Woman reunited with family after being hospitalized at CRMC for 4 months
Jordan Mendoza was fighting a very rare condition that attacks the muscles that help us breathe and eat.
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- "It was about a year where I started with really bad acid reflux and then it turned into trouble swallowing and then weakness in my upper muscles," says Jordan Mendoza.
It's been quite the journey for her.
The 26-year-old mother spent four months at Community Regional Medical Center fighting an extremely rare condition that weakened her ability to swallow, but Thursday morning she finally got to go home.
"So thankful for all the staff, the support of my family and I'm just happy to be home with my baby girl," says Mendoza.
Most family and friends were prohibited from visiting Mendoza during her four-month stay due to COVID restrictions.
But they were all there and overjoyed when she was wheeled out of the hospital, including her daughter 3-year-old Mya.
"It was a long four months without her," says Mendoza.
It took a multi-specialty team at CRMC to discover she had brachio-cervical inflammatory myopathy - a progressive muscle weakness that was attacking her upper body.
Speech language pathologist Kaylee O'Brien worked with Mendoza since day one.
"I don't know if there's been another case like this at the hospital ever," says O'Brien.
Following four months of intense therapy that included learning how to swallow again, Mendoza is now breathing on her own and ready to enjoy a meal without the help of hospital staff.
"The win for Jordan and I was we were able to get her feeding tube out yesterday. And she's back eating a full diet. Eating and drinking is still an effort for her but she has not had any episodes of reflux," says an emotional O'Brien.
Mendoza calls her experience a rollercoaster of emotions but she's thankful for the doctors and specialists who never gave up on her.
"Thank you to the staff. I would never go to another hospital, I love it here. Thank you, guys."
