The 37-year-old mother is almost dead and needs a liver transplant after a hepatitis B infection from a $ 60 ring, which left her unable to eat or even drink water.
- Dana Smith, 37, of Queens, New York, bought a $ 60 nose piercing for Thanksgiving as a birthday present
- After a few days, he began to feel unwell, but was late to see a doctor
- Eventually he could not eat and shed blood and went to the hospital
- Doctors at North Shore Hospital have found that the piercing caused a deadly hepatitis B virus that destroyed the mother’s liver.
- Dana was included in the transplant list in January and a match was found in 48 hours
- Doctors warned that the infection had become much more serious because Dana had waited so long to seek medical attention.
A mother of one from New York was almost killed after a new nose piercing caused a deadly infection that destroyed her liver.
Dana Smith, 37, of Queens, spent $ 60 on jewelry during a Thanksgiving shopping trip last year as a treat for her birthday.
A few days later, the Northwell Health manager began to feel unwell, but postponed going to the doctor, believing that the problem was reduced to the stress caused by the holiday season and the pandemic.
But by Jan. 12, Smith had become unable to drink or eat and eventually went to Long Island Jewish Medical Center on Jan. 12.
Doctors found that he was suffering from fulminant hepatitis B, a rare infection that caused his liver to fail – and it could be a few days after his death.
Dana Smith, 37, mother and insurance manager in Queens, New York, nearly died of hepatitis B after her nose piercing became infected
Dana was rushed to hospital with hepatitis B virus, which destroyed her liver. She was placed in a medically induced coma (pictured) to avoid seizures, while surgeons included her on the transplant list.
She later told ABC7 News: “I just drank water, I couldn’t hold it down. I think at some point I started bleeding.
After being taken to North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, Dr. Lewis Teperman, director of Northwell Transplant Services, took care of her.
He decided to put Dana in a medically induced coma to reduce the risk of infection that swells her brain or causes seizures.
Then it was a race against time to put her on the transplant list for a new liver.
A match was found in just 48 hours, and the operation took place on January 17.
But it wasn’t until surgery that Dr. Taperman noticed the small pin in his nose and realized it could be the source of the infection.
Dana told the New York Daily News: “I told her it’s new, it’s not something I’ve had for years. Otherwise, my health was good. I just went to the doctor, everything was fine before I received him. That was the only thing that made sense.
Dr. Teperman added: “This was the only change that took place in her life, this nose ring. And it’s the perfect time to incubate the virus.
Dana returned home on January 26th.
The surgeon and patients reunited later after her recovery, where she thanked him for saving her life.
Dana Smith pictured this week meeting with Dr. Lewis Teperman, the Northwell Health surgeon who saved the life of the Northwell Health manager after a perforation of the infected nose
Dana Smith, photographed with her teenage daughter, said she was not sure how she would react when her daughter was punched in the nose in the future.
Speaking to ABC7News after her recovery, she said: “That one decision [to go to the hospital] it saved my life. It is very overwhelming. Emotionally, everything, mentally.
Doctors warned that the infection had become much more serious because Dana had waited so long to seek medical attention.
Smith warned others not to avoid going to the hospital because of fears about COVID-19.
Dr. Teperman said the hepatitis B virus is rare and causes only 5% of cases of liver failure in the country each year.
He added that he could not be sure that Dana had contracted the deadly infection at Valley Stream, the Long Island mall where she received the piercing, or from improper care afterwards.