You helped Ky breathe again
Three weeks shy of her 16th birthday in December 2022, Ky landed in the emergency department with a severe lung infection from influenza A. While most teens recover, Ky would need new lungs. It was the beginning of a long road to recovery powered by a team of medical specialists at American Family Children’s Hospital and Ky’s determination to breathe on her own again.
Despite heroic efforts to cure the infection, Ky’s lungs just couldn’t heal. She was put on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a form of life support that does the work of the heart and lungs. She was treated with antibiotics, placed on a ventilator and had a feeding tube inserted. When her kidneys began to fail, she began dialysis.
“With each scan, we could see that her lungs were not going to recover, and we were running out of treatment options,” said Erin Lowery, MD, medical director of the UW Health Kids Lung Transplant Program. “The clock was ticking and we believed her best chance for recovery would be with a transplant.”
Ky received the gift of new lungs on February 9, 2023. After a 20-hour surgery, it took five months of persistent hard work before Ky could go home.
Respiratory and physical therapists helped Ky adjust to her new lungs while she remained connected to ECMO and on dialysis well into March. In May, her lungs were ready to work without support from a ventilator. Her feeding tube was removed in June so she could enjoy her favorite food—macaroni and cheese.
To lift Ky’s spirits, her nurses performed TikTok dances. “It was really scary being in the hospital and away from home this long,” she said. “I’m grateful the doctors and nurses were there to help me stay positive.”
Ky was given the green light to go home, and on June 30, 2023, her care team lined the hall to cheer her on. Ky was looking forward to driving in her own car, cuddling with her dog and enjoying iced coffee. “We’ll never forget the care and compassion from everyone at UW Health during Ky’s 209 days in the hospital,” her mom, Nikki, shared.
You help us provide state-of-the art care
Support from generous donors like you allows us to be nimble and innovative so that we can care for the most complex patients.
Philanthropy supported the purchase of new technology, including sophisticated software that synthesizes patient data from multiple sources into one platform. It’s an especially vital tool for the care team in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit where a young patient’s condition may be very complex and change quickly. Long-term data gathered through the software will also inform quality improvement initiatives.
With support from philanthropy, we expanded the UW Health Kids Transplant Program so that many more kids can receive the gift of life. In March 2023, the United Network for Organ Sharing certified us to perform pediatric heart transplants. The UW Health Transplant Center is now one of just six programs in the country and the only one in the Midwest actively transplanting all five organs in both adults and children.
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