niman Posted October 5, 2019 Report Posted October 5, 2019 This thread will provide details on Pennsylvania vaping cases.
niman Posted October 5, 2019 Author Report Posted October 5, 2019 Anthony Mayo The 19-year-old Pennsylvania teen’s father was “kicking himself for not asking more questions” about his son’s vaping habit after doctors discovered that Mayo’s lungs were almost entirely blocked with solidified vaping oils, which they compared to bacon grease. Mayo was admitted into the intensive care unit on Sept. 15, 2019 at Millcreek Community Hospital, where doctors found his lungs were quickly depleting. Mayo’s parents, Tanya and Keith, were told that their son “has the lungs of a 70-year-old lifetime heavy smoker” and that “a full recovery is uncertain.” “The pulmonary doctor said he had seen dead people with a higher O2 level!” Tanya wrote beside two photos of Anthony’s lungs on Facebook. “Now we pray that the ‘good’ lung doesn’t develop a mucus plug which would cause him to not be able to breathe at all.” Anthony recovered enough to leave the hospital on Sept. 27, but his mom said “there’s still a long road ahead.” https://people.com/health/vaping-related-illness-stories/
niman Posted October 5, 2019 Author Report Posted October 5, 2019 Kevin Boclair The 19-year-old Pennsylvania teen became dependent on a heart and lung machine at Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in September after suffering from an unknown lung illness that is likely due to vaping. At the time, doctors worked to identify Boclair’s lung problems and devise a treatment plan, but they’ve struggled with exactly how to help him. “They know it’s vaping, but this is even new to the doctors,” Boclair’s mom Debbie told ABC 6 on Sept. 3, 2019. “They told me outright, we’re treating all the things he has. When he came in he had double pneumonia — they treated that with antibiotics. They’re treating all the different things. But there’s parts they don’t even know what’s going on.” Debbie said then that doctors are unsure whether Kevin will recover on his own, require lung surgery — or even survive. “I don’t know how we can get parents to stop the kids, so I want to tell the kids right out, you’re smart kids — just don’t do it,” she said. “No parent should ever have to see that of their kid,” Boclair’s father Len added.
niman Posted October 5, 2019 Author Report Posted October 5, 2019 15 minutes ago, niman said: Anthony Mayo The 19-year-old Pennsylvania teen’s father was “kicking himself for not asking more questions” about his son’s vaping habit after doctors discovered that Mayo’s lungs were almost entirely blocked with solidified vaping oils, which they compared to bacon grease. Mayo was admitted into the intensive care unit on Sept. 15, 2019 at Millcreek Community Hospital, where doctors found his lungs were quickly depleting. Mayo’s parents, Tanya and Keith, were told that their son “has the lungs of a 70-year-old lifetime heavy smoker” and that “a full recovery is uncertain.” “The pulmonary doctor said he had seen dead people with a higher O2 level!” Tanya wrote beside two photos of Anthony’s lungs on Facebook. “Now we pray that the ‘good’ lung doesn’t develop a mucus plug which would cause him to not be able to breathe at all.” Anthony recovered enough to leave the hospital on Sept. 27, but his mom said “there’s still a long road ahead.” https://people.com/health/vaping-related-illness-stories/
niman Posted October 8, 2019 Author Report Posted October 8, 2019 (edited) Berks County rugby player 'almost died because of vaping': 'I just feel lucky that I am sitting here' HEATHER STAUFFER | Staff Writer Oct 3, 2019 Xander Amidon and his mother Kari Ide, speak about Xander's recent near-death experience due to vaping on Monday, September 30, 2019. Suzette Wenger Xander Amidon is embarrassed that he’s becoming known as “the kid who almost died because of vaping.” But the Berks County 17-year-old is sharing his story anyway, hoping to save others. “I just feel lucky that I am sitting here,” he said Monday. “Other people are going to have the same thing happen to them if they keep doing what they’re doing.” By Tuesday afternoon, a Facebook post his mother Kari Ide wrote about his situation had been shared more than 1,800 times. “The way they look, the flavors, and how easy it is to hide, it’s a perfect storm,” she wrote. Her son is a great kid and his story is already having an impact, she said. “A lot of his friends sent him videos of them destroying their vape pens and all those things, told him they were with him and they weren’t ever going to do it again.” Amidon, a junior at Governor Mifflin High School, said about three weeks ago he got what he thought was a cold: runny nose, sore throat, tiredness. At that point, he was in his third year of playing club rugby and had been vaping — some name-brand vapes containing nicotine and some black-market marijuana products containing THC — for about six months, he said. Xander Amidon near the end of July in 2019, before symptoms of the illness believed to be caused by vaping became apparent. COURTESY OF KARI IDE Getting worse On Sept. 21, he took a turn for the worse, waking up feverish and sweating. Ide’s friend who is a nurse listened to his lungs and didn’t hear anything amiss. It was only then that she realized he had lost about 15 pounds since about the beginning of August, Ide said. By that Saturday, Ide and Amidon said, he was so much worse that they went to the emergency department at Reading Hospital, where a chest X-ray came back clear. They were told it was probably a viral illness that would run itself out, they said, and more testing by his primary care doctor that Monday didn’t find anything. But two days later on Sept. 25, he felt worse and started coughing in a way that alarmed his mother, so they went back to the emergency room. This time, they said, chest X-rays showed his lungs full of a whitish substance, and doctors said it was good they hadn’t waited any longer to come in. Doctors are still trying to figure out how to treat issues caused by vaping, Ide and Amidon said, and after receiving treatments including oxygen, antibiotics and steroids, he was discharged on Saturday. He turned his vaping supplies over for testing to the CDC, and at this point they don’t have a definitive answer on what caused his symptoms and whether they resulted from one specific product or exposure over time. Reading Hospital has reported several cases of vaping-associated lung injury, with at least two requiring ventilator support by intubation. Latest findings and advice Nationally, the U.S. Centers for Disease Prevention & Control said Friday about 77% of lung injury patients reported vaping products containing THC in the month before noticing symptoms. But, according to the agency, about 57% of the patients had vaped nicotine-containing products, and 16% said they hadn’t vaped anything else in that time. “While this investigation is ongoing, CDC recommends that you consider refraining from using e-cigarette, or vaping, products, particularly those containing THC,” the agency said. It also advises against modifying vape products or buying them off the street. The agency says reported symptoms include coughing, shortness of breath, chest pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, fever and abdominal pain, with some developing over days and others over several weeks. “If you have recently used an e-cigarette or vaping product and you have symptoms like those reported in this outbreak, see a health care provider,” it says. The agency is investigating 805 cases nationwide and said 12 deaths have been reported. The state’s tally stands at nine confirmed and 12 probable cases, with 63 more under investigation. No deaths have been reported in Pennsylvania. None of the confirmed cases have been linked to products obtained at Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana dispensaries, according to department of health spokesman Nate Wardle. Uncertain road Although home, Amidon is still weak, and the path ahead of him remains uncertain. He’s eager to get back to rugby and what had been normal life, but acknowledges that’s not likely to happen any time soon. “I never thought it would happen to me,” he said, noting that he figured the stuff he was getting was safe because he knew the person he was buying it from. But, he said, “If you really think about it, he gets it from somewhere and then that person gets it — it just goes on and on.” Ide says measures attempted to stop her son from vaping in the past include taking the door off his room, but she wishes she had done more. “Stupid is what teenagers do; we all were there at one point,” she said. But, she says, with this, her son’s close call makes her worry that some people affected may never get a chance to look back. Both of them expressed gratitude for the support they’ve felt from the community. “I told him you don’t see it, but you’re making a difference and you’re helping people,” she said. https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/berks-county-rugby-player-almost-died-because-of-vaping-i/article_8cd0e7a0-e486-11e9-b1f2-ef197d4a3a39.html Edited October 8, 2019 by niman
HEATHER STAUFFER | Staff Writer Oct 3, 2019 Xander Amidon and his mother Kari Ide, speak about Xander's recent near-death experience due to vaping on Monday, September 30, 2019. Suzette Wenger Xander Amidon is embarrassed that he’s becoming known as “the kid who almost died because of vaping.” But the Berks County 17-year-old is sharing his story anyway, hoping to save others. “I just feel lucky that I am sitting here,” he said Monday. “Other people are going to have the same thing happen to them if they keep doing what they’re doing.” By Tuesday afternoon, a Facebook post his mother Kari Ide wrote about his situation had been shared more than 1,800 times. “The way they look, the flavors, and how easy it is to hide, it’s a perfect storm,” she wrote. Her son is a great kid and his story is already having an impact, she said. “A lot of his friends sent him videos of them destroying their vape pens and all those things, told him they were with him and they weren’t ever going to do it again.” Amidon, a junior at Governor Mifflin High School, said about three weeks ago he got what he thought was a cold: runny nose, sore throat, tiredness. At that point, he was in his third year of playing club rugby and had been vaping — some name-brand vapes containing nicotine and some black-market marijuana products containing THC — for about six months, he said. Xander Amidon near the end of July in 2019, before symptoms of the illness believed to be caused by vaping became apparent. COURTESY OF KARI IDE Getting worse On Sept. 21, he took a turn for the worse, waking up feverish and sweating. Ide’s friend who is a nurse listened to his lungs and didn’t hear anything amiss. It was only then that she realized he had lost about 15 pounds since about the beginning of August, Ide said. By that Saturday, Ide and Amidon said, he was so much worse that they went to the emergency department at Reading Hospital, where a chest X-ray came back clear. They were told it was probably a viral illness that would run itself out, they said, and more testing by his primary care doctor that Monday didn’t find anything. But two days later on Sept. 25, he felt worse and started coughing in a way that alarmed his mother, so they went back to the emergency room. This time, they said, chest X-rays showed his lungs full of a whitish substance, and doctors said it was good they hadn’t waited any longer to come in. Doctors are still trying to figure out how to treat issues caused by vaping, Ide and Amidon said, and after receiving treatments including oxygen, antibiotics and steroids, he was discharged on Saturday. He turned his vaping supplies over for testing to the CDC, and at this point they don’t have a definitive answer on what caused his symptoms and whether they resulted from one specific product or exposure over time. Reading Hospital has reported several cases of vaping-associated lung injury, with at least two requiring ventilator support by intubation. Latest findings and advice Nationally, the U.S. Centers for Disease Prevention & Control said Friday about 77% of lung injury patients reported vaping products containing THC in the month before noticing symptoms. But, according to the agency, about 57% of the patients had vaped nicotine-containing products, and 16% said they hadn’t vaped anything else in that time. “While this investigation is ongoing, CDC recommends that you consider refraining from using e-cigarette, or vaping, products, particularly those containing THC,” the agency said. It also advises against modifying vape products or buying them off the street. The agency says reported symptoms include coughing, shortness of breath, chest pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, fever and abdominal pain, with some developing over days and others over several weeks. “If you have recently used an e-cigarette or vaping product and you have symptoms like those reported in this outbreak, see a health care provider,” it says. The agency is investigating 805 cases nationwide and said 12 deaths have been reported. The state’s tally stands at nine confirmed and 12 probable cases, with 63 more under investigation. No deaths have been reported in Pennsylvania. None of the confirmed cases have been linked to products obtained at Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana dispensaries, according to department of health spokesman Nate Wardle. Uncertain road Although home, Amidon is still weak, and the path ahead of him remains uncertain. He’s eager to get back to rugby and what had been normal life, but acknowledges that’s not likely to happen any time soon. “I never thought it would happen to me,” he said, noting that he figured the stuff he was getting was safe because he knew the person he was buying it from. But, he said, “If you really think about it, he gets it from somewhere and then that person gets it — it just goes on and on.” Ide says measures attempted to stop her son from vaping in the past include taking the door off his room, but she wishes she had done more. “Stupid is what teenagers do; we all were there at one point,” she said. But, she says, with this, her son’s close call makes her worry that some people affected may never get a chance to look back. Both of them expressed gratitude for the support they’ve felt from the community. “I told him you don’t see it, but you’re making a difference and you’re helping people,” she said.
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