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Help please: Sister's lungs compromised, infection, fungus?

Posted by ornellao @ornellao, Mar 1, 2020

Good evening, Im not sure if I am able to get help through here but I want to share my sister in law story and hope someone could help. My sister in law started feeling sick she had a cold and shortness of breath then went to the ER in Hollywood FL at Memorial Regional Hospital, they sent her home with antibiotics I believe then the same night she had to go back because she couldn't breath the had to put a tube on her mouth to help her breath. They believed she had the influenza type b they started giving her medications to help her with Fever and symptoms, she was a little better she was sedated for 2 days then they said she developed a staph bacteria and she didn't have the flu anymore or at least it wasn't showing they started treating her for the staph got better then got worse the next day. Then they suggested for her to be put on the ECHMO which is a machine that functions as her lungs...she did great was able to get up took the tube out of her mouth for a day, we were so happy; that night her oxygen dropped got so bad that she hasn't been able to recover and they had to put the oxygen back with the tube and pralized her and 2 days later she still like this. They think now is a fungus, the staph is gone but she is not getting better. When we asked why they don't know still trying to figure it out. We are desperate, we want another specialist to see her...how can I make this happen? I heard Mayo clinic is great for lung and respiratory disease. Can someone help.? Thank you

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Moderator
Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Mar 1, 2020

@ornellao, this must be very scary for you, your sister-in-law and your family. It's obvious that you are worried sick. You're right that Mayo Clinic has excellent pulmonology specialists. If you would like to get a second opinion at Mayo Clinic, please contact the Florida campus in Jacksonville. You'll find the contact number here: http://mayocl.in/1mtmR63

I'm also tagging @windwalker on this discussion. She is a patient at Mayo Clinic pulmonology and may be able to share more with you.

Ornellao, did you say that your sister-in-law is paralyzed? Is she conscious and able to communicate with you?

REPLY
1 reply
Merry, Alumni Mentor | @merpreb | Mar 2, 2020

@ornellao - This must have been awful for your sister and for your family to watch. I can't imagine how you felt when everything seemed fine and then a slide backward. I understand the need for paralyzing before intubation. "Expert and definitive airway management are fundamental to the practice of emergency medicine. In critically ill patients, rapid sedation and paralysis, also known as rapid-sequence intubation, is used to facilitate endotracheal intubation in order to minimize aspiration, airway trauma, and other complications of airway management." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10102312
Is she still unconscious? If she's conscious then I would ask her what she wants next. If this were my sister I would definitely want a second opinion. As Colleen suggested just click on this link: http://mayocl.in/1mtmR63
How are you all holding up? Have the doctors begun treating her for a fungus infection?

REPLY
2 replies
Merry, Alumni Mentor | @merpreb | Mar 4, 2020
In reply to @merpreb "@ornellao - This must have been awful for your sister and for your family to watch...." + (show)
@merpreb

@ornellao - This must have been awful for your sister and for your family to watch. I can't imagine how you felt when everything seemed fine and then a slide backward. I understand the need for paralyzing before intubation. "Expert and definitive airway management are fundamental to the practice of emergency medicine. In critically ill patients, rapid sedation and paralysis, also known as rapid-sequence intubation, is used to facilitate endotracheal intubation in order to minimize aspiration, airway trauma, and other complications of airway management." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10102312
Is she still unconscious? If she's conscious then I would ask her what she wants next. If this were my sister I would definitely want a second opinion. As Colleen suggested just click on this link: http://mayocl.in/1mtmR63
How are you all holding up? Have the doctors begun treating her for a fungus infection?

Jump to this post

@ornellao - I know that this is a tough time for you and your family but I wanted to know if there was any news about your sister? When you have a chance would you let us know?

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ornellao | @ornellao | Mar 5, 2020

Hi thanks for asking. So the latest update is that the influenza is gone, the bacteria is gone, but now she developed a fungus. They still have to confirmed it but they have to wait a few days for it to grow to make sure it is the fungus they think it is which is called aspergillus. They say she will get better but it takes time. Her lungs looked a little bit better after a week of looking the same. They also had to placed a tube on the side of her chest that goes to the lungs to drain liquid. It's been very hard. We are on day 18. Thanks for asking..

REPLY
1 reply
ornellao | @ornellao | Mar 5, 2020
In reply to @colleenyoung "@ornellao, this must be very scary for you, your sister-in-law and your family. It's obvious that..." + (show)
@colleenyoung

@ornellao, this must be very scary for you, your sister-in-law and your family. It's obvious that you are worried sick. You're right that Mayo Clinic has excellent pulmonology specialists. If you would like to get a second opinion at Mayo Clinic, please contact the Florida campus in Jacksonville. You'll find the contact number here: http://mayocl.in/1mtmR63

I'm also tagging @windwalker on this discussion. She is a patient at Mayo Clinic pulmonology and may be able to share more with you.

Ornellao, did you say that your sister-in-law is paralyzed? Is she conscious and able to communicate with you?

Jump to this post

Thanks for the info. She is been sedated the majority of the time only been able to wake up for few hours. She couldn't talk, after they wake her up that time she got bad and haven't woke her up completely, only a little bit to test if she is able to follow directions like moving her hand and feet etc.

REPLY
ornellao | @ornellao | Mar 5, 2020
In reply to @merpreb "@ornellao - This must have been awful for your sister and for your family to watch...." + (show)
@merpreb

@ornellao - This must have been awful for your sister and for your family to watch. I can't imagine how you felt when everything seemed fine and then a slide backward. I understand the need for paralyzing before intubation. "Expert and definitive airway management are fundamental to the practice of emergency medicine. In critically ill patients, rapid sedation and paralysis, also known as rapid-sequence intubation, is used to facilitate endotracheal intubation in order to minimize aspiration, airway trauma, and other complications of airway management." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10102312
Is she still unconscious? If she's conscious then I would ask her what she wants next. If this were my sister I would definitely want a second opinion. As Colleen suggested just click on this link: http://mayocl.in/1mtmR63
How are you all holding up? Have the doctors begun treating her for a fungus infection?

Jump to this post

Is been very hard for the whole family l. And yes they started treating her for the fungus since they suspected it. However they are still growing the same after a week already.

REPLY
1 reply
Merry, Alumni Mentor | @merpreb | Mar 6, 2020
In reply to @ornellao "Is been very hard for the whole family l. And yes they started treating her for..." + (show)
@ornellao

Is been very hard for the whole family l. And yes they started treating her for the fungus since they suspected it. However they are still growing the same after a week already.

Jump to this post

@ornellao- Unless someone who has been in this situation it's very difficult to express how gut-wrenching this can be. With the fungi still growing what do the doctors say about how long it takes to kill it?

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Merry, Alumni Mentor | @merpreb | Mar 9, 2020

@ornellao–- I am checking in on you and your family. Is your sister faring any better?

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cathy58 | @cathy58 | Dec 23, 2023
In reply to @ornellao "Hi thanks for asking. So the latest update is that the influenza is gone, the bacteria..." + (show)
@ornellao

Hi thanks for asking. So the latest update is that the influenza is gone, the bacteria is gone, but now she developed a fungus. They still have to confirmed it but they have to wait a few days for it to grow to make sure it is the fungus they think it is which is called aspergillus. They say she will get better but it takes time. Her lungs looked a little bit better after a week of looking the same. They also had to placed a tube on the side of her chest that goes to the lungs to drain liquid. It's been very hard. We are on day 18. Thanks for asking..

Jump to this post

What kind of test did they do to find out it was fungus infection? I ask this because I have copd and have been on antibiotics and prednisone for over a month and nothing as worked. They want to do a scope of my lungs to see what might be fungus growing

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1 reply
Mentor
Sue, Volunteer Mentor | @sueinmn | Dec 24, 2023
In reply to @cathy58 "What kind of test did they do to find out it was fungus infection? I ask..." + (show)
@cathy58

What kind of test did they do to find out it was fungus infection? I ask this because I have copd and have been on antibiotics and prednisone for over a month and nothing as worked. They want to do a scope of my lungs to see what might be fungus growing

Jump to this post

Cathy - either a sputum culture, if you produce sputum, or a bronchoscope can be used to find and assess the fungus.
Sue

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