SAN ANTONIO — When Paul Rodriguez went to get tested for COVID-19 because he noticed he had shortness of breath. He initially tested negative, but he wasn’t out of the woods.  

“I went to the hospital, they took another test and it said it was positive,” Rodriguez says. 

When the virus started to spread, it left him with permanent damage in both of his lungs. 

“They had to put me on a respirator for about a week, and after that I had to go on oxygen for about two months,” Rodriguez says. “And also they had to put me on ECMO, which is a machine that oxygenates your blood that’s kind of scary being on all of that equipment.” 

Getting a new set of lungs was Rodriguez’s only chance of survival, and he was transferred to Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center in Houston. It was there he became the first COVID-19 patient in the Houston area to receive a double lung transplant. 

Surgeon Gabriel Loor is an expert when it comes to lung transplants, but explained how double-lung procedures among COVID-19 patients are rare. 

“It’s not that common, it’s a very complicated and technically challenging procedure,” Loor says. “But it is something that we do a lot and we are expected to do very well, I mean we set the bar high.” 

Loor and his team successfully transplanted a new pair of lungs into Rodriguez, who is currently rehabilitating. 

“I feel a lot better, with the new lungs it feels like I never lost my original lungs, it feels that well,” Rodriguez says. 

Now Rodriguez is in the next phase of his journey.

“The hard part is . . . I lost 60 pounds and lost my muscle mass so it’s just a matter of getting my strength back up and getting my hand-eye coordination back,” Rodriguez says. 

Unfortunately for Rodriguez, this means more time away from his family. His daughter has been by his side throughout this process. 

“I haven’t seen my wife in three weeks, I probably won’t see her for another month, depending on how COVID is coming along,” Rodriguez says. 

Rodriguez says the kind words and the messages from loved ones have kept him going but he has some words of encouragement for folks battling COVID.

“I want to let them know, you can get through this,” Rodriguez says. “Like I said, it’s been tough but you can survive this.”