DETROIT – A suburban woman from Detroit infected with COVID-19 gave birth and underwent a double lung transplant a few weeks later to save her life, doctors said Wednesday.
Two months after the transplant, Jackie Dennis, a teacher in New Boston, said she was doing well. She and the medical team at Henry Ford Health System shared her remarkable story with 4-month-old Mia Rose in her arms.
March 17, 2021: Jackie Dennis, left, and her husband, Ricky Dennis, pose for a photo with their daughter, Mia Rose, at the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit.
(Ray Manning / Henry Ford Health System via AP)
“I actually feel pretty normal,” Dennis, 31, said. “Things are still a bit difficult, maybe I’m taking too many steps, going up and down the stairs. But overall I can do almost anything I want except pick up Mia.”
Dennis was 36 weeks pregnant on November 20 when she went to the emergency room with a cough, headache and breathing problems. She tested positive for the coronavirus and was admitted to the hospital.
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Doctors decided to give birth a week later, and Mia was born. Dennis developed pneumonia and her lungs weakened to the point where a ventilator was needed. She was then placed on another special breathing apparatus, but her lungs did not improve.
“There really are no words you can put to it, right?” says Dennis’ husband, Ricky. “Your wife is fighting for her life, and you have a new baby at home. It was hard.”
A double lung transplant was performed on January 16th.
“Her lungs were completely destroyed by this inflammatory response to the virus, and without transplantation she would not have been able to live,” said Dr. Lisa Allenspach, medical director of the Henry Ford Lung Transplant Program in Detroit, said.
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“Her situation was probably as bad as we were transplanting,” Allenspach said.
The doctor said the number of COVID 19-related lung transplants in the US is low
“We expect her to be able to return to work, to do things she wants to do … Long-term survival is really very, very possible and likely,” Allenspach said.