ARIZONA, USA — Every day for the past several days, Victoria Arviso has waited in the parking lot of the Carl T. Hayden V.A. Medical Center in Phoenix.
On Wednesday, from across 7th Street, she spoke into a green walkie-talkie.
“Hi Brian, it’s me Victoria,” Arviso said.
Brian Yazzie is her brother.
“Your goal is to rest and let your lungs heal, that is the only thing that you need to worry about,” Arviso tells Brian through the two-way radio, but no one talks back.
Fighting a different battle
Arviso said Yazzie was diagnosed with COVID pneumonia at the hospital after experiencing fatigue, shortness of breath and high fevers at home.
“They told me that his lungs were severely damaged,” Arviso said.
Arviso said Yazzie survived three deployments and is now going to school to be a mechanic. Yazzie just retired from the Army last year, and Arviso said it took her brother some time to find his place. But he’s moved to the Valley, and has a dog, Samantha, that he loves.
“He knew that he was finally stable and then he got sick,” Arviso said.
It’s a fight Arviso said she reminds him of often through the walkie-talkie.
“You’ve been through worse fights than this and I want you to mentally fight because you’re not alone,” Arviso said.
Arviso said Yazzie has been on a ventilator since last Thursday. Before he was put on the vent, Arviso said she had a chance to video chat with him to calm his fears.
“That is the last time that I spoke to my brother,” Arviso said. “But I told him everything would be okay.”
Arviso said she had talked to her brother multiple times about getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
“When he had left Thanksgiving, he said, ‘You know, I am going to start, I am in school now, I am with other people,’ And unfortunately when he left Texas on Thanksgiving is when he got sick,” Arviso said.
ECMO needed
Arviso said Yazzie’s doctors tell her he needs more help than the ventilator is currently giving him.
“They said that he does have a strong heart, that his heart is very strong, his liver is very strong and his kidneys are strong. That’s what’s helping him through this process,” Arviso said. “But they’re afraid that if he doesn’t get on an ECMO machine his body’s going to burn out.”
Arviso said two hospitals have denied him the ECMO, which acts as an external lung, and two others have cleared him.
Lack of availability
However, Arviso said he’s on a waitlist because of a lack of bed space and machine availability. Arviso said doctors tell her he will no longer be a candidate after Thursday, Dec. 23.
“It’s hard to have a deadline. I think it’s ridiculous, but I’m sure that there’s a reason behind it,” Arviso said.
Dignity Health and Mayo Clinic both told 12 News in statements that they are running at full capacity for ECMO as of Wednesday. Banner Health has not responded to 12 News’ request for the status of their ECMO capacity.
“ECMO has been and continues to be a tight resource, including the number of ECMO circuits and the availability of trained staff to operate them,” A spokesperson for the Arizona Department of Health Services said in a statement to 12 News.
Waiting
So Arviso keeps coming down to wait outside the hospital, talking, praying and watching the window to his room.
“I have high hopes that I will talk to him again,” Arviso said.
Arviso said she plays music for her brother – both Native American music and his favorite song, H.O.L.Y. by Florida Georgia Line.
“Pray for my brother, please, even if he doesn’t get a machine, pray that his lungs stay strong and he can recover,” Arviso said.
COVID-19 News and Updates
Subscribe to the 12 News YouTube channel to receive notifications on the latest videos about the latest information on the coronavirus.