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For Dana Smith, 37, of Hollis, Queens, a spontaneous decision to get a nose ring on a Thanksgiving shopping spree resulted in a medical emergency that nearly claimed her life.
A few days later, Smith, who works as a corporate payroll manager for Northwell, noticed that she wasn’t feeling very well.
The busy mother of a teenager attributed it to acid reflux and the stress of the upcoming Christmas vacation, but as the days turned into weeks, she could no longer tolerate food or water.
“I was just drinking water, I couldn’t hold the water,” she said. “I guess at some point I started vomiting blood.
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Finally, on January 12, she asked her sister to take her to the Long Island Jewish Medical Center. At this point, she was so ill that she cannot remember the events that followed.
She remembers an ultrasound in the hospital, then woke up with her doctors telling her she had a new liver.
“That one decision saved my life,” Smith said. “It’s very upsetting. Emotionally, everything, mentally.”
Tests revealed that Smith suffered from fulminant hepatitis B, a very rare condition in which the patient immediately suffers from liver failure.
Smith was then taken to North Shore University Hospital, where she was taken care of by Dr Lewis Teperman, Director of Northwell Transplant Services.
The swelling in the brain resulting from hepatitis B caused seizures, so it was decided that Smith should be placed in a medically induced coma.
She was immediately placed on the transplant list and correspondence was discovered within 48 hours, allowing her transplant to take place on January 17.
She was able to return home on January 26.
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The mystery of the cause of the otherwise healthy young woman’s serious illness was solved when doctors removed Smith’s mask to uncover the tiny studded nose ring.
Excluding all other variables, the medical team determined that the disease was an infection of that nasal ring that resulted in fulminating hepatitis B and, more importantly, they waited too long to see a doctor.
“It was the only one-time change that had taken place in her life, that nose ring,” said Dr. Teperman. And now is the perfect time for the incubation of the virus. “
Smith, who has yet to return to work, wants to share her story in the hopes of encouraging people to monitor their health closely and not avoid coming to the hospital for fear of COVID-19.
If she had waited another day or two to get to the emergency room, her story might have ended much differently.
Smith, who has regular appointments with Dr Teperman every 10 days, says she doesn’t know what to say to her daughter if the nose ring discussion were to arise in the future.
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