Around the first week of January, our brother Miguel was diagnosed with Covid. Around that time, it seemed everyone was getting it; family and friends alike. Everyone we knew who tested positive had symptoms on the lower end of the spectrum. Medium to primarily mild. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case for Miguel.

Miguel is predisposed to contract pneumonia & is diabetic. We were all concerned but had no idea where this would lead. Salina, his wife, admitted him to the ER on January 12th & they kept him overnight to stabilize what was causing his shortness of breath. With Covid, he contracted pneumonia. His doctors decided to admit him for further monitoring. The next day he was placed on a ventilator in critical condition in the ICU.

After being intubated and heavily sedated for several days (and many prayers later), he started to recover and on January 24th, he was discharged. Miguel was finally going home. Our family was relieved. Miguel was weak, and recovery was slow because while in the ICU, doctors discovered other medical issues. He had developed blood clots, and his stomach was bleeding from varcies associated with cirrhosis of the liver. We were shocked because Miguel is not and has never been a drinker. Most likely, a symptom of being diabetic. All in all, we were happy that he was home & on the road to getting better.

Timeline of what happened after that:

January 29th. He’s back in ICU. His lungs are infected and once again heavily sedated on a ventilator. Surgeons are cautious on how to proceed with all his complications. No surgery, they decided. His body was just too weak to withstand something of that magnitude.

February 4th. Miguel’s kidneys are failing. Dialysis is now being administered. His doctors can’t speculate if this is temporary or if he will have to do this for the rest of his life. We can only hope that his body can repair itself.

After many failed attempts to remove Miguel from the ventilator, his throat was finally tube-free on Feb 25th. We’re waiting for his lungs to heal so the drainage tubes can be removed from his lungs.

March 4th, he is relocated to Intensive Rehab, but then suffers some complications and is back on a ventilator. Surgery that was being put off before because he was too weak to survive an invasive procedure is now scheduled and is transferred to Critical Care Center.

Finally, Miguel is off the ventilator on March 13th. However, he is still on dialysis and a feeding tube.

A week later, Miguel is eating on his own, albeit thick liquids only. Unfortunately, his lungs aren’t healing as well as doctors had hoped, and he undergoes second surgery on March 22nd. Miguel is recovering once again, but the surgeon wasn’t able to correct the tear in his lungs. All we can do now is hope that he heals.

All of this has been very exhausting for his family, especially for his wife and kids, who at first weren’t even able to visit him in the hospital due to Covid protocols. We don’t know when he’ll be home from the hospital. We don’t know when or if he’ll be able to get back to work. Their lives are on hold while creditors and the basic financial demands of every day life don’t stop.

We created this findraiser to help Salina and Miguel with their significant loss of income and the long term care that Miguel will need. Your support will be immensely appreciated, no matter how big or small.

On behalf of the entire Zendejas family, we thank you wholeheartedly, and ask that you please continue to pray for Miguel & his family.

**We will periodically update you with Miguel’s progress.