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PEMBROKE PINES, FLA. (WSVN) - A Broward County schoolteacher who has been battling COVID-19 for over a month has been discharged from the hospital.
Stefanie Miller, a 53-year-old elementary school teacher, could be seen sitting upright and breathing on her own as she left Memorial Hospital West in Pembroke Pines, Wednesday.
“I truly believe God has been watching over Stefanie because she truly came close to dying,” Dr. Daniel Mayer said.
Miller made her way out of the hospital serenaded with applause from the medical professionals who helped bring her back from the brink of death.
Faye Fogielgarn, Miller’s mother, fought back tears embracing her daughter while wearing a mask that read, “One day at a time.”
“I’ve never seen such an incredibly devoted family go to bat,” Mayer said. “They’ve been her advocate every single step of the way.”
“She’s always been a strong-willed little girl,” Fogielgarn said. “That’s for sure. If she wants something, she gets it. It felt like I was holding her for the first time again.”
At one point, doctors thought she would lose her battle with the virus, but after three weeks on a ventilator and a failed plasma donation, doctors found a treatment that worked.
“Well, I never gave up because I never give up on my kid, ever,” Fogielgarn said.
After a couple of days on the experimental drug Remdesivir, Miller began showing vast signs of improvement.
“He said, ‘I have some news for you, but you have to be very, very calm,'” Fogielgarn said on May 12. “She was sitting on the bed, and the vent was out, and she had oxygen on. What a thrilling moment.”
Miller’s doctors said she continued making strides in her recovery until she was strong enough to be discharged on Wednesday.
“Getting to know her through this illness is just tremendous,” Mayer said. “Her will to live, her endurance is incredible.”
Of course, she still has a long way to go in her recovery, and her doctors said that incredible will to live gives them strength to keep going.
“We’ve seen such highs and lows during the COVID pandemic and seeing Stefanie discharged today on her way to rehab is really what gives us reinforcement to come back to work every day,” Mayer said.
“The miraculous care of the doctors at Memorial West that she made it through, and the nurses and the care — ah, I am forever grateful to those people,” Fogielgarn said.
Miller will now head to a rehabilitation facility, and doctors expect her to make a full recovery.
Fogielgarn said the physical therapy and rehabilitation process will take a while because she has to regain her mobility.
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