A Missouri man whose organs shut down due to a 10-year vaping habit has been saved in an unconventional way — by wearing breast implants.
“I thought it was great, kind of funny,” Davey Bauer, 34, told CBS News about the unorthodox operation, which took place in May at Chicago’s Northwestern Medical Center.
“He’s at the end of the road,” said Dr. Ankit Bharat, head of the facility’s Thoracic Surgery and director of the Canning Thoracic Institute, on the last successful effort.
Residents of St. Louis started smoking cigarettes when he was 21 years old. However, he turned to vaping in 2014 because — like many young people — he thought it was a healthier way to get his nicotine fix, People reported.
The landscaper reportedly smokes a cartridge a day, which is the equivalent of puffing on a pack of cigarettes, according to the National Library of Medicine.
“I thought it was funny,” said David Bauer, reflecting on being saved by breast implants. He is shown above after being hospitalized for the flu in April 2023. Northwestern Medicine
However, everything looked hunky dory until last April, when the Missourian caught the flu.
He was then infected with a virulent strain of Pseudomonas bacteria, which caused an infection that was difficult to reverse amid increasing antibiotic resistance, People reported.
His condition worsened until his lungs began to melt, according to Dr. Rade Tomic, director of the lung transplant program at Northwestern.
The situation became so bad that Bauer’s medical team in St. Louis was reportedly considering withdrawing care because they thought he could not be saved.
Surgeons prepare to add life-saving implants. Northwestern Medicine Implants are indicated before the procedure is completed. Northwest Medicine
Bauer was transported to Northwestern Medical Center in Chicago, where he suffered a cardiac arrest upon arrival.
The hospital realized that Bauer would not survive a lung transplant in his current condition and decided that they needed to clear the infection before performing the surgery — a decision that required them to remove “both lungs,” according to Tomic.
That’s when breast implants enter the equation.
After removing both of her lungs, the surgical team kept Bauer alive with an external synthetic lung – and they then placed a DD breast implant in her chest cavity to prevent her heart from slipping out of position.
It marks the first time the surgery has been performed in the North West and effectively bridges the gap between medical and cosmetic surgery.
Surgeons work on Bauer’s lung transplant patients in the operating room. Northwestern Medicine “We had to come up with something very creative,” said Dr. Ankit Bharat (left, with Bauer), chief of Thoracic Surgery and director of Northwestern Medical Center Canning Thoracic Institute.Northwestern Medicine
“We had to come up with something very creative,” says Bharat. “This is the only way we can logically create a solution that can give patients a fighting chance.”
Thankfully, Bauer’s chest job seems to be working.
Within 24 hours, the team found donor lungs that matched the lungs of the infected patient, and successfully implanted them after removing the bad ones, as well as breast implants.
After staying in intensive care for several months, Bauer was discharged in September.
His old lungs were badly infected Northwestern Medicine “I feel very blessed. I mean, it’s incredible,” said a recovering Bauer, shown with his girlfriend, Susan Gore. “I got a second chance at life.” Northwest Medicine
He will remain in Chicago for the next year so doctors can make sure there are no issues with his new lungs.
Bauer now says he feels “blessed” to be alive.
“It’s amazing. I got a second chance at life,” said the Missourian, who also saw humor in the procedure.
As a tribute to the unlikely treatment, the doctor presented the patient with a jersey emblazoned with “DD Davey” – a name he plans to adopt and use as his playing profile.
Bharat, meanwhile, sees Bauer’s case as “extraordinary because it shows that we can keep patients alive after removing their lungs through new technology, which can transform many critically ill patients.”
Bauer held up his jersey emblazoned with “DD Davey” at the press conference. Northwestern Medicine Bauer smiles with his girlfriend. He started vaping because he thought it was safer than smoking conventional cigarettes. Northwest Medicine
Doctors believe that vaping must have played a role in his life-threatening illness, given that he was actually “young and healthy.”
“The lungs are designed to breathe clean air – they are not designed to inhale smoke,” he said.
Bauer is now using his near-death story as a cautionary tale to warn people about the dangers of electronic cigarettes.
“I can see how stupid that habit is,” he said.
Indeed, Bauer is not the first person to die from vaping, which some experts say is potentially more dangerous than smoking traditional cigarettes.
Last summer, a New Hampshire fitness fanatic and aspiring MMA fighter had to have part of a lung removed at the age of 20 after it became black-spotted — attributed to his chronic e-cigarette use.
In an effort to curb the use of vaping among young people, the state of New York banned the sale of flavored vape products in 2019.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
