Althouse: "The last thing that Mayra Ramirez remembers from the emergency room at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago is calling her family to say she had Covid, was about to be put on a ventilator..."

August 2, 2020

"The last thing that Mayra Ramirez remembers from the emergency room at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago is calling her family to say she had Covid, was about to be put on a ventilator..."

"... and needed her mother to make medical decisions for her. Ms. Ramirez, 28, did not wake up for more than six weeks. And then she learned that on June 5, she had become the first Covid patient in the United States to receive a double-lung transplant. On Wednesday, she went home from the hospital.... 'I’m pretty sure that if I had been at another center, they would have just ended care and let me die,' she said in an interview on Wednesday. The surgery is considered a desperate measure reserved for people with fatal, irreversible lung damage. Doctors do not want to remove a person’s lungs if there is any chance they will heal. Over all, only about 2,700 lung transplants were performed in the United States last year. Patients must be sick enough to need a transplant, and yet also strong enough to survive the operation, recover and get back on their feet" (NYT).

Imagine waking up to find your lungs had been taken out and replaced!

50 comments:

BamaBadgOR said...: I know a MD who came down with SARS, was on a ventilator for several weeks, the ventilator destroyed his lungs, he had a double lung transplant, and then the anti-rejection drugs caused pancreatic cancer (a known side effect) and he died. I wish Mayra Ramirez well.; 8/2/20, 7:57 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Patients must be sick enough to need a transplant, and yet also strong enough to survive the operation, recover and get back on their feet"

AND have hella good insurance!; 8/2/20, 7:58 AM
Jill said...: My sister-in-law died waiting for a double lung transplant. She dies months before COVID came to the USA. My first thoughts are "How did she get the lungs so quickly?"; 8/2/20, 8:01 AM
Temujin said...: Wow. I can recall waking up in a bed and house I did not know. Waking up with a person I did not know. Waking up and not knowing what city I was in or what day of the week it was. But I cannot recall any body parts being changed out. Not once. Not ever.; 8/2/20, 8:01 AM
Chuck said...: I’d think, “This is all a hoax to hurt Trump’s chances of re-election...”

Then I would find that my sternum had a new zipper carved in it.; 8/2/20, 8:18 AM
gilbar said...: so, the moral of the story is:
We Should Stop KILLING People, by putting them on ventilators ?

It looks like the majority of Covid people put on ventilators died
It looks like the majority of Covid people put on ventilators didn't need them
ventilators Kill People; 8/2/20, 8:27 AM
Kay said...: Temujin said...
Wow. I can recall waking up in a bed and house I did not know. Waking up with a person I did not know. Waking up and not knowing what city I was in or what day of the week it was. But I cannot recall any body parts being changed out. Not once. Not ever.
8/2/20, 8:01 AM

That’s usually a sign of a good a transplant.; 8/2/20, 8:29 AM
MadisonMan said...: Per Jill's comment, is the wait-list for lungs that small? I suggest that she chose her Insurance Co wisely.; 8/2/20, 8:30 AM
tim in vermont said...: Obviously a psychosomatic reaction caused by hype about the virus. A few sugar pills in time could have saved her a lot of trauma.; 8/2/20, 8:30 AM
DavidUW said...: Anecdotes like this will disappear November 4.; 8/2/20, 8:35 AM
Michael K said...: There have been quite a few lung transplants for cystic fibrosis, some with the parents as donors. Take your HCQ early.; 8/2/20, 8:49 AM
whitney said...: I'm beginning to think modern medicine is the problem; 8/2/20, 8:51 AM
Wince said...: "Doctors do not want to remove a person’s lungs if there is any chance they will heal."

You better stay away from him

He'll rip your lungs out, Jim

I'd like to meet his tailor

Aaoooooo!!!; 8/2/20, 9:00 AM
Johnula said...: From paragraph 21 of the story:

"She was in good health, but had an autoimmune condition, neuromyelitis optica, and took medication that suppressed her immune system".

Unless you read that far, and that closely, you come away with the perception that young people are in great danger: Look what happened to this 28 year old!

Instead, we're told in the headline: "Mayra Ramirez was the first of a small but growing number of people whose only hope of surviving the coronavirus was to replace their lungs."

Neuromyelitis is a serious condition characterized by simultaneous inflammation and demyelination of the central nervous system, particularly affecting the spinal cord and optic nerve.

Symptoms include:
Blindness
Loss of spinal cord function
Muscle weakness
Loss of bladder and bowel control
Paralysis of the legs
Uncontrolled vomiting

... but otherwise healthy.; 8/2/20, 9:04 AM
Jamie said...: Heinlein wrote a short story about a dictator who needed a pituitary transplant. The proper match was a political prisoner, so hey presto, no need to get consent. The surgeons performed the transplant, the dictator woke up after the surgery - and whoops, he woke up in a prison camp, not his palace. Turns out the pituitary is the seat of personality.

Wouldn't that be a kick in the pants?; 8/2/20, 9:14 AM
Thistlerose said...: My Dad had an undiagnosed lung disease for 30 years and when he was 65 the doctors wanted to give him a lung transplant. He said no we need to find another way. The Milwaukee VA hospital checked him in and kept him there until they had a diagnoses and treatment. After about 30 days they diagnosed him with Sarcoidosis and treated him with predizone which he was on for the rest of his life. He lived another 25 years which is longer then he would have if he had gotten the lung transplant. Unfortunately God didn't make our body parts interchangeable and she is in for a difficult life.; 8/2/20, 9:16 AM
m stone said...: This is a frightening case and fortunately appears hopeful for Maya.

It is also a relatively rare case that the NYT likes to highlight to stoke fear in readers. The vast majority of COVID cases are mild and don't require ventilation in the manner that was used (breathing tube). Yes, people do die and ventilators not monitored properly can destroy lungs.

The story of the death of Baltimore's Dr. Joseph Costa to COVID was picked up a week ago by the Washington Post. Costa heroically treated dozens of COVID patients. It was revealed in other news sources that he suffered from pulmonary sarcoidosis for a decade, a secret kept until the end when he couldn't manage stairs. His lungs were severely compromised and COVID finished him. He likely knew his fate.

Underlying conditions are a factor journalists are often blind to in reporting.

m; 8/2/20, 9:26 AM
JAORE said...: Uhhh isn't a factor on who gets transplants their underlying health condition? Was the Covid-19cleared from her system before the transplant?

Medical decision or political/PR decision.

Imagine being a match and being high up the transplant list for months when you find this result.; 8/2/20, 9:27 AM
mockturtle said...: The details of this story don't add up.; 8/2/20, 9:39 AM
Fernandinande said...: "Covid-19 isn’t a joke"

Covid-19 walks into a bar and the bartender says, "Sorry, you have to be 21 to come in here."; 8/2/20, 9:42 AM
etbass said...: Thanks a million to Yancey Ward for the hard work maintaining the China Virus data state by state. A really good place to see the numbers!

THANKS Yancey!!; 8/2/20, 9:49 AM
rcocean said...: If there are only 2,700 done every year, why did this person get two of them? I suppose the real point of the NYT's story is to push the meme that if even if you don't die, CV-19 can maim you and that even young people die from it.

Keep the scare up, in other words. The numbers show very few CV-19 deaths for those under 35. For example, for those under age 35, for the week ending July 18: 38 (Thirty-eight) people died of CV-19. During that same period, 2,300 people over age 65 died. So to repeat:

Under Age 35 died of CV-19 - 38
Over Age 65 died of CV-19 - 2,300

More people under 35 died of murder/suicide then died of CV-19.; 8/2/20, 9:49 AM
Mark said...: Talk about your experimental treatments.; 8/2/20, 9:52 AM
Ray - SoCal said...: Good news is since she already has immune system issues, the new lungs won't change that much. With transplants you need to take immune suppressants for the rest of your life, so your body does not reject them.
>Ramirez, who was immunocompromised prior to contracting the virus

I wonder if she had been taking HCQ early with zinc, what would have happened? Or had been given steriods as an early treatment for the lung inflammation issue (cytokine storm). Being put on a ventilator for COVID seems to cause a collapse of the lungs from what I read.; 8/2/20, 9:57 AM
Christopher said...: My sister-in-law died waiting for a double lung transplant. She dies months before COVID came to the USA. My first thoughts are "How did she get the lungs so quickly?"

Same thought. Waiting lists for organ transplants--certainly including lungs--are crazy long. I'm glad she's alive but wonder how she cut in line.; 8/2/20, 9:58 AM
rcocean said...: BTW, its interesting that the DNC-media rarely breaks down the CV-19 deaths by age group. So I'll provide it to you through July 25th:

Age 75 and over: 80,000
Age 65 to 74: 26,000
Age 56-64: 17,000
Under Age 24: 220
Age 25-34: 1,000
Age 35-44 - 2,600

As you can see, CV-19 is no worse than the flu for those under 35. And even those under 45 are in little danger.; 8/2/20, 10:03 AM
traditionalguy said...: Now she will have to live a good life. No sleep apnea , hopefully .; 8/2/20, 10:29 AM
tim in vermont said...: "Covid-19 isn’t a joke”

Did you hear about the hipster who had COVID-18?; 8/2/20, 10:33 AM
Howard said...: It's just a simple flu. Only older people and POC expire from it and they need to die anyways. All of the organ damage that survivors experience will make them appreciate life more deeply. The Trumpian maskless Shibboleth Uber Alles.; 8/2/20, 10:35 AM
mockturtle said...: The actual death rates in the US are only high in the NE states. How many were killed by ventilator?; 8/2/20, 10:59 AM
Joe Smith said...: "Imagine waking up to find your lungs had been taken out and replaced!"

Chinese prisoners only experience the first part of that equation...; 8/2/20, 10:59 AM
effinayright said...: etbass said...
Thanks a million to Yancey Ward for the hard work maintaining the China Virus data state by state. A really good place to see the numbers!

THANKS Yancey!!
****************

Not to diminish Yancey's work, but here's a site that gives the national data, state by state, every day. If you click on the state it will give you its specifics.

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/

It also shows daily new cases and deaths, with new cases, new deaths and moving averages.
Looking at the latter we can see that daily new deaths are not nearly as high as they were three months ago, despite the new cases turned up through expanded testing.; 8/2/20, 12:13 PM
Michael K said...: Howard said...
It's just a simple flu.

Pretty good, Howard. Not that far from the truth. The flu kills more younger people while this kills elderly. Cytokine Storm is the common cause in younger victims of both. If you subtract the fake numbers that inflate the totals, this is about like a bad flu season.; 8/2/20, 12:26 PM
Darkisland said...: Thats one of the reasons I refuse to be tested. I don't want to wind up in a hospital with someone else's lungs. Or, more likely, on a ventilator.

Re Kung Flu deaths for the week ending 7/25

Under 25 Zero
25-54 63
55+ 553

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid_weekly/index.htm

Its a really good chart there. it shows the totals by age group, weekly, for the whole pandemic. Even at the peak week of 4/18, with almost 16m deaths 55+, 25 and under had 17 deaths.

Interesting chart here:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1109011/coronavirus-covid19-death-rates-us-by-state/

It shows deaths per 100,000 by state. NJ-178, NY-178 MA-125 and CT-124 are the only ones over 100. Number 5 is Rhode Island with 95.

Puerto Rico is at the bottom of many lists and it is usually a bad thing. We're tied with Oregon (at 7/100m) for about 46th place.

John Henry; 8/2/20, 12:49 PM
Darkisland said...: Blogger Michael K said...

Take your HCQ early.

Jeepers, Michael. And you a doctor!

Don't you know that even one HQL tablet will kill you instantly?

That's why Kodak is building a new $750 million dollar plant to make HQL with PDJT's blessing and govt loan guarantees.

Just before the election, PDJT is going to unleash HQL on all likely Biden voters, kill them off and win 95% of the polular vote. Then he will have the Senate and house pass a bill creating the office of Emperor for Life and naming the seat his in perpetuity to be passed down to his kids and grandkids.

His son is a natural pick. He's already a Barron. Emperor would be a natural progression.

Don't you listen to CNN at all?

John Henry; 8/2/20, 12:56 PM
boatbuilder said...: There was a “Justified” episode in which Dewey Crowe woke up thinking he had lost a kidney.; 8/2/20, 12:57 PM
DrSquid said...: Happened to me twice last year.; 8/2/20, 1:00 PM
Lewis Wetzel said...: So in the US your chances of contracting covid & getting a double lung transplant are about 1 in 350,000,000?
Good thing the Times devoted a thousand words to the story!; 8/2/20, 1:02 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Small but growing numbers almost always remain small numbers.; 8/2/20, 1:04 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: In the meantime, the Germans, who have never been famous for resisting authority, are out in force protesting the lockdown. The NYT estimate of 17,000 marchers in Berlin looks like a low ball estimate if you actually look at pictures of the crowds. Of course, according to the media, the people protesting against government tyranny are "neo Nazis." And, horrors, they are not observing social distancing or wearing masks! Don't they know that only leftist protesters are permitted to ignore the rules because Wuhan flu makes an exception for BLM and Antifa

You know you have overreached when even the Germans are raising the bullshit flag.; 8/2/20, 1:21 PM
n.n said...: Take your HCQ early.

HCQ for border control. Zn to reduce viability of safe cells. And Az to mitigate progress of opportunistic diseases and reduce inflammatory protests... responses.; 8/2/20, 1:41 PM
DavidUW said...: Yep to the multiple above posters, that's why these scare stories will disappear November 4.

Out of around 120 MILLION people under 30 in America, they found the one with corona and who got a lung transplant.

Journalists won't work so hard on scaring people after the election.

The whiplash is going to be severe, but who knows how many will notice.
Here will be the progression of headlines
1) After months of Corona, what do we know and is it time to go out again (answer: yes).
2) Infections are dropping! (Bidencare won't be paying for mass testing, but will go unreported)
3) It's not as bad as the flu in everyone under 65! Let's just focus on the old people!
4) You know, in terms of expected life lost, it's not as bad as the flu, period.
5) OMG, the vaccinations don't work and cause hepatitis! Thank heavens it's not even as bad as the flu.

And now let's talk about that recovery summer, again. Also, the return of FUNemployment, as rates linger in the double digits thanks to the new and even worse New Deal. All the old economic BS from the Obama days will be recycled.; 8/2/20, 2:04 PM
Bob Loblaw said...: My sister-in-law died waiting for a double lung transplant. She dies months before COVID came to the USA. My first thoughts are "How did she get the lungs so quickly?"

The transplant system is opaque and frequently gamed by people with money and/or power. Think about this story as someone you love is waiting for a new liver:

https://tinyurl.com/y6olpbn2; 8/2/20, 2:36 PM
bagoh20 said...: ". If you subtract the fake numbers that inflate the totals, this is about like a bad flu season."

I agree, but a bad flu season like we had in 2017-2018 resulted in no shutdowns, no restrictions, no unusual economic damage, suicides, drug overdoses, bankruptcies, lost jobs, or ruined lives. It also created all most no media coverage, compared to this year where apparently the rest of world history stopped in its tracks for months so far.

Lets be generous and say this epidemic kills twice as many people as a bad flu year. How much of that destruction is worth it to prevent those extra deaths? It cost us zero to call it the flu. In fact, the country added 2.7 million jobs that year. Maybe someone will say it's all worth it to save a 100K lives (some would no doubt say even one is worth it). Is it also worth the lives of that plus many more who will now perish from missed diagnoses and medical treatments, drug overdoses, suicides, and all the lost jobs, progress, and even deaths and starvation in other nations that depend on our help which comes from our prosperity now lost.

Is there any thought spent on the unintended consequences of our actions? No, not when fear is the motivation, and that's why fear is what we are fed 24/7 by those who don't really care about people in a real sense. I'm not sure what they do care about that makes this worth it, but it's blood on someone's hands and it's not those of us resisting the panic.

Why do we not have accurate numbers for deaths cause specifically by Covid-19? Isn't that the most important number in all of this? Why is it so muddied up and only in the direction of advancing fear. Why are questions about the effectiveness and danger of masks and other mitigation shot down without answers, and replaced with accusations and incrimination?; 8/2/20, 2:53 PM
James K said...: Unless you read that far, and that closely, you come away with the perception that young people are in great danger: Look what happened to this 28 year old!

Not to mention that notwithstanding her immuno-compromised state, she refused to go to a hospital for two weeks. I wish her well, but she doesn't seem to be the sharpest knife in the drawer.; 8/2/20, 3:41 PM
Joe Smith said...: "Only older people and POC expire from it and they need to die anyways."

When it comes to the POC, Planned Parenthood is doing an excellent job of pre-killing them. Saves on the hospital bills now...

The Democrat KKK couldn't have figured out a better way to legally kill millions of blacks, all the while having liberals pay for it...excellent.; 8/2/20, 4:05 PM
Jim at said...: "How did she get the lungs so quickly?"

Good question.; 8/2/20, 5:58 PM
ga6 said...: Stupid, stubborn people are known to make poor choices and stand by these choices in the face of evidence to the contrary, She waits two weeks or more to seek treatment and then passes out immediately after arriving at the hospital. stupid is as stupid does, she should count her blessings, shut her mouth and pay the taxpayers back for the treatment she received.; 8/2/20, 6:43 PM
Birkel said...: Imagine she had zinc, Z-Pac, and hydroxycloroquine and her sickness was not so severe.; 8/2/20, 7:52 PM
gilbar said...: a bad flu season like we had in 2017-2018 resulted in no shutdowns, no restrictions, no unusual economic damage, suicides, drug overdoses, bankruptcies, lost jobs, or ruined lives. It also created all most no media coverage, compared to this year where apparently the rest of world history stopped in its tracks for months so far.

Lets be generous and say this epidemic kills twice as many people as a bad flu yea

HECK! let's LISTEN to TiV, and stipulate; that Covid IS TEN TIMES WORSE than the flu
Not, AS BAD As: TEN TIMES WORSE than the flu

in that case (which, i just Stipulated); i would Definitely Agree,
to TEN TIMES the shutdowns we had in 2017-2018 (0*10==0)
to TEN TIMES the restrictions we had in 2017-2018 (0*10==0)
to TEN TIMES the economic damage we had in 2017-2018 (0*10==0)

Hey TiV? would you agree, that Covid is TEN TIMES WORSE than the flu?
would you then agree, to TEN TIMES the reactions than a Bad Flu year
(0*10==0); 8/2/20, 9:27 PM