At 24 years previous, Danielle Perea was newly enrolled in a medical lab science grasp’s program, dwelling together with her boyfriend in Louisiana, and customarily having fun with her life — till someday, a stomachache led to her sitting in an space hospital, being instructed she had simply hours left to reside. Only a few days into her program, Perea woke with a “severe stomachache” that she first mistook for meals poisoning, however when she used the lavatory she handed “frothy blood” that made her determine to go to the emergency room at a hospital she didn’t title due to pending litigation. Perea was instructed {that a} CT scan taken by medical doctors confirmed no indicators of an issue. When her signs continued, she went to a different hospital the place she was noticed once more, however nonetheless not identified with something. Docs regarded on the identical CT scan, and stated one thing like a clot was unlikely due to her age and relative well being. On the third day of her signs, Perea started vomiting blood, and once more returned to the emergency room as her signs intensified.
An exploratory surgical procedure revealed that there had been a blood clot in one of many vessels that carries blood from the small intestines, a situation known as mesenteric ischemia. Surgeons tried to salvage the organs, however discovered an excessive amount of necrotic tissue. “They only noticed that all the pieces was fully black, necrotic, lifeless,” Perea instructed CBS Information. “They (instructed my boyfriend) ‘There isn’t any manner she’s going to outlive this, you should name her mother and father. Get anybody right here who must be right here, as a result of she most likely has 24 hours to reside.'”
Danielle Perea in hospice care earlier than transplant.
Danielle Perea
Perea went into hospice care, however exceeded expectations, sustaining “robust vitals” for over every week. Throughout that point, her mom and boyfriend looked for a miracle. They discovered about Cleveland Clinic’s intestinal transplant program, the biggest within the nation, and the top of this system, Dr. Kareem Abu-Elmagd, agreed to take Perea’s case.
What’s an intestinal transplant, and why are they so uncommon? An intestinal transplant replaces the small gut with a brand new organ. Simply 95 have been carried out in the USA final yr, in accordance with Dr. Masato Fujiki, director of intestinal transplantation at Cleveland Clinic and one of many medical doctors who handled Perea. Eighteen of these have been carried out on the Cleveland Clinic, making it the biggest intestinal transplant program within the nation. Throughout the identical time interval, there have been over 10,000 liver transplants and greater than 4,000 coronary heart transplants.There are about 15,000 eligible organ donors every year, and there aren’t many sufferers eligible for an intestinal transplant. This permits medical doctors to “be very selective, to get the very best organ,” Fujiki stated. Perfect intestinal donors are people who find themselves underneath the age of fifty and in good well being, and who’ve secure blood strain. Whereas it is not notably troublesome to discover a appropriate organ, intestinal transplants didn’t have a excessive success fee till not too long ago, contributing to their rarity, Fujiki stated. Intestines are a “troublesome” organ to observe, he stated, and intestinal transplants have the best rejection fee of any form of organ transplant. The one-year graft survival fee for a affected person who has an intestinal transplant was as much as 82% in 2022, from a fee of 76.2% in 2018, in accordance with nationwide information. That is nonetheless under the graft survival fee for extra widespread procedures like liver transplants, which have a fee of 85 to 90%, Fujiki stated.
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An prolonged highway to restoration As soon as Perea’s household discovered in regards to the intestinal transplant program and her case had been accepted at Cleveland Clinic, she was dropped at the Ohio hospital. Her small bowel was virtually fully resected. Her situation was stabilized, and after a number of different procedures, she was formally added to the transplant checklist within the spring of 2019.
Earlier than the transplant, Perea spent a yr and a half dwelling on IV-administered vitamin as a result of with out the intestines, she could not eat usually. The period of time she spent being supported by machines meant Perea needed to have one other surgical procedure to restore injury to her trachea earlier than she may obtain the transplant, extending the period of time she needed to wait. The coronavirus pandemic additionally sophisticated the method, forcing her to cross on an organ in April 2020.
Danielle Perea forward of her intestinal transplant.
Danielle Perea
Lastly, in June 2020, Perea acquired the decision she had been ready for. “They have been similar to, ‘It’s essential get to the clinic immediately.’ It wasn’t an possibility,” Perea stated. The surgical procedure took 10 hours, and even as soon as the brand new organ was in place, Perea continued to spend time within the hospital, being readmitted for frequent fevers. In January 2021, she had one other process to restore her stomach wall and reverse her ileostomy, an incision made in the course of the surgical procedure. Now, 4 years after the operation, she instructed CBS Information that she will be able to reside comparatively usually, although she does take “about 40 capsules a day.” There’s the likelihood she may want a kidney transplant sooner or later, due to the affect of anti-rejection medicines on that organ, and she or he has annual appointments on the Cleveland Clinic to observe the transplant, however all the pieces has been “tremendous regular” thus far. “I haven’t got any restrictions. My incisions healed properly. I acquired married in November,” Perea stated. “We purchased a home. It is simply all going properly.”At Cleveland Clinic, she stated, “they’re like, ‘Simply hold dwelling your life. There’s nothing stopping you.'”
Danielle Perea and her household after transplant.
Danielle Perea
Extra from CBS Information
Kerry Breen
Kerry Breen is a information editor at CBSNews.com. A graduate of New York College’s Arthur L. Carter Faculty of Journalism, she beforehand labored at NBC Information’ TODAY Digital. She covers present occasions, breaking information and points together with substance use.