It was supposed to be a great day for 14-year-old D’Zhana Simmons, who received a transplant to replace her enlarged heart. However, her dream turned into a nightmare when the new heart failed to function properly. Doctors had to remove the new organ, but without another heart available and with D’Zhana weakened from the surgery, they had to come up with a stopgap measure: two artificial pumps that kept the blood flowing in her body for close to four months. The feat was newsworthy partially because of D’Zhana’s age and partially because when an artificial heart is used to sustain a patient, the patient’s own heart is usually left in the body. Finally, on October 29, D’Zhana received another heart transplant, and it was so successful that she had a kidney transplant the very next day.
Living without a heart for 118 days…that’s amazing. Those doctors had to have been quick on their feet! They are the only reason that this girl is still alive. I can’t even imagine being in that operation room. When a heart transplant is rejected, you have no time to waste. If you don’t get a new heart or some artificial mechanism into the patient’s body, he will die. You are responsible for keeping him alive! D’Zhana’s family must have been so scared. This story once again proves how important and how powerful the medical world really can be. I hope that one day I will be a doctor that is able to react with such efficiency and effectiveness. Wow…simply amazing.
Source: http://www.oddee.com/item_96746.aspx
WHAT!!!! To say that this story is absolutely incredible would be a serious understatement. I can’t even begin to imagine the severity, the horror, and the complete and total fear within each individual involved… yet, the end result shows the strength and the calmness behind the doctors, D’Zhana, and the Simmons family as well. The attached photo is so sweet; the gleaming faces are priceless. As for your future, I think you have it in you to become one of these life saving doctors one day. 🙂
Ah!! I hope that you have the skills when you become a doctor… but I also hope that you never have to deal with such a risky case. That is extremely incredible. I can’t even imagine what her parents must have thought because any type of surgery of the heart is risky… especially when she didn’t even have one!! I always love to read your posts because you find new and interesting stories… but sometimes they are so scary! haha.