A 12-year-old girl was placed in an induced coma after vaping caused damage to her lungs.
Mary Griffin from Belfast, Ireland, shared that her daughter Sarah had a cough and was not feeling well before going to bed on a recent Sunday night, but the family was not initially alarmed, as they thought the symptoms were caused by asthma. from Sarah.
“His cough was no different to any other time and he used his inhaler and nebuliser from Sunday night until Monday morning,” Mary told Belfast Live.
At that moment, Mary left the house to take her other children to school when Sarah called.
“Sarah called and said, ‘Come back, Mom, I’m not feeling well. I’m scared,’” her mother said, recounting how she rushed home to put her daughter back on her inhaler and nebulizer, which seemed to calm her down.
“A while later, I hurried to the store and Sarah called again, this time completely out of breath, barely able to articulate a sentence, saying, ‘I need a doctor or go to the hospital,’” Mary recalled.
Twelve-year-old Sarah was placed in an induced coma after having difficulty breathing due to an infection and a severely damaged lung, made worse by her asthma. Northern Ireland Chest Heart and Stroke
Sarah’s father immediately took her to the Royal Victoria Hospital, where a nurse reported that Sarah’s oxygen levels were worryingly low.
“Sarah was just panicking, she was terrified,” Mary said.
“I was on oxygen and connected to all kinds of machines. There were medical staff around her evaluating her and they told her that she needed to go to the ICU because she was deteriorating very quickly.”
When the doctor took an x-ray of Sarah’s lungs, they realized how bad one of them was and explained that the other was working overtime to compensate, causing her asthma to worsen.
To make matters worse, Sarah had also developed an infection, adding to the stress her little body was under.
The young woman was connected to a ventilator and could not breathe on her own. Northern Ireland Chest Heart and Stroke
“When we arrived at the ICU, the team worked with Sarah for four and a half hours before having to put her in an induced coma. There were tubes, cables and machines everywhere; It was heartbreaking to see her like that,” Mary said.
“As his mother, I felt so helpless; it was a nightmare come true.”
Mary tried to explain the situation to her other children and calm them down but said “trying to explain to them what was happening was horrible.
“They asked me if I was going to die and I said, ‘Of course not,’ but in my mind I was terrified that it was a real possibility,” the worried mother shared.
“As his mother, I felt so helpless, it was a nightmare come true,” Mary said. Northern Ireland Chest Heart and Stroke
“I had to try to stay calm for them, but I was worried sick. I never thought something like this would happen to us; It never happens.”
The 12-year-old girl was “very unstable” and was hooked up to a room of machines that were breathing for her and keeping her alive as her body struggled to keep up.
“It was really difficult for the doctors and nurses to find a balance for Sarah: if they fixed her oxygen levels, her blood pressure went down, or if they fixed something else, another of her vital signs went wrong. address. She felt like one step forward, two steps back, and so she continued for a few days,” Mary said.
“At first, we didn’t really think Sarah would make it,” he admitted.
Sarah returned home several days later, although the ordeal left her with long-term impacts on her health. Northern Ireland Chest, heart and stroke
The first time doctors tried to bring Sarah out of a coma, the process failed and she had to be induced again.
“I had to help and hold Sarah’s hands to try to calm her down so the doctors could do what they needed to do,” Mary shared.
“I was scared and it was horrible having to see Sarah so scared.”
The team tried to bring her out of the coma again the next day. As doctors steadily revived her, the Griffin family finally began to regain hope that Sarah would be okay.
The young woman returned home several days later and has been slowly recovering, although the ordeal has left her with long-term impacts on her health.
“For the rest of her life, Sarah will be classified as a high-risk patient if she is admitted to the hospital due to the effect this has had on her body,” Mary said, adding that her care has been transferred to the Difficulty Control Center. . Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children Asthma Clinic.
“Sarah became very lethargic,” Sarah’s mother added. “She is usually full of energy, she talks constantly and is on the move, but she is still recovering and is not yet back to the same…she still has a long road ahead of her.”
The mother of four explained that doctors warned her that if Sarah had not vaped “she would have been in better condition to fight the infection,” as vaping had left her lungs very weak.
“The doctors said that if Sarah had arrived at the hospital later, the outcome would have been completely different. That’s something I can’t even think about,” Mary shared.
Experts are increasingly sounding the alarm, warning against the known and unknown effects of vaping, including testicle shrinkage, lung collapse, “vaper tongue” and a host of other disorders.
“People could develop serious health problems as a result of vaping, which can also exacerbate existing conditions such as asthma,” Fidelma Carter, head of public health for Northern Ireland Chest Heart and Stroke, told Belfast Live.
“Our position on vaping is that we recommend avoiding the use of vapes except in a short-term attempt to quit smoking and we urge people: if you don’t smoke, don’t vape.”
Categories: Trending
Source: vtt.edu.vn