Unvaccinated S’pore housewife, seriously ill with Covid-19, put on an artificial heart-lung machine to save her life, Singapore News & Top Stories

SINGAPORE – Ms Lee Sock Lee was fit enough to visit a Swab and Send Home clinic after testing positive for the rapid Covid-19 antigen test on the morning of September 13, but things quickly got worse.

Within 24 hours, she was in intensive care and fighting for her life.

The 43-year-old housewife, who lost consciousness as she was rushed to the emergency room at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital (NTFGH) on September 13, was on the verge of a cardiovascular collapse and would have died if not for the timely intervention of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation treatment (Ecmo).

Ecmo is a lifesaving machine that supports the function of the heart and lungs.

Ms. Lee, who is not vaccinated, was postponing vaccination due to previous episodes caused by food allergies, but had no pre-existing co-morbidities. The family were awaiting the arrival of Novavax, a protein-based Covid-19 vaccine.

As a warning for those who are still hesitant to get vaccinated, she said Thursday (October 28): “This is my second chance in life … If I was dead, I would only have my husband to take care of our four children, who are still young For those who are still hesitant to get vaccinated, yes there is a risk of side effects, but don’t delay.

Describing her experience as traumatic for her family, especially her husband, Ms. Lee added, “The vaccination could potentially save your life. You won’t have to go through what I went through and what I did. to my family.”

His family of six has tested positive for Covid-19. Fortunately, her children – aged three to 13 – and her husband had only mild symptoms such as fever and headaches.

Her husband is partially vaccinated and her eldest son is fully vaccinated. The rest are not vaccinated and those eligible will receive their vaccine in about three months – based on doctor’s advice for patients recovered from Covid-19.

After her admission to NTFGH, she was transferred to the National University Hospital (NUH) on September 14 and placed under venous-arterial ecmo, a heart-lung machine used for catastrophic pulmonary or heart failure.

The machine draws the patient’s blood before removing carbon dioxide from the blood and adding oxygen to it. The machine then pumps blood to the patient.

Ms Lee is the first Covid-19 patient in Singapore to need Ecmo for cardiac support, the vast majority, 95%, of patients needing Ecmo for pulmonary support, said associate professor Graeme MacLaren, Senior Consultant in the Department of Thoracic Cardiology. and vascular surgery at Singapore’s National University Heart Center (NUHCS), said Thursday, Oct. 28.

She was on Ecmo for four days and also received a course of remdesivir and dexamethasone. She was released on October 6.

Ms. Lee’s heart managed to recover, but some lingering symptoms and scars on her heart tissue remained.

Her body was severely deconditioned from a serious illness and she had to relearn some basic functions.

“I had to undergo speech therapy, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and initially had to relearn how to eat, shower, walk, balance and do things like fold clothes” , she said.

She is now more tired and out of breath easily and is slowly regaining her strength.

“I had no idea how seriously ill I was when I was hospitalized,” said Ms. Lee, who will return for follow-up at the NUH Cardiomyopathy Clinic in November.

“The doctors and the team took great care of me … and I will really encourage everyone to get vaccinated so that they don’t get seriously ill and become a burden on our working doctors and nurses. long hours just to take care of me. of us. “

Ecmo in Singapore

Only two centers in Singapore provide Ecmo support to adults – NUHCS and the National Heart Center.

Since the onset of Covid-19, NUHCS has put six patients on Ecmo assistance, five of whom have been successful.

Ecmo is considered the last line of support for patients.

Given how resource-intensive Ecmo is, it takes an entire team to manage a single patient, Professor MacLaren said.

An Ecmo team would include specially trained intensive care unit (ICU) nurses, a perfusionist and specially trained intensive care physicians to handle any day-to-day problems that might arise, Prof. MacLaren said, adding: “It takes a village. to care for a patient. “

Based on international research, patients who follow Ecmo due to lung failure stay there for about three weeks, while those who need it for heart failure stay there much shorter.