{"id":28218,"date":"2019-12-19T12:20:16","date_gmt":"2019-12-19T19:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=28218"},"modified":"2022-06-03T11:04:26","modified_gmt":"2022-06-03T17:04:26","slug":"ecmo-for-acute-respiratory-distress-syndrome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ecmo-for-acute-respiratory-distress-syndrome\/","title":{"rendered":"From the flu to near death"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Brenda Voglewede could see the tears welling in her husband\u2019s eyes as he crossed the finish line of the 2013 Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll Denver Marathon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he was holding back those tears of joy because a lot of people he knew were there,\u201d said Brenda, smiling at Victor Carlos, her husband of more than 20 years.<\/p>\n

That day\u2019s finish line didn\u2019t just mark the end of a 26.2-mile race for Victor. It signified the start of a full return \u2014 as a person, a husband and a father \u2014 after a grueling battle against an everyday illness that nearly took his life: the flu.<\/p>\n

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Victor Carlos and Brenda Voglewede have been married for more than 20 years. They credit Victor being alive to the use of ECMO for acute respiratory distress syndrome that plagued Victor six years ago. Photo by Joel Blocker, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Flu season and acute respiratory distress syndrome<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It was 2012, and the 41-year old Victor had already completed three marathons over the past two years. He was healthy, as was Brenda. In fact, Victor didn\u2019t recall ever having had the flu before. So, the couple felt they didn\u2019t need an annual flu shot, even though they made their two daughters, then ages 7 and 11, get that year\u2019s immunization.<\/p>\n

The flu hit Brenda first, then a few days later, it struck Victor. For Brenda, it worked its typical course: after about a week, she started to feel better. Victor figured he was just a few days behind his wife and would soon start to recover too.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was different than a cold,\u201d Victor explained. \u201cI coughed a lot, and it was the first time ever I couldn\u2019t sleep because I\u2019d stop breathing. I thought I might lie down and not wake up again.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Victor Carlos, left, with his wife, Brenda Voglewede, take a walk at their local park. Victor has a new appreciation for life and learning loosing it to the flu. Photo by Joel Blocker, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By day nine, Brenda was starting to get concerned about Victor. She began looking for signs of something more serious than the flu. He was drinking lots of fluids and keeping soup down. But by day 10, she noticed he was urinating less, and when he did, it was an amber color. His stomach was hard and bloated to the point he couldn\u2019t get comfortable sitting up. His fingernails began to turn a shade of purple, and her computer-programmer-by-day husband started to not make sense, rambling on about having to take a spelling bee.<\/p>\n

Brenda decided it was time to get Victor to the emergency room. She drove him because he\u2019d refused to take an ambulance, not wanting to scare the girls.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought I\u2019d take him and drive him there and everything would be fine,\u201d Brenda said.<\/p>\n

But when Victor shuffled his way to the car, Brenda noticed he\u2019d put on a nice pair of dress pants and his coat on backwards.<\/p>\n