Maryland's Health Matters - Upper Chesapeake - Spring 2013 - (Page 12)

NEVER GIVING UP ON LIFE HOME—ALMOST A YEAR LATER By the end of December, Davenport’s health had improved so much that she was discharged to University of Maryland Kernan Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, after spending 292 days at UMMC. “Brittany’s story is a remarkable one,” says Dr. Iacono. “She is potentially the longest living ECMO recipient. I ﬁrmly believe that no other hospital would have invested the care that she required to survive.” Davenport was able to spend Christmas at home and attend her daughter’s ﬁrst birthday party at the end of January. “This has been a long journey. Who would have thought that an infection could have led to a double lung transplant?” she says. “I am so grateful to the doctors and staff at the University of Maryland Medical Center who got me well and sent me home to be with my babies.”  12 MARYLAND’S HEALTH MATTERS A HARD HABIT TO BREAK Harford County tobacco workgroup organizes to improve community health It is no secret that every cigarette you smoke damages your breathing and scars your lungs. But smoking also causes conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema and chronic bronchitis to name a few. Upper Chesapeake Health, as part of its community beneﬁt plan, is joining the Harford County Health Department and other interested groups by tackling the effort to decrease tobacco use in the county. Of particular concern are Harford County’s high percentages of both young and adult smokers. While Maryland adult smoking rates have decreased over time, Harford County rates have been on the rise. The three major strategies to move the plan forward are raising awareness and education efforts in order to gain more support, encouraging workplaces to adopt tobacco-free campuses, and creating changes in local government policy regarding tobacco use. COMMIT TO QUIT The Harford County Health Department offers tobacco-cessation classes for free. Call 410-612-1781 or visit harfordcountyhealth.com for more information or to register. ©2013 THINKSTOCK After ﬁve months on ECMO, Davenport was still not able to breathe on her own, but was not an ideal candidate for a lung transplant. The staff at UMMC had bonded with Davenport, though, and was determined to help her make it. “There was something about her spirit that made you not want to give up,” says Zachary Kon, MD, cardiothoracic resident. “She was like the little sister of the ICU.” With the help of her critical care team in the intensive care unit, Davenport worked to regain some strength; eventually she was able to get out of bed, and even had visits with her infant daughter. The nurses rallied around her and forced her to get out of bed and walk with assistance—a requirement if she was to be eligible for transplantation. The tenacity of her clinical team, coupled with Davenport’s own will to live, allowed her to be ﬁt for transplant. At 2 a.m. Aug. 17, 2012, after four months on the waiting list, Davenport was told that UMMC had received donor lungs and that she would undergo a double lung transplant within a couple of hours. “When they told me that I would get a transplant, I just started to cry,” recalls Davenport, who also remembers giving her father a thumbs-up as she was wheeled into the operating room. http://www.harfordcountyhealth.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Maryland's Health Matters - Upper Chesapeake - Spring 2013

Maryland's Health Matters - Upper Chesapeake - Spring 2013
Contents
A Healthy Start
Like This? Try That!
The Breath of Life
At a Glance
Physician Update
News and Events

Maryland's Health Matters - Upper Chesapeake - Spring 2013