Gustavo Macharro’s Story
After Gustavo Macharro was found down and unconscious at work, he was immediately brought to University Hospital for advanced neurosurgical and trauma care. He was brought to UHS where he was diagnosed with a subdural hematoma and severe TBI and was emergently operated on by Dr. Koebbe and admitted to the Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit (NSICU) at UHS. After surgery, he spent the next 26 harrowing days in the ICU fighting for his life as he suffered several life-threatening complications. Under the care of UT Health San Antonio Department of Neurosurgery TBI and neurocritical care experts, Drs. Seifi, Garvin, and Hafeez – Gustavo overcame his injury and complications and was able to go to rehab.
Gustavo’s wife told us about her feelings as those events were taking place. “I got to see him before they removed the left side of his skull. On top of that, he had four heart attacks. I almost lost him and my whole world was gone. It’s just him and I.” She added that it was a challenging and scary time for her family, but that the doctors and nurses “performed a miracle.” The family is extremely pleased with the outcome.
The Macharro family is pleased with how they’ve been treated by the staff and speak very highly of Shaheryar Hafeez, M.D. “We love Dr. Hafeez. He was our first doctor in the ICU. He was very involved and is like one of our family. We could tell that he truly cares. He was very inspirational to us.” During his time in the Neuro ICU, Gustavo also became part of a clinical trial only offered at UHS/UT Health San Antonio being conducted by Dr. Hafeez: the Use of NormaTec Pulse compression device for the prevention of deep vein thrombosis in patients with severe TBI. Gustavo’s wife told us about the impact the device had on her husband’s recovery. “[The device] was able to move his legs. He wasn’t able to get out of bed but the device helped circulate his blood and I think it worked because he had no blood clots or any other issues.”