abc7 Dana Smith
A New York woman is recovering after a nose-piercing infection led to a life-threatening condition, requiring her to have a liver transplant.
Queens resident Dana Smith, 37, got her nose pierced shortly after Thanksgiving, CBS New York reported on Thursday.
About a month later, Smith started to have stomach pains, but was hesitant to go to the hospital because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
In an interview with CBS in New York, Smith described his symptoms as “upset stomach. It felt like I lost my appetite”.
“I didn’t want to go to the hospital with COVID going on,” she explained to the outlet. But the pain got so much worse that “I got to the point where I felt I had no choice”.
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“I was just drinking water, I couldn’t hold the water,” Smith told ABC 7, revealing that her symptoms had increased so much that she “started vomiting blood”.
Her sister took her to the Long Island Jewish Medical Center on January 12, where doctors quickly estimated that she needed a liver transplant and was suffering from fulminant hepatitis B, ABC 7 reported.
According to the Merck Manual, fulminant hepatitis is “a rare syndrome of rapid necrosis (usually within days or weeks), massive necrosis of the liver parenchyma and a decrease in liver size” which “usually occurs after infection with certain viruses hepatitis, alcoholic hepatitis or drugs – induced liver damage (DILI). “
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Smith was transferred to North Shore University Hospital and placed in an induced coma while waiting for a correspondence for the transplant. One was found within 48 hours and she was operated on January 17.
Although doctors were quick to diagnose Smith, what caused fulminant Hepatitis B was initially a mystery.
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Through a process of elimination, medical professionals determined that the culprit was an infection of the nose ring that was not detected.
“This was the only single change that took place in his life, this nose ring,” said Northwell’s director of transplant services, Dr. Lewis Teperman. “And it is the perfect time for the virus to incubate.”
Smith, who returned home on January 26, credits the decision to finally go to the hospital for saving her life – and is sharing her story so she can help someone who needs to go to the hospital for treatment.
“It’s very impressive. Emotionally, everything, mentally,” she told ABC 7.
For CBS in New York, Smith added, “Even with COVID in progress, you should still check out, because you never know. That decision saved my life.”