Former Lung Transplant Patient Pursues Dream of Becoming a Child Life Specialist

18-year-old Lizzy Highstreet was impressed by the care she obtained at Stanford Drugs Youngsters’s Well being

Summer season is supposed to be spent by the lake. And as this was the final summer season earlier than faculty, Lizzy Highstreet took the time to have a good time, whether or not it was going to the lake close to house or touring to Colorado and Mexico.

“It has been so cool that I’m even in a position to do this stuff,” Lizzy stated. “After we went to Colorado, I used to be in a position to go whitewater rafting. I used to be in a position to go deep-sea fishing and do what I wished with out something holding me again.”

Again in 2018, this didn’t appear to be a chance. However due to the care of the suppliers at Stanford Drugs Youngsters’s Well being and a donor, Lizzy is on the brink of head to school to pursue a profession as a Baby Life Specialist.

A tough path to transplant

Lizzy was born with cystic fibrosis, a genetic illness that impairs the physique’s secretory glands, making lung mucus stickier than regular and leaving sufferers susceptible to respiratory infections.

To handle the issues, Lizzy noticed a crew at Valley Children’s Hospital in Madera, California. The hospital companions with Stanford Drugs Youngsters’s Well being specialists, together with pediatric pulmonologist Carlos Milla, MD, who cared for Lizzy in Madera and through her inpatient stays at Lucile Packard Youngsters’s Hospital Stanford. Though her well being fluctuated, Lizzy might normally attend faculty and church in her hometown of Visalia, California; go on seaside journeys together with her three siblings; and play her favourite sports activities.

However after hospitalizations in late 2017 and early 2018, it was clear that she would want a lung transplant. Lizzy adopted an uncommon and tough path to transplant. Earlier than the surgical procedure, she was saved alive for 37 days by extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), primarily the “lung” perform of a heart-lung machine.

The ECMO tools carried Lizzy’s blood out of her physique through plastic tubing. The tools eliminated carbon dioxide, added oxygen, and returned Lizzy’s blood to her physique. It requires a specialised, multidisciplinary crew to efficiently implement the process.

Throughout this tough time, the household leaned on their Christian religion. “When there have been issues that felt out of our management, we have been praying for God to offer alternatives or solutions for her,” Tina Highstreet, Lizzy’s mother, stated in a 2018 interview.

See Related: “Breathing easy, at last—broadening the path to lung transplant for patients with cystic fibrosis”

There have been ups and downs as they waited for a set of donor lungs, however when Lizzy wanted it essentially the most, they have been instructed there was a match.

“We’re super-thankful for Stanford Youngsters’s and for all of the folks there which have invested in her life,” Tina stated.

Aspirations to present again

“Within the final seven years, I’ve realized how essential it’s to encompass your self with individuals who love you,” Lizzy recalled. “That motivated me to get by means of these challenges as a result of I wished to get higher for somebody aside from myself—for my medical doctors, nurses, everybody who was caring for me.”

Whereas she was at Packard Youngsters’s Hospital, she developed an in depth relationship with Samantha Johnson, a Child Life Specialist.

“There have been a variety of issues that wanted extra rationalization as a result of there’s simply an enormous hole between what the physician was saying and what I, as a child, might perceive,” Lizzy recalled. “Sam was an instrumental half in my entire transplant to take a seat down with me and go over it once more. My household virtually considers Sam part of our household now.”

At her annual follow-up this summer season at Stanford Youngsters’s, Lizzy noticed Cissy Si, MD, medical director of Pediatric Lung and Coronary heart-Lung Transplant; David Cornfield, MD, chief of Pulmonary, Bronchial asthma, and Sleep Drugs; Laura Inexperienced, RN, Pediatric Lung and Coronary heart-Lung Transplant Program supervisor; and Johnson once more. She shared photographs from senior promenade, highschool commencement, and her on a regular basis life.

“Lizzy’s outlook and braveness make her a real inspiration,” stated Johnson. “Watching her embrace a life she as soon as thought out of attain is profoundly shifting. Her bravery and heartfelt want to return to the hospital surroundings to help different youngsters on related journeys speaks volumes. The perception, understanding, and empathy she brings will probably be invaluable to sufferers and their households.”

Lizzy’s tenacity and expertise within the hospital have led her to work towards a brand new dream: changing into a Baby Life Specialist.

“I do know that even by means of the ache and heartache, God had a goal and a plan for my life, which I now see is to make use of my story to share the miracle of His work with different folks by coming again into the medical area to encourage different sufferers that they’re not alone,” Lizzy stated.

The Stanford Children’s pulmonary team is ranked No. 1 in California by ‘U.S. News & World Report’ and offers care for a full range of respiratory disorders and diseases. Learn more >