Hospitals across the country are performing double lung transplants for critically ill coronovirus patients.
Many people who contract COVID-19 suffer so much damage and damage to their lungs that they are a new group of organs expected to survive.
The country reported at least 11 transplants, including New Mexico, Texas, Wisconsin, Florida, aged 28 and aged 62.
And Northwestern Medicine, in Chicago, which was the first center in the US to have a double lung transplant for a COVID-19 patient – has undergone more than half of operations with seven in total.
Doctors say they have plans for at least three more transplants in the hospital and believe that in the future, surgery may become the standard for patients who are on the verge of death.
Kari Weg, 48, of Westfield, Indiana, is one of seven people in the US who underwent COVID-19 undergoing double lung transplant at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago. Picture: Weeds after her double lung transplant
Altogether at least 11 have been performed and the first patient was Mayra Ramirez, a 28-year-old Chicago native (left) who spent six weeks on a ventilator before receiving a new set of lungs. Others are patients such as Andrew Lawrence, 54 (Tight), an ER physician from Texas who had to be transferred for surgery.
Dr., a thoracic surgeon of Northwestern Medicine. Samuel Kim told DailyMail, “Lung transplantation is the ultimate therapy for complications related to Kovid.”
‘Obviously not Everyone needs a lung transplant …Some people do and some people do not.
‘These are the sickest patients who are getting transplants right now but we One can see more patients with chronic destruction of the lungs undergoing this procedure… may be in the thousands or thousands. ‘
Lung transplants are more difficult for COVID-19 patients due to the severity of the damage to the organ.
Additionally, doctors have to wait for the virus to empty the body, but make sure that the patient’s organs do not fail.
On a national ranking system out of 100, which describes how sick patients are, COVID-19 patients typically fall between 80 and 90.
Dr. Thoresic Surgery and Surgical Director of the Northwestern Medicine Lung Transplant Program. Ankit Bharat told the Chicago Tribune that the damage to his lungs looks like a ‘bomb has exploded.’
Kim said: ‘Their bodies barely keep them alive. In my life I have never seen any kind of destruction of lungs. ‘
The team was initially skeptical about lung transplantation on coronovirus patients due to the risks of the procedure.
However, this changed in June when 28-year-old Myra Ramirez of Chicago, who spent six weeks on a ventilator and showed signs of irreversible damage to her lungs.
In April, Ramirez began to see symptoms of the virus like diarrhea, loss of taste and smell, and fever. After visiting the ER, he tested positive for COVID-19 and was soon put on a ventilator. Image: Ramirez in hospital, left and right after his transplant, right
Her mother agrees to transplant to doctors and five months later, Ramirez (pictured) says she feels well
In late April, Ramirez began to experience symptoms such as diarrhea, lack of taste and smell, and fever.
She went to the ER at Northwestern, where staff examined her vitals and found that her oxygen levels were extremely low.
When was the biggest decision We saw her picture when we were not ill. A picture of him with his mother during Kim’s work, ‘Kim said.
‘He There was a young beautiful woman who was full of life a few weeks ago in her 20s. When it dawned on us that we had to do something different.
‘This was the only chance he had … I felt it was worth taking.’
The surgery was a success and although the path to recovery was long and difficult, Ramirez says she is doing well.
Two weeks ago, she shared on Facebook: ‘[Five] Ever since I got my new lungs due to Kovid-19. Time has flown! Glad [five]-I have shortness of breath. ‘
However, not all patients are local. Some patients are from another state who need to be transferred for a year.
Wedge (pictured with her husband) tested positive for the virus in July and her health began to deteriorate rapidly.
Ten weeks after the positive test, Wedge (left and right) was transferred to Northwestern and received a dual lung transplant. She is currently recovering and says she hopes to see her sons again in person soon
One of those patients is Kari Wedge, a 48-year-old neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurse from Westai, Indiana, who was the sixth patient at Northwestern to receive a transplant.
Wegg tested positive for COVID-19 in July and developed symptoms such as shortness of breath and loss of taste and smell.
His health deteriorated rapidly and it was not long before he was hospitalized and put on ventilator.
“I am still getting screwed,” the Tribune said.
Wedge’s husband, Rodney, a respiratory therapist, said that at one point he was considering resorting to life.
However, the day before her birthday, she was transferred to Northwestern Hospital and spent just a few days on the transplant list.
Ten weeks after initially testing positive, Velocity woke up with a new set of lungs.
Her parents, ages 13 and 14, have not seen their sons since July, but are expected to recover soon so that she can embrace them again.
She said she wants to urge anyone who would like to wash their hands diligently, wear a mask and stay home if possible.
“With all those things, you are saving someone else’s life, and even yours,” he told The Tribune.
In July, after Lawrence tested positive, he was soon transferred to a hospital in San Antonio, where he was told he needed a double lung transplant in Chicago. Picture: Lawrence after his transplant
Lawrence is the fifth patient in Northwestern to undergo a double lung transplant and recently managed to walk a minute on a treadmill (pictured)
Another patient, 54-year-old Andrew Lawrence, contracted the virus while treating patients at a hospital in the Rio Grande Valley.
When he developed in July, and later tested positive, he assumed that he would recover within two weeks.
He was soon transferred to a hospital in San Antonio, where he was told he needed a double lung transplant, but needed to go to Chicago.
“I have to do whatever it takes to become better,” Lawrence told the Tribune.
‘Weakness, inability to walk, muscle wasted, I never saw it. ‘I’m just learning to walk again.’
Lawrence was the fifth patient at Northwestern to undergo a double lung transplant and recently managed to walk a minute on a treadmill.
Bharat told the newspaper that this is an encouraging sign as it means Lawrence is on the way to return to his previous activity like his earlier patients.
.