Emotional Reunion for Port St. Lucie Woman and Husband to Take Place Wednesday Morning in Hollywood
February 21, 2023 – Melissa Stagg was a healthy, mother of three with no significant medical issues when a COVID-19-complicated case of pneumonia changed everything. Within days, the Port St. Lucie resident was intubated, on a ventilator, and struggling to survive.
Mrs. Stagg required ECMO, an acronym for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, which requires a special machine to replace the functions of the heart and lungs of critically-ill patients, enabling the vital organs to rest and recover from damage caused by illness and disease.
Unfortunately, the medical facility near her home wasn’t equipped to provide this treatment and it was feared Mrs. Stagg would die if transported by ambulance to a facility better able to provide this level of care.
Memorial Healthcare System was the first in Florida to offer mobile ECMO services and sent a team to St. Lucie County to put Mrs. Stagg on the ECMO machine, stabilize her condition, and transport her to Memorial Regional Hospital. She was kept on the machine for 65 days after arrival and had a series of significant medical complications to overcome during a five-month hospitalization in Hollywood.
Finally released and able to return home on Mother’s Day, 2022, Mrs. Stagg has worked diligently to regain all the abilities she lost during her medical ordeal.
The Memorial Cardiac & Vascular Institute is a cardiovascular care leader, offering a wide array of services dedicated to the prevention, detection, and treatment of cardiovascular disease. Its multi-disciplinary specialists collaborate using sophisticated diagnostic equipment and facilities. Cardiovascular care outcomes are regularly reviewed by physician-review panels and nurses to ensure quality assurance that utilizes computerized data collection.
For more information on total heart care, you can visit them at mhs.net/services/cardiac-vascular.
