Medical progress has made it a reality for a 63-year-old childbirth, but what would she experience if the mother is accompanied by pulmonary hypertension ? A lung transplant surgery made Wu Meng "famous" in one fell swoop, but this "success" lasted less than 300 days. She regretted it before her death.
2018, the medical community was in full swing. Wu Meng's "achievement" record, her (double) lung transplant surgery was successful, becoming the world's first lung transplant maternal (42 years old).
Many people may be familiar with "diabetic pregnancy". High nutrition and advanced age are one of the leading causes. Compared to this, pulmonary hypertension pregnancy is a very "outly ill" concept, and Wu Meng has congenital heart disease . At the last moment of her life, giving birth to a child and lung transplantation became the "keywords".
At the beginning of 2018, Director Ma of the Obstetrics Department of Wuxi People's Hospital Obstetrics Department received a special pregnant woman who had congenital heart disease and severe pulmonary hypertension. The pregnant woman refused Director Ma’s advice to terminate the pregnancy. After learning about it, the hospital immediately organized an expert consultation and suggested not to give birth, but the pregnant woman was very persistent. So there was a story that followed.
This pregnant woman is Wu Meng. Wu Meng published a documentary novel, "For the People Who Love Me and the People I Love - Remembering Life" ("Living"), which is known as the most popular emotional documentary in 2015. The reason for writing the book is because of her illness.
In 2013, Wu Meng felt " chest tightness ", so she embarked on the road of seeking medical treatment until she met Chen Jingyu , the chief surgeon of the lung transplant surgery later. The diagnosis of the disease was "pulmonary hypertension", and the doctor believed that she might have 4 years left.
Wu Meng did not "just live a while". She wanted to keep this "time", so she began to create and record the struggle between her and the disease.
2015, she posted "Living" on the Tianya Forum. She recorded every detail of her life and wanted more people to understand this disease. Her story spread quickly, and the number of views of "Alive" exceeded 10 million.
Because of a movie, "My life is from me, not by heaven" has become the "inspirational energy" of many people, but not everyone can do it.
At this time, Wu Meng also had a new "plan". She became pregnant again and wanted to have a child. She wanted to be a "pioneer". But, does her physical condition allow it?
When he was 20 weeks pregnant, Wu Meng's cough worsened, had nosebleeds , and the pressure on the pulmonary artery suddenly soared to 140mmHg. At this time, the Wuxi Municipal Health and Family Planning Commission received a request from the hospital and organized a consultation by experts across the city, but still advised her not to give birth. Wu Meng still insisted, but she also "compromised" at this time and agreed to receive custody and necessary treatment.
Wu Meng has been undergoing internal medicine treatment in those years. Her illness is not simple - congenital heart disease, atrial septal defect with pulmonary hypertension syndrome. Simply put, both heart and lungs have problems. If surgery is required, it is to "cultivate the heart and change the lungs". However, Wu Meng's physical condition does not support the operation, and she has lost the opportunity to operate.
You can imagine how "difficulty" the subsequent lung transplant surgery was. That's why some doctors said that she "kidnapping" the hospital and the doctor, just "in the name of love." Wu Meng was 42 years old when she became pregnant again. Compared with those "problems", this age is no longer a problem for her.
June 16, Wu Meng's condition was extremely bad, and the fetus was less than 28 weeks old. After the hospital communicated with her many times, she agreed to the operation. (Baby boy 1150g 2.3 kilograms, born at 27 weeks and 5 days. Normal full-term babies are basically over 6 kilograms.)
After delivery, Wu Meng's condition is very critical and is maintained by machines, and her life is hanged at a thread. However, she was very lucky that 11 days later, she waited for the matching lung source.
Wu Meng contacted Dr. Chen again after she became pregnant. Dr. Chen is quite famous in the academic world and is the first person to transplant lungs in China. At that time, Dr. Chen may not have realized that his intersection with Wu Meng would create a medical miracle.
Later, Dr. Chen said this: Foreign patients absolutely follow the doctor's advice. If there is pulmonary hypertension, it is absolutely forbidden to get pregnant and have children. This conclusion is not drawn without reason, but has scientific basis.
However, Wu Meng broke this taboo, which is why her lung transplant attracted countless attention from the beginning. In layman's terms, she is a terminally ill person, but she insists on fighting in front of the "gate of hell".
On June 27, 2018, Wu Meng ushered in her surgery - a "late" heart and lung surgery. (To give a brief introduction, the lung transplant center of Wuxi People's Hospital is the number one in China, the number one in Asia, and the third in the world.) The two experts who are in charge of the surgery are both top experts in China. (Card repair + double lung transplantation)
There is Sun Simiao 's "Great Doctor Sincerity" and the West has the "Hippocratic Oath". Serve mankind is always the lifelong oath of our medical staff. (Note: my country has a strict assessment system for the perioperative death of pregnant women. Simply understand that it is possible to save all the people. At that time, the health community in Jiangsu and Wuxi paid close attention to the case of Wu Meng and spared no effort to ensure the safety of the mother and son.)
At that time, Wu Meng said this, if I could have a successful child, then other patients with hypertension would have hope (the Internet is very controversial). Is this really the case? After giving birth, Wu Meng continued to rely on ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation).
She maintains her life by relying on the continuous external breathing and circulation provided by the machine. In a sense, such a life has no quality.
Doctor Chen decided to "take a risk" and he couldn't let his baby lose his mother as soon as he was born. However, no one can absolutely guarantee that the operation will be successful. Not only will the repair of the atrial septal defect, but the double lung transplant is also required.
Hospital is very cautious about this matter. The lung transplant department, anesthesia department, cardiac surgery, critical care medicine department and other relevant departments gathered together and repeatedly discussed it. The outside world could not imagine how much mental pressure the lung transplant team was at that time, because this was unprecedented. Finally, the hospital's organ transplant ethics committee agreed to perform the operation after discussion.
Wu Meng's operation went smoothly, with 5,000 ml of blood transfusion throughout the operation. Five days later, her cardiopulmonary function recovered benignly. However, the old saying goes, "Sickness comes like a mountain falling, and disease goes like a thread pulling out", health still needs to be slowly nourished (conditioned). One week after the operation, she felt weak in coughing and had to continue to assist with the ventilator, which improved a week later.
Wu Meng also needs treatment from surgery to postoperative recovery (too small), first with intravenous nutrition, and then transition to artificial feeding. How could a few lines of text express the hardships along the way?
Just as the outside world commented on this "world's first case", the voice of the medical community was almost one-sided. Before Wu Meng gave birth, some experts said that this behavior was misleading, using his or her children's lives as "bargaining chips", not speculation, what is it? It is a contempt for science.
At that moment, Wu Meng was a successful person because the doctor had asserted that she was no longer suitable for surgery, and now she can quickly carry her son home with her.
After giving birth, a major operation was followed by a big test for everyone, and it also means a "life-and-death battle" for Wu Meng.
Her weight has dropped from more than 70 kilograms, and she has only more than 60 kilograms left, which is truly "skinny". In February of the following year, her condition worsened again. On February 28, she entered ICU for the second time.
However, fate has not always favored Wu Meng and has not given her a second chance. On April 1, her husband issued an obituary. All of this seems to have been omens, but it is so "sudden" again. The outside world is very curious. Are there any other stories in it?
Later, Dr. Chen posted a message, which included this sentence: Ignorance and fearlessness are terrible, and knowledge and fearlessness are even more terrible.
Wu Meng is very confident. She did create a miracle. In the face of her disease, she is nothing at all. Among the contraindications for pregnancy, pulmonary hypertension is at the highest level. It is listed as a taboo in relevant domestic and foreign guidelines.
Wu Meng should know that she is challenging an "impossible". If it is to say it in the old saying, it is "defying the heavens". At that time, the doctor tried every means to persuade her because the consequences were predictable, but she always insisted on her decision, as if she was sure that she could write a "legend".
There is another old saying in China, follow the trend.The meaning is easy to understand. You have to follow the situation (environment) you are in, make a judgment first, and then take action.
Since Wu Meng has violated the doctor's advice and insisted on giving birth, and it was a major operation after caesarean section. Should she "judgment" her situation at this time?
Organ transplantation is not a simple "grafting". The grafting technology is already very mature, but it is still limited by time, plant variety, regional climate and nutritional status.
In the eyes of doctors, Wu Meng's original physical condition was "heart-wrenching", but later her behavior was even more incomprehensible. She refused the necessary medication. Organ transplant surgery has a common "negative" reaction, rejection reaction.
is not difficult to understand. If a "foreign object" comes to your territory, it will naturally be removed and the body's immune system will start, unless the genes of this "foreign object" are exactly the same as your own (my family).
Wu Meng did not believe in anti-infective drugs after the operation and refused the doctor's advice. Just as Dr. Chen was about to give her a second operation, she wrote a letter to Dr. Chen, saying: "Only God can save her, not the doctor."
This is not very contradictory. Wu Meng didn't go anywhere at the beginning, and even Shanghai, which is closest to Wuxi, was not within her consideration. It was not that Dr. Chen could save her. Until the last moment of her life, Wu Meng told the truth in front of her sister, and she believed that Dr. Chen could save her and lung transplant could save her.
So why did she have such a strong resistance to medication after the operation? It is equivalent to erasing all the doctor's previous efforts. Is it because of the cost? Because many expenses cannot be reimbursed, the car at home sold was almost 2 million yuan, which is indeed a huge expense for ordinary families.
But this is not like Wu Meng's style. Judging from the many "books" (various professional certificates) she obtained in a short period of time, it can be seen that she has a very strong "control" and "desire for survival". So what makes her so "willful"?
Although Wu Meng repeatedly refuses to take medicine, our medical staff will not give up any life easily. The hospital will not watch her "make trouble". She will only hurt herself and her lungs will be infected again.
The hospital arranged for a consultation with psychiatrists, but the results were not good and he was diagnosed as "schizophrenia". Since the onset of the disease, Wu Meng's physical condition has been unhealthy. After experiencing childbirth and major surgery, her physical condition should be quite "weak". At this time, she did some "unreasonable" things, which can only be said that many things are beyond her "control". (After the operation, she once developed symptoms such as delirium (continuous high fever), depression, etc.)
When she announced that she was pregnant again, there were voices on the Internet saying that she was "irresponsible" and that she was quite selfish maternal love. If the mother does not have a healthy body, it is actually difficult to give birth to a healthy fetus. Pregnancy and having children are not simply giving birth, but being responsible for a life.
Wu Meng has her own "persistence". Her first marriage broke down and her son did not follow her. When she became pregnant again, she thought it was a "big gift" to her new marriage. She wanted to have a child, but she was a little overestimating her physical condition.
Sometimes choices are just a matter of thought. How many people will treat it truly rationally at this time? Especially Wu Meng, when her emotions were not smooth and diseases came one after another, the arrival of this treasure was tantamount to her, and she had overcome many difficulties, and this time she might have succeeded.
Wu Meng was really lucky. She chose the right medical team and she and her son had a short and happy time to spend together. Although Yizhi's diagnosis seems to explain Wu Meng's later paranoidness and refused to take medicine because of the "heart", how many people really understand what she was thinking at this time?
can only be said that the "pain" brought to Wu Meng by disease is far beyond words to express, so that she personally denied her choice, "It is not the doctor who can save her."
Doctor Chen once posted a set of data of her (a series of signs and data after both lung infection) (very bad). At this time, Wu Meng was already confused and communicated with the patient. He suggested intubation and transferred to ICU for monitoring and treatment, but was rejected by his family and insisted on continuing to observe.
is not Wu Meng, who refuses treatment alone. The hospital at this time also gave a plan: there is extremely severe personality disorder and the operation is of little significance.
Her "parabi" gave birth to a very premature baby boy. Due to the unhealthy mother and the nutritional environment of the uterus, the baby was also "dangerous" shortly after he was born. had difficulty breathing and continued to aggravate. It was also a ventilator (with the help of tracheal intubation, what does this mean for such a small baby?), high-flow nasal catheter oxygen inhalation, and other means, it took a full 38 days to get rid of the machine.
Baby should have stayed in the warm uterus and enjoyed the pregnancy of the best and most expensive "house" in the world, but ended up having to receive treatment after birth early (to be life-saving).
He could not eat with his small mouth until 32 weeks later. During this period, he had to assist with the umbilical vein catheterization and PICC catheterization (this is a common method used in clinical chemotherapy). He also had many problems such as hypothyroidism, anemia and .
How should we view this "maternal love"? The next six months of companionship was not enough to make up for the sins suffered by the son when he was born and the care he lacked in his future growth path. Without exaggeration, this "crystal" that I worked hard to accompany him more in the future.
Hospital official website article says: A miracle of life that is difficult to replicate. Wu Meng's "persistence" has accomplished a medical miracle, but is this worth imitating?
Remember the writer Yu Hua There is a novel "Living". Don't people live for the sake of living? When Wu Meng wrote an article online, didn’t he want to let this “limited time” down? If it is based on the doctor's "original judgment" time, she will make a profit. Since I worked so hard, why didn’t I cooperate later? Why do you only believe in God to save yourself?
Wu Meng just doesn’t use medicine to treat it, but doesn’t take rejection medicine. In the eyes of doctors, what else can be done except for that aspect? Since you chose the surgery, you should know that various medicines are indispensable after the operation, and you should know that there will be rejection reactions in organ transplantation. If it is not controlled, the consequences can be predicted.
Wu Meng was paranoid and refused to take medicine. The "reason" was diagnosed by the (psychiatrist) doctor. Dr. Chen said directly: "I am helpless. I feel that what I do is only to save her physical illness, but not her heart."
Dr. Chen once admitted that he had no joy in the success of the first operation. He hopes this is the only case. As a practitioner, life is the greatest, but he hopes that patients will respect science rather than witnessing some kind of success in this way.
On June 19, 2018, Wu Meng’s video caused another gust of wind on the Internet (postpartum), but how can the outside world know her true situation? What you see is a strong mother (only more than 70 kilograms), a mother who fights against diseases. She only knows that this "disease" is not simple.
Wu Meng has answered others' "questions": Why do you want to risk S to have this child? Many people have seen that she is "playing with fire". She simply answered "love". Of course, she added at the end: I believe I can’t S. (The most important sentence)
birth, old age, sickness, isn’t it human nature. Why is Wu Meng so sure? Maybe she has "lived" the "deadline" that the doctor said? The doctor's words are just a kind of "prediction", how can it be used as a "judgment"? Shouldn’t she thanked the scientific treatments that allowed her life to continue?
However, this actually became her last "persistence": "I hope my exploration can give patients hope and dreams", "I want to contribute to Wuxi's medical care and health care with my courage and body."
Wu Meng did it. However, it was not just her exploration and courage, without the maintenance of those machines, without our medical staff working hard for them, nor would she and her younger son have been together for half a year later.
Just doing this will really bring hope to patients? The old saying always says that having a baby is equivalent to walking through the gates of hell. In the past, due to medical and health conditions, production could be said to be a "high-risk" job.Nowadays, technology is developed and medical methods are advanced, but this does not mean that physical illness does not affect giving birth to a baby at all.
I don’t know if the belief that “S can’t be” really gave Wu Meng great courage, making her feel that she could withstand such physical condition. In the eyes of outsiders, the rejection reaction is just a combination of 4 words, but in the body, it is tantamount to a " Battle of Julu ". There is always one side who wants to escape in panic. If there is no intervention, it is often "winning with less".
However, (ruthless) facts always make people recognize reality. Finally, Wu Meng began to blame himself. Yes, the situation started to be bad not long after she was discharged from the hospital. She hoped that she would be healthy, but this transplant surgery brought her the need for long-term medication.
She regretted it a little and felt that she was "a bit willful". This is a bet on life. She felt "sincere" because she could not support her parents in their old age and see them off. It is always sad to send a white-haired man to a black-haired man.
, just, time will not go backwards , and life will not be "reborn" like a novel. (Maybe in a few years, the time machine will really realize this beautiful wish) However, there are not so many assumptions and ifs, Wu Meng wakes up and sees the "result".
Wu Meng, born and raised in Sichuan, came to Wuxi for the people she loves, and has always worked hard for the wonderful life. She loved herself. Before she started to have an illness, she wrote other people's stories (she was a reporter), and later wrote about herself. However, the laws of development of things will not change based on what you think.
Due to the refusal to use medicine, the transplanted double lung infection was infected. Dr. Chen prepared for a second lung transplant. This shows that although the transplant was successful, if there was no drug intervention, the success was short-lived. Wu Meng rejected Dr. Chen's "good intention", and she didn't think the doctor could save her at that moment. She forgot who pulled her back from God S.
As the surgeon, Dr. Chen was also helpless. His patients became news figures and he had to speak out. Things that were contrary to science should not happen again. Dr. Chen specifically mentioned the cost of postoperative medication. Wu Meng thought it was expensive, but in fact it was the cost of the surgery and many of them could not be reimbursed. So she didn't believe the doctor's advice, she didn't believe in the medicine. How to say this? Some people can spend a lot of money on an object, but they are stingy about their own "life". It is true that doctors save lives and help the wounded, but isn’t life the most precious thing you cannot lose? When a doctor saves himself, shouldn’t he thank him?
Wu Meng has received a formal university education. She should be clear about what such an operation will bring. Her body is already very weak. If she does not cooperate well, the ending will not be good. Since it was your own choice, just give up?
Since she announced her childbirth in a high-profile manner, the media has been chasing her. When everyone was marveling at the "innovation of surgery", they were paying more attention to her survival period and whether it would really bring "hope". When she moved into the ICU again, the situation was already quite unstable. Before her death, she said she "had a guilty face to her family" and she regretted it.
About Wu Meng's story, the last sentence of the hospital's official website article says: May doctors and patients jointly respect life, respect science, and make life healthier.
Why are we alive? Not just making the journey of life wonderful (wise people have the wisdom), but isn’t the premise of all this the health of life? Isn’t it just to start by caring for your body? This is the best love for yourself.
Wu Meng's story is a tragedy. Doing against the rules is doomed to failure. Her story is also a warning. What else is left besides insisting on doing it alone to exchange for "attention"? Regret and guilt before death will only bring greater pain to relatives.
Finally, I would like to send you a saying: Life is precious, and you will live and cherish it (respect).
Reference:
CCTV13: "Face-to-face-a surgery"
China Youth Daily: "Age-old mother died of lung transplantation, Wu Meng no longer has dreams"
Science and Technology Daily: "Disregarding the doctor's advice, such maternal love is really dead"
Beijing News: "Age-old pulmonary hypertension woman Wu Meng died at the age of 43" 2019
The Paper: "The first lung transplant woman Wu Meng died"
