The Most Amazing Thing
Mary Ellyn Muhlhauser has been a respiratory therapist for more than three decades. Nothing in her career could have prepared her for what it would be like caring for patients during the pandemic. Yet through it all she’s inspired by the teamwork of her colleagues and the spirit of her patients.
Mary Ellyn Muhlhauser
I’ve been at CentraCare for 34 years and I think the most memorable experience I’ve had involved with a young mother that was pregnant in the ICU with COVID. She was very, very sick. She was 32 weeks pregnant and I was working the day we needed to take the baby. We were going to take her to the O.R, but she started going downhill so we had to do an emergency bronch and deliver the baby up in the ICU room. In that moment the adrenaline runs because it’s a life and death situation.
“In that moment the adrenaline runs because it’s a life and death situation.”
Mary Ellyn Muhlhauser, Respiratory Therapist
There’s so much of this experience that is difficult. It’s not that we didn’t see death prior to the pandemic, but the frequency of death right now is really hard. You’re working with the nurses, doctors and every facet of the care team to treat these patients, but seeing patients decline continually and the prevalence of death can be overwhelming.
But what gives me hope is coming to work and seeing everyone showing up every day. It’s having those conversations with people on the RT team and our care teams, and seeing people smiling with their eyes. It’s seeing there’s still positivity in our organization and within all our staff as a whole. I try to take things day by day, and week by week, and just find those silver linings in each day – and give patients the best care that we can. Because that’s why we’re all here.