The 22-year-old man underwent a double lung transplant earlier this month after being on life support for 70 days.
North Dakota resident Jackson Allard went to the emergency room in October with abdominal pain, but was admitted because his oxygen levels dropped too low. This news was first reported by valley news live On the basis of GoFundMe page Founded by friends of Allard's family.
Doctors in North Dakota diagnosed Allard with parainfluenza, a virus that can cause respiratory infections. The parainfluenza worsened into pneumonia and then acute respiratory distress syndrome, a life-threatening disorder caused by fluid buildup in the lungs.
“When they did an X-ray, they couldn't even see his heart. It was completely white. That meant his entire lungs were filled with fluid,” said Doreen Hurlbert, Allard's grandmother. .
Hurlburt said Allard had been using e-cigarettes since he was 16 or 17, but had recently started vaping more frequently.
“He had no idea how bad it was for him,” she says. “The day before he was intubated, he said, 'I never thought I'd get this sick.'”
Scientists still don't fully understand the link between e-cigarettes and lung disease, so it's unclear what role e-cigarettes played in Allard's case.Several research suggests that e-cigarette use It can make people more susceptible to respiratory tract infections.
Dr. Brian Keller, medical director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Lung Transplant Program, said research on animal and human cells shows that e-cigarette use can damage blood vessels and cells lining the lungs. He said that it has been shown that. But scientists are still trying to narrow down which compounds in e-cigarettes are most harmful to human health.
“There are actually several things that can cause damage,” Keller says. “This includes the nicotine itself, but also the combustion of carrier fluids such as propylene glycol and glycerol, as well as the flavorings that many people add to their e-cigarettes.”
Hurlbert said her grandson's doctors suspect that his e-cigarette use may be interfering with his recovery from his initial viral infection.
“He wasn't getting better, so they were like, 'Well, he was vaping, and vaping damages your lungs,'” she said.
Allard's mother, Jaime Felch, said her son was put on a life support machine called extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and airlifted to M Health Fairview in Minnesota in late October. That's what it means.
Folch said Allard is the longest-serving patient M Health Fairview has ever kept an ECMO machine, which adds oxygen to the blood and returns it to the body. Representatives for the hospital declined to comment Monday, citing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which protects patient privacy.
To be considered for the transplant, Allard needed to be able to walk after being sedated. But late last year, he was struggling to survive. Doctors had to replace parts of his ECMO machine twice because blood clots formed, which could have been fatal. Then, on December 12, he went into cardiac arrest and needed to be resuscitated.
“At several family meetings, [Surgical Intensive Care Unit] The team said the chance of survival was 1%,” Felch said in an email. “We never gave up and continued to defend Jackson.”
By the end of the month, Allard's symptoms had improved and he was able to stand and walk a few steps, his family said.
“All of a sudden, things turned around,” Hurlburt said. “It was like day and night.”
On New Year's Eve, Felch received a call saying doctors had assigned her son a new pair of lungs. Allard received the transplant the next day. By January 5, he no longer required life support.
Allard is still on a ventilator in the ICU, but can get in and out of bed with assistance and can walk about 5 feet using a walker, his mother said.
“Nurses call him a legend and a miracle,” Felch said. “He is getting stronger day by day and hopes to move to a rehabilitation facility soon.”
Harbult said her grandson still needs to relearn how to speak, but is able to communicate.
“He thanked the nurses for all their help,” she said. “He just said, 'Thank you for working so hard to save me.'” He's a sweet kid. ”
Lung transplant is relatively rareOf the 2,569 lung transplants performed in the United States in 2021, only 440 involved recipients between the ages of 18 and 49. Most vaping-related lung injuries do not require a transplant, but patients usually do. Types of respiratory assistance, such as supplemental oxygen or ventilators.
“I was aware of only a few reports of patients requiring lung transplants after vaping,” Keller said.
The first case is believed to be a 17-year-old boy in Michigan who received a transplant in 2019. Last year, a 34-year-old Missouri man also underwent a double lung transplant after developing a life-threatening lung infection that didn't respond to antibiotics. The man had a history of smoking cigarettes and had also been smoking e-cigarettes for nine years.
Approximately 54% of people receiving lung transplants survive at least 5 years After surgery.
Harbult said Allard will need to spend about six months in Minneapolis so doctors can monitor his progress and see if he can survive a transplant. However, his family is hopeful of a full recovery.
“He's going to get his life back,” Harbult said. “We're going to get Jackson back.”
