Celebrating Life After Almost 70 Days in Hospital and Rehab

June 22, 2020

After 35 days at Texoma Medical Center — including 22 on a ventilator — and then 33 days at TMC Reba McEntire® Center for Rehabilitation, the first person to test positive for COVID-19 in Grayson County is finally home with his wife.

Eshmaeil “Essi” Babahhmadi, of Denison, was given an emotional sendoff by hospital staff. The road to that moment was incredibly difficult for Babahhmadi and his wife, Vicki Eisenberg, who also spent several days in the hospital’s COVID-19 unit.

After both being diagnosed with the virus, the couple initially were sent home to self-isolate, but their conditions worsened and they were admitted to TMC. After five days, Eisenberg recovered and went home, but her husband did not, and eventually he was put into a medically induced coma. Eisenberg said he was not expected to live.

But Babahhmadi, and his COVID-19 care team, did not give up.

In a letter to TMC, Eisenberg said:

“I want to take a minute to thank each and every one of you … doctors, nurses, therapists, support staff, the entire TMC community. I was there in the ICU, too, and I know how I was treated, which has given me comfort knowing that Essi would be treated well. I truly believe you saved his life. It has been a rollercoaster, but you never made me feel wrong for being emotional.”

Babahhmadi recovered from COVID-19 and was discharged to TMC Reba McEntire Center for Rehabilitation, where he spent 33 days regaining his strength. Deborah Fisher, MD, medical director at Reba Rehab, says Babahhmadi was in a wheelchair and very weak. “He couldn’t walk and could barely sit upright. He also needed a nasogastric tube for feeding because he could not swallow food,” she says. “He was ready to go home on June 1, and we are thrilled with his miraculous recovery.”

The TMC Reba McEntire Center for Rehabilitation is a top performer! Ranked among the top 10 percent in the country by Uniform Data System in the delivery of quality patient care that is effective, efficient, timely and patient-centered.