Posted on 03/21/2018 7:00:23 AM PDT by BenLurkin
Her body weakened, and her lungs started to fail. No one knew why.
In November, the otherwise healthy teen was placed on life support in the pediatric intensive care unit at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City.
Now, more than 130 days later, Zei’s determination and independence have helped her achieve something only a few patients before her could: She has walked while on life support.
Despite being tethered to an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO, machine that is helping her breathe and keeping her alive, Zei has been determined to take every step possible to regain her lung function and strength, starting with walking.
The ECMO machine, often called the “highest form of life support,” uses a pump to circulate a patient’s blood through an artificial lung. The artificial lung adds oxygen and takes out carbon dioxide before the blood is returned to the patient.
Essentially, ECMO helps provide enough oxygen to a patient while allowing time for the lungs or heart to rest and heal.
The national survival rate in the US among neonatal and pediatric ECMO patients is about 72%, and at Children’s Mercy, where more than 800 patients have been on ECMO, the rate is about 78%.
(Excerpt) Read more at ktla.com ...
GREAT story! Thank you for posting!
She’s got the kind of spunk that might just pull her through. Kudo’s!
All the best for her.
God bless her and help her recover.
Prayers for the young lady.
Beat me to it, this young lady could use our prayers.
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