Zei (Zay) Uwadia a 16-year-old student at North High School in Wichita, Kansas, was on track to graduate early and pursue a career in dermatology. But in October, she felt herself gasping for air. In November, the teen was placed on life support in the PICU at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. Zei's determination and independence have helped her achieve something only a few patients before her could: She has walked while on life support.
Zei is the hospital's first patient to sit up, stand and walk while on ECMO. While on life support and under round-the-clock care, Zei also has eaten tacos, visited the hospital's Chapel, lifted weights and even had a manicure. The ECMO machine, often called the "highest form of life support," uses a pump to circulate a patient's blood through an artificial lung. “Zei has the longest ECMO run we've had in our institution," said Debbie Newton, director of the hospital's neonatal and pediatric ECMO program. The average patient only uses the ECMO machine for 21 days.Using the machine can come with possible complications: risk of infections and other side effects related to bleeding. Kerschen has been documenting Zei's recovery on YouTube. Her doctors hope for her lungs to regain function soon, or her other option is to be put on an organ transplant list for new lungs. Zei is still eager to graduate early and has been completing her schoolwork while at Children's Mercy.
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- How would you feel being healthy and then suddenly getting sick?
I would be upset and scared especially since they said, there is no certain cause. Especially since I do not tolerate pain well. I would continue my studies, like Zei, in hopes of graduating early.
- If you were Zei’s mom how would you feel if this happens to your child?
As a parent I would be terrified. Every parent wants their child to be healthy. Especially since this has no cause, and who knows how far down on the transplant list Zei is.
Replies
Good job overall but your questions are weak overall as they arent going to get different answers as the answer for each question is obvious.
I would be upset if I had such big plans and they were basically ruined because of life support. I also hate being sick, it's painful and being on life support and all would scare me into thinking that I could die any day. If I were Zei's mom, I don't know how I would cope with seeing my daughter on life support in a children's hospital. I know it would make me very sad.
I would be scared because it is not good to be sick out of nowhere that could be very dangerous. I would feel devestated if this would have happend to my child because it is a terrible thing to happen out of nowhere.
I would be scared, because you don't know what exactly is going on and what caused it. I wouldn't know how to handle it, especially because my daughter just fel sick fo no apparent cause and waiting for a transplant can be years.
I agree I would be scared becaue I would have no clue what caused me to be sick. As a parent I would blame myself for not notcing signs that my child is sick. Some people are on the trasplant list for years and others are on it for their whole lives because of the criteria for a match and becuse of how long the list is.
I would be very confused especially since there isn't a cause and I've been healthy my whole life. If it were my daughter that had gotten sick I woudl be very scared for her because I wouldn't want her hurt, and because there isn't a known cause. I would also be worried because I know she has been working very hard in school so she can graduate early.
I think everyone would be confused espcially if there was no cause. I do not think that it is uncommon for someone to appear healthy and then suddenly find out that they are sick. I agree if my child got this sick I would be super scared. This could affect her future and her education majorly.
I would think that something normal happened to me and that I was just sick and nothing bad was happening unless something looked wrong or if I did not get any better. I would try and do everything possible so that it does not kill them.
I agree I would not think I was this sick, and it would be very shocking. As a parent I agree that I would do everything I could possibly do for the child's health and comfort.
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