Thursday, November 20, 2008

"'D'Zhana Simmons says she felt like a 'fake person' for 118 days when she had no heart beating in her chest. 'But I know that I really was here,' the 14-year-old said, 'and I did live without a heart.'"

Wow, I think that's amazing... I never knew it was possible that you could live (for four months too!) without a heart... Of course though, the girl had an artificial heart pump.

What happened was that D'Zhana had an enlarged heart, and went to get a heart transplant. But just two days later, it was taken out because the doctor's feared that the heart would rupture, as it was already not working properly. That was when they used an artificial heart pump, while waiting for a second transplant (Use of an artificial heart pump may be approved for adults, but not for children). After four months, she was able to get another heart transplant, but not without suffering from kidney failure, liver failure, and gastrointestinal bleeding. Sometimes, she couldn't even breathe by herself.

"Doctors say she'll be able to do most things that teens do, like attending school and going out with friends. She will be on lifelong medication to keep her body from rejecting the donated heart, and there's a 50-50 chance she'll need another transplant before she turns 30. "