Addison Rerecich (October 1, 1999 – December 30, 2019) was an American double-lung transplant recipient who spent the longest documented duration of time using

extracorporeal membrane oxygenation Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), also known as extracorporeal life support (ECLS), is an extracorporeal technique of providing prolonged cardiac and respiratory support to persons whose heart and lungs are unable to provide an adequat ...

(ECMO) therapy at 93 days. She underwent the transplant at age 11 in 2011 and was the subject of a 2013 episode of ''

Frontline Front line refers to the forward-most forces on a battlefield. Front line, front lines or variants may also refer to: Books and publications * ''Front Lines'' (novel), young adult historical novel by American author Michael Grant * ''Frontlines ...

'' on PBS. She suffered from Methicillin-resistant ''Staphylococcus aureus'' (MRSA), a difficult-to-treat staph infection.

Infection

In May 2011, Rerecich began showing a variety of symptoms including fatigue, hip pain, and a high fever. Her mother Tonya, a

registered nurse A registered nurse (RN) is a nurse who has graduated or successfully passed a nursing program from a recognized nursing school and met the requirements outlined by a country, state, province or similar government-authorized licensing body to o ...

, gave Addison

ibuprofen Ibuprofen is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that is used for treating pain, fever, and inflammation. This includes painful menstrual periods, migraines, and rheumatoid arthritis. It may also be used to close a patent ductus arte ...

to treat the symptoms and eventually took her to a local hospital. Doctors there suspected a virus, but the pain and fever continued to get worse over the following few days. Eventually, Tonya took her daughter to the Diamond Children's Medical Center, a part of the

University of Arizona Medical Center Banner - University Medical Center Tucson (BUMCT), formerly University Medical Center and the University of Arizona Medical Center, is a private, non-profit, 649-bed acute-care teaching hospital located on the campus of the University of Arizona in ...

. The day she arrived at the hospital, Addison went into

septic shock Septic shock is a potentially fatal medical condition that occurs when sepsis, which is organ injury or damage in response to infection, leads to dangerously low blood pressure and abnormalities in cellular metabolism. The Third International Con ...

and was soon placed on ECMO therapy to sustain life. Doctors eventually discovered that she had contracted an antibiotic-resistant strain of MRSA (probably from a scrape or scab). Other complications she encountered during her five-month hospital stay included ''

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'', ''

e. coli ''Escherichia coli'' (),Wells, J. C. (2000) Longman Pronunciation Dictionary. Harlow ngland Pearson Education Ltd. also known as ''E. coli'' (), is a Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, coliform bacterium of the genus ''Escher ...

'', a drug-resistant form of pneumonia, a pulmonary embolism, and a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

. She also underwent several surgeries.

Double-lung transplant

In September 2011, Rerecich underwent a successful double-lung transplant surgery. She returned home in November 2011. The total medical cost of her hospital stay reached $6 million. Rerecich continued to engage in physical therapy and took dozens of medications daily to limit the chance of infection.

Death

Rerecich’s body began to reject her lungs in early 2019. She refused to have another transplant. Rerecich died in her home on December 30, 2019, surrounded by friends and family at the age of 20.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rerecich, Addison 1999 births 2019 deaths Lung transplant recipients 21st-century American women Deaths from lung disease