COVID-19 patient hospitalized for 103 days is released from Medical City McKinney

Ceasar Ronavaz is home again after being discharged from Medical City McKinney on Tuesday, but there were moments during his bout with COVID-19 when he wasn’t certain that would be the case.

A gesture of kindness from Celeste Giannelli, Ronavaz’s ICU nurse, was critical for his spirit, according to a news release and materials shared by Medical City McKinney. In what would turn out to be about the midway point of his 103-day hospital stay, Giannelli wrapped Ronavaz in blankets and wheeled him outside to enjoy a bright, breezy day.

“That day, (I realized) how beautiful life is. Being alive is perfect. It’s an awesome thing,” Ronavaz said in the release from Medical City McKinney. “Being outside reminded me how much I care about being alive.”

That was part of the goal for Giannelli, who said caring for patients often goes beyond simply catering to their medical needs.

“If you can imagine being as deathly ill as he was and not having left that room for 60 days, roughly, [then] seeing the sunshine on your face and the flowers and trees and plants or just the gentle breeze, I can’t imagine that,” Giannelli said in the news release. “You go stir crazy as a patient being in that room, so whatever we can provide to a patient and helping not just their physical recovery but emotional recovery, spiritual recovery, I think we should do it.”

In a video shared by the hospital, nurses said there were several occasions when they thought Ronavaz was at the end of his life and notified his family, but he pulled through each time.

He still is not back to 100%, leaving the hospital with the assistance of a walker and continuing therapy at home. It’s the latest step in what has been a long journey for the 65-year-old.

After receiving a positive COVID-19 test in June, Ronavaz quarantined at home. But on the 12th day of his isolation, his shortness of breath and other symptoms caused him to seek care. Ronavaz spent 81 days in the intensive care unit and the ICU step-down unit and spent the rest of his stay in the hospital’s Inpatient Rehabilitation Institute.

The health care workers who assisted him in that portion of his recovery were there Tuesday to applaud as he checked out of the facility, once again enjoying the sun on his face and the wind in his hair.