{"id":41794,"date":"2021-09-09T11:37:42","date_gmt":"2021-09-09T17:37:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=41794"},"modified":"2021-09-09T11:58:34","modified_gmt":"2021-09-09T17:58:34","slug":"young-covid-survivor-sings-thanks-to-exhausted-health-care-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/young-covid-survivor-sings-thanks-to-exhausted-health-care-workers\/","title":{"rendered":"Young COVID survivor, 23, brings music to health workers\u2019 ears"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>
\"silhouette
Jacob Larson, the soulful leader of The Jacob Larson Band, sings his heart out for the health care workers who saved him when he became one of the first, and the youngest, COVID-19 survivors at UCHealth Longs Peak Hospital in March 2020. Photo by Joel Blocker, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There he was, Jacob Larson, the young man who always knew he would become a singer, belting out a song in the courtyard of UCHealth Longs Peak Hospital<\/a> on a sun-splashed day at the end of August.<\/p>\n

He sang a Leon Russell tune: A Song for You.<\/p>\n

\u2026I love you in a place<\/em>
\nWhere there’s no space or time<\/em>
\nI love you for my life<\/em>
\nYou’re a friend of mine<\/em><\/p>\n

There were not that many in the crowd that day, but those who were loved hearing Larson\u2019s soulful voice. That he was standing in the courtyard and giving the gift of singing meant the world to the nurses, doctors and respiratory therapists who had gathered.<\/p>\n

Larson was one of the first patients \u2014 and the youngest at that time, only 21 — admitted to Longs Peak in the spring of 2020 with COVID-19. To see a man they had cared for performing was timely and uplifting for caregivers who are exhausted from a pandemic that began in the U.S. in January 2020 and has no end in sight.<\/p>\n

Among those watching Larson\u2019s performance was Fernando Mijares, an associate nurse manager, who cared for Larson in the intensive care unit, when COVID-19 was so new and scary.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo see him here, having graduated \u2014 living \u2014 and knowing he wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for our team \u2026 We do have purpose,” Mijares said.<\/p>\n

\"A
Jacob Larson, one of UCHealth Longs Peak Hospital’s youngest COVID-19 survivors, thanks Dr. Aiman Rauf, who admitted Larson into the hospital in March 2020, for her care, 17 months after he left the ICU. Photo by Joel Blocker, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Too young for COVID-19?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Back in March 2020, the number of COVID-19 cases<\/a> outside of China had increased 13-fold and the number of countries affected had tripled. The World Health Organization had just declared the new coronavirus a pandemic and former President Donald Trump had declared a state of emergency in the U.S. In the mountain resort towns of Colorado, the first COVID-19 cases in the state were being reported, but it would be a few months before leaders would issue statewide mask mandates and stay-at-home orders.<\/p>\n

The Jacob Larson Band, a 10-piece ensemble with Larson as its powerhouse vocalist, was busy recording their first album. Then Larson started having \u2018bad stomach issues.\u2019<\/p>\n

He called his dad, John Larson, who lived in Longmont, Colorado, about an hour from Larson\u2019s apartment in Denver. John insisted his son stay at his house while he got better. Larson went to Longmont and three days after his arrival, he went to urgent care for treatment of persistent flu-like symptoms. He was prescribed nausea medication.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe next couple of days it became harder and harder to breathe,\u201d Larson recalled. \u201cOn Sunday, March 22, early in the morning, we went to the ER.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Nurses at UCHealth Longs Peak Hospital ran a series of tests. Larson’s pulse oximeter reading was 60%, well below a healthy minimum of 90%, and his chest X-ray was also concerning. Later, test results confirmed Larson had COVID-19. He was admitted and taken to the hospital\u2019s intensive care unit.<\/p>\n

\"Jacob
Soul and funk singer Jacob Larson, accompanied by pianist Olivia Rebolledo, sings for health care workers at Longs Peak Hospital in late August. Larson, at 21 years old, was hospitalized with COVID-19 in March 2020. He returned to thank his caregivers with his voice. Photo by Joel Blocker, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mijares remembered the day Larson arrived in the ICU. \u201cInitially, we thought (this virus) was just affecting the elderly, so to see this young person go down so hard was frightening,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Larson had severe viral pneumonia. A day later, he was intubated and placed on a ventilator. Ten days later, he was taken off the ventilator, but he then had a negative reaction to his medication.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt shot my heart rate to 160, tanked my blood pressure and caused my lungs to fail again,\u201d Larson said. \u201cI was reintubated for an additional three days.\u201d<\/p>\n

Young man recovers from COVID-19<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Fourteen days after being admitted to the hospital, Larson was off the ventilator for good and recovering in a post-ICU unit. Having been bedridden for so long, he focused on strengthening his muscles and his balance for the next five days. On day 20 \u2014 April 20, 2020 \u2014 he was discharged to the home of his mother, Lynn Braun, in Longmont.

“He’s happy and healthy, and that’s because of you. You people are my heroes.” – John Larson, Jacob Larson’s father.<\/div>\n

Larson used a walker but quickly regained most of his mobility within a few weeks. The next few months he continued to recover with at-home physical therapy, and multiple chest X-rays showed improved lung function. He eventually gained back his full physical strength.<\/p>\n

Larson\u2019s vocal cords were a different story. He had temporary damage from the tubes down his throat and he knew he\u2019d need to deal with that if he ever was going to sing again, but it would have to wait.<\/p>\n

\u201cMusic got put on hold \u2014 it was second to me getting well again,\u201d Larson said. “If I’m not well mentally and physically, I knew I’d not be able to get back to singing again.”<\/p>\n

\"Jacob
Jacob Larson, of The Jacob Larson Band, sings his heart out to his health care team 17 months after he got out of the intensive care unit. He is one of the youngest COVID-19 survivors to leave the hospital’s ICU. Photo by Joel Blocker, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Like his music career, his pursuit of dual degrees in music business and vocal performance from the University of Colorado Denver would have to wait, even though he was only months from earning the degrees.<\/p>\n

Emotionally, Larson needed to address the toll COVID-19 had on him. Larson\u2019s mother, Braun, is a psychotherapist, and she made sure mental health was at the forefront of her son\u2019s recovery. Larson started \u2014 and continues even today \u2014 with eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) and intense trauma therapy.<\/p>\n

“It is a very, very scary thing when you’re lying in a room, hardly able to breathe,” Larson said. “The idea that you’re the infected one in the room and not seeing anyone’s face for 20 days, all in full PPEs, like hazmat suits \u2014 it is a very scary feeling, to say the least.”<\/p>\n

Returning to music after being struck down by COVID-19<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In time, Larson improved with help from friends, bandmates and family and gradually helped him get back to his music.<\/p>\n

\"Soul
Soul and funk singer Jacob Larson, accompanied by pianist Olivia Rebolledo, sing for health care workers at Longs Peak Hospital in late August. Photo by Joel Blocker, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThey helped me see that light at the end of the tunnel,\u201d he said. \u201cMusic has always been my absolute driver. I remember dancing to The Blues Brothers on my bed when I was 4. \u2026 Getting back to singing live was my absolute goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the age of only 11, he started seeing an otolaryngologist to realize his dream of becoming a singer. After COVID-19, Larson returned to the same doctor to help him now rejuvenate his voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy throat was sore and all scratched up,\u201d Larson said. \u201cI had a lot of weird feelings going on in my mouth and throat because of being on a ventilator.\u201d<\/p>\n

Larson had a benign growth in the back of the vocal fold, a condition called intubation granuloma.<\/p>\n

\"John
John Larson, right, Jacob’s father, talks with Dr. Robert Janata, pulmonologist and critical care physician. John was at Longs Peak Hospital to watch his son sing as a way to say thanks to the health care workers who saved his life. John was also thankful. Photo by Joel Blocker, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cMy doctor said it looks like a large callus from the tube rubbing for so long, but he assured me this was the least of my worries \u2013 I had just survived COVID,\u201d Larson said. \u201cHe knew we could take care of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Larson started taking reflux medication and stopped eating acidic and spicy foods. A month later, the granuloma was gone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was the day I was cleared to sing \u2014 about two months after I was discharged,” Larson said. “My vocal doctor told me not to go out and do a three-hour show, but who was doing that anyway? I started slow and took it easy.”<\/p>\n

A month later, Larson had his first live show at the jazz club \u201cDazzle\u201d in Denver. The event sold out, and though Larson had to perform behind Plexiglas, he was thrilled to be back on stage.<\/p>\n

He also finished his music degree and when COVID-19 social restrictions eased, his performance schedule was booked. He\u2019s performed at nearly 30 events this summer, and The Jacob Larson Band recently played The Taste of Colorado in Denver. This fall, the band plans to release \u201cTotally Legal,\u201d the album<\/a> they had started recording before Larson got COVID-19. It will have 10 original songs \u2014 music best described as \u201cstraight from the 70s funk and soul\u201d \u2014 of which Larson and guitarist Steve Langemo co-wrote and produced together.<\/p>\n

Young COVID survivor sings from the heart<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Larson has come a long way since the fearful nights of wondering whether COVID-19 would take his life. His return to the hospital to sing for those who held his hand and cared for him during that time was even more \u201csurreal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"From
From left, Jacob Larson’s mom, Lynn Braun, his aunt, Sarah Braun, and Fernando Mijares, associate nurse manager of Longs Peak Hospital medical\/surgical unit. Photo by Joel Blocker, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Being able to see the doctors and medical staff that took care of me while I was in the hospital \u2014 being able to see them and also hug them \u2014 was so heartwarming,” Larson said. \u201cIt brought up some harder memories, but I was also able to create some positive, new memories.\u201d<\/p>\n

Writing music has helped in Larson\u2019s recovery from COVID-19.<\/p>\n

“It’s helped me process what happened,” Larson said. “Something hopefully brilliant will come out of something so traumatic in my life. There are some powerful stories to tell with songs coming out after this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jacob
Jacob Larson with his former Longs Peak Hospital physical therapist, kathleen Loetscher. Photo courtesy of Sarah Braun.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For nurses like Mijares, Larson\u2019s presence is a reminder that despite how hard the pandemic has been, there are many victories. Larson wants his caregivers to know that he won\u2019t stop with his songs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will do whatever I can to get people vaccinated and to keep people out of their ICU,\u201d Larson said to workers at Longs Peak. \u201cPeople and your past patients see you, hear you, and we are on your side when it comes to getting people vaccinated and keeping people safe.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m here to tell people that COVID-19 is very real and extremely scary,\u201d he continued. \u201cWe have to be one right now. We have to be together on this.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There he was, Jacob Larson, the young man who always knew he would become a singer, belting out a song in the courtyard of UCHealth Longs Peak Hospital on a sun-splashed day at the end of August. He sang a Leon Russell tune: A Song for You. \u2026I love you in a place Where there’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2164,"featured_media":41795,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[4859,4860,9069,267],"class_list":["post-41794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid-19","tag-covid-19-vaccine","tag-intensive-care-unit"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nYoung COVID survivor sings to exhausted caregivers - 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And every day, as a writer for UCHealth, Kati meets inspiring people, learns about life-saving technology, and gets to know the amazing people who are saving lives each day. Even better, she gets to share their stories with the world. As a journalism major at the University of Wyoming, Kati wrote for her college newspaper. She also studied abroad in Swansea, Wales, while simultaneously writing for a Colorado metaphysical newspaper. After college, Kati was a reporter for the Montrose Daily Press and the Telluride Watch, covering education and health care in rural Colorado, as well as city news and business. 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