Read Dr. Halleh Akbarnia's full Op-Ed for @latimesopinion here: latimes.com/opinion/story/…
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Los Angeles Times
@latimes
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Los Angeles Times
@latimes
Breaking: Trump administration releases new fuel efficiency standards, weakening one of the nation’s most aggressive efforts to combat climate change latimes.com/politics/story…
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Los Angeles Times
@latimes
.@BillPlaschke called up legendary Dodgers announcer Vin Scully to see how he was holding up during the #coronavirus pandemic.

Wouldn't you know it, Vin was full of comforting words of wisdom. latimes.com/sports/dodgers…
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