DETROIT – A woman from the Detroit suburb infected with COVID-19 gave birth, then underwent a double lung transplant weeks later to save her life, doctors said on Wednesday.
Two months after the transplant, Jackie Dennis, a teacher in New Boston, said she was fine. She and the Henry Ford Health System medical team shared their remarkable story with Mia Rose, 4 months old, in her arms.
March 17, 2021: Jackie Dennis, left, and her husband, Ricky Dennis, pose for a photo with their daughter, Mia Rose, at the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit.
(Ray Manning / Henry Ford Health System Via AP)
“I actually feel quite normal,” said Dennis, 31. “Things are still a little difficult, maybe taking too many steps, going up and down the stairs. But in general, I can do almost anything I want, in addition to catching Mia still.”
Dennis was 36 weeks pregnant on November 20, when she went to the emergency room with a cough, headache and breathing problems. She tested positive for the coronavirus and was admitted to the hospital.
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The doctors decided to induce labor a week later, and Mia was born. Dennis developed pneumonia and his lungs deteriorated to the point where a respirator was needed. Later, she was placed on another special breathing device, but her lungs were not improving.
“There is really no word that you can define, right?” said Dennis’s husband, Ricky. “Your wife is fighting for her life and you have a new baby at home. It was difficult.”
A double lung transplant was performed on 16 January.
“Her lungs were completely destroyed by this inflammatory response to the virus and, without the transplant, she couldn’t be alive,” said Dr. Lisa Allenspach, medical director of the lung transplant program Henry Ford in Detroit.
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“His situation was probably as serious as that of anyone we transplanted,” said Allenspach.
The doctor said the number of lung transplants related to COVID 19 is low in the US
“We hope she can go back to work, do the things she wants … Long-term survival is really, very possible and likely,” said Allenspach.