The parents of a 14-year-old boy had to make the heartbreaking decision to amputate all of their son’s hands and feet after his normal flu-like symptoms suddenly became life-threatening.
Mathias Uribe, of Tennessee, has been hospitalized at Monroe Carrel Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt for more than two months after he was rushed to the hospital feeling seriously ill on June 30.
He was diagnosed with pneumonia and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome and went into cardiac arrest, WSMV reported.
Mathias was put on ECMO [extracorporeal membrane oxygenation] machine, which kept blood pumping throughout his body for two weeks, allowing his heart and lungs to rest. She saved his life, but not enough blood was flowing to his limbs, forcing doctors to remove them, the teen’s father said.
Tennessee teenager Mathias Uribe had his hands removed at the wrists and his legs below the knee.WKYT
They removed his hands at the wrists and his legs below the knees.
Mathias’ family hopes that their son, who ran cross-country, played soccer and played the piano, will soon be able to leave the hospital with new prosthetics.
“I told him that we are going to be your arms and legs until we solve all this,” his father, Edgar Uribe, told the outlet.
Catarina and Edgar Uribe are confident that their son will thrive with the help of prosthetics.WKYT
Dr. Katie Boyle, an ICU pediatrician and head of Mathias’ care team, said there was nothing Mathias’ parents could do to save their son’s hands and feet from amputation.
“It’s extremely rare,” he said, of the rapid deterioration of Mathias’ condition. “Sometimes when you get the flu, you give yourself a bacterial infection. But even then, most kids don’t get as sick as Mathias.”
Parents should get their children vaccinated against the flu and monitor them frequently while they are sick for symptoms such as high fever, difficulty swallowing liquids or inability to wake up from deep sleep, which should prompt a trip to the hospital, Boyle said.
Mathias was an athlete and played the piano before undergoing the life-changing procedure.WKYT
Mathias has undergone more than a dozen surgeries to date. He is expected to remain in the hospital for another month, his parents said.
They said they are now looking for a place in Atlanta where he will receive prosthetics and begin rehabilitation.
“You are going to have an incredible life,” Catalina Uribe said she told her son. “You are going to MIGT. You’re going to do what you want. You have no limits because you are here Mathias, you are here.”
The Uribes launched a GoFundMe campaign that has raised more than $235,000 to help cover the teen’s medical costs.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn