Boy dies for 40 minutes......

Boy dies for 40 minutes before doctor brings him back to life by massaging his heart with his BARE HANDS

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 1:06 PM on 6th July 2011

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A little boy whose heart stopped beating for 40minutes made a miracle recovery after a doctor opened up his chest and pumped the organ by hand.

Joshua Baker, 5, suffered a huge cardiac arrest just a few days after undergoing a risky operation to correct a rare heart condition.


Luckily one of his surgeons, Mr Giles Peek, was passing the room at the time and rushed in.

Joshua was admitted to hospital in November after a check-up revealed that the one functioning side of his heart was working so hard it was likely to explode

His mother Rebecca, said: 'Straight away, he just opened up Josh's chest and started massaging his heart.

'Josh was down for 40 minutes altogether - we were so relieved when he came back.'

However, doctors warned his parents that even if he survived the night, Joshua would probably suffer brain damage because his brain had been without oxygen for so long.


But just a few months after coming back from the dead, Joshua is now a happy and healthy little boy.


He is enjoying being back home in Birmingham, with his parents, Rebecca, 31, and Lee, 29, a gardener, and sisters, Chloe, 6, and Mia, 3.

 

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Mrs Baker said: 'We are absolutely blown away by Josh's recovery.

'He has been very ill since he was little, and we have thought so many times that we were going to lose him.

'Sitting in a hospital and seeing my little boy's heart stop beating is the most terrifying thing that has ever happened to me.

'We cannot explain how grateful we are to the surgeon who saved his life - he is a wonderful man.

'The whole family is so grateful to have Joshua back home. It's amazing to see him running around and playing with his sisters. I feel so lucky.'

Joshua was diagnosed with a complex congenital heart disease just two weeks after he was born.

Criticall: Joshua, pictured in hospital last November, had four major operations and seven minor procedures by the time he was two

His parents were devastated when they were told their son had a hole in his heart - as well the right side of his heart failing to function, and pumping blood around his body the wrong way.

He had four major heart operations and seven minor procedures before he turned two - but in November 2010, a check up revealed that the one functioning side of Josh's heart was working so hard it was likely to explode unless he had a major operation.

However, the surgery to strengthen his ventricles was so risky that medics warned his parents there was only a 20 per cent chance he would survive.

Mrs Baker said: 'We were left to make an impossible decision. The operation was so dangerous, and there was so little chance that he would pull through, that I almost couldn't bring myself to consent to it.

'But I knew that without help, his heart would give up. I couldn't let him slip away from us.
'Joshua's a fighter and I know we had to give him a chance to fight. The operation lasted an agonising 15 hours, and Josh was critically ill afterwards. It was one of the worst times of my life.

'His heart was swollen and bruised from the surgery, and as a mum, all I wanted to do was pick him up and cuddle him, but I couldn't.'

Joshua survived the operation, but was kept on the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester for two weeks.

His condition suddenly deteriorated after his heart developed a bleed - and he suffered a massive cardiac arrest.

The full-time mother added: 'We had been by Joshua's bedside constantly since the operation. He was hooked up to dozens of machines, when suddenly nurses and doctors started rushing in.

'We were terrified. Everything happened so quickly we had no idea what was going on, but obviously, we knew it wasn't good news.

Magic medicine: Joshua (centre) with his parents Rebecca and Lee and sisters, Chloe and Mia. His sisters managed to rouse him in hospital by singing a Christmas song

'Luckily, Joshua's surgeon had been passing his room when his heart failed and came rushing in.
'Straight away, he just opened up Josh's chest and started massaging his heart.

'Josh was down for 40 minutes altogether - we were so relieved when he came back.'

His family then faced an anxious wait to see if he would recover.


'We brought Josh all his favourite toys and hoped he would recognise them, but there was nothing,' Mrs Baker said.

'He was too ill for his sisters to visit him, but I let them speak down the phone to Josh.
'It was just before Christmas, and the girls sang Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer over the phone to him. Suddenly, his eyes flickered and a huge grin spread over his face.

'It was the best moment of my life. My husband and I burst out crying, and so did all the nurses on the ward.

'His sisters were his magic medicine, and he's been getting stronger and stronger ever since.'

Joshua had problems walking when he came out of hospital and still gets tired easily but is gaining strengths and enjoys playing football with his father.

'We are just so grateful to Dr Peek and everyone who looked after Josh at Glenfield Hospital,' Mrs Baker said.

Carmel Hunt, matron for the East Midlands Congenital Heart Centre, said: 'Joshua spent three weeks with us at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester and spent his fifth birthday with us.

'We are delighted that he is now back home with his family and is making a fully recovery.'

 

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Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2011761/Joshua-Baker-5-dies-doctor-brings-life-bare-hand-heart-massage.html#ixzz1RXCLKC1V

Threatening brain tumour and cyst.....

Doctors miss life-threatening brain tumour and cyst - even though they were the size of an ORANGE 

• Brain tumour diagnosed as an infection, cluster headaches and even a deviated septum

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 11:54 AM on 6th July 2011

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Doctors failed to spot Terry Purkiss's life-threatening brain tumour and cyst - even though they were the size of an orange.
They repeatedly missed the symptoms over six months and when his condition was finally spotted he was told he was weeks from death unless he had urgent surgery.

Recovering: Terry Purkiss, pictured on holiday in New York, had a large tumour removed last month after it was found pushing down on his brain

He first complained to his GP about crippling headaches in January. He went on to visit three different hospitals, on one occasion in an ambulance.
He was in agony, unable to walk straight and lost vision in one eye. But again and again he was given antibiotics or painkillers and sent home. 

 

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Finally he had an appointment with a neurologist booked by his GP, who found the brain tumour and cyst the size of an orange.

Crippling headaches: Terry was first diagnosed with a deviated septum at Queen's Hospital, Romford

The tumour has now been removed and Mr Purkiss is recovering at home in Thurrock, Essex.

TERRY'S DIAGNOSIS HELL

January: Terry visits Brambles surgery in Brentwood complaining of painful headaches, infection in aftermath of bad cold. Prescribes a course of antibiotics.

A week after he goes back to get another course of antibiotics, the GP then puts him on the list for a non-urgent CT scan and an appointment with a neurologist.

February: Pain worsens so Terry goes to see GP Dr Abela in Chafford Hundred where he now lives. Dr Abela prescribes him another course of anti-biotics for a suspected infection.

February 13: Terry is crippled by a severe headache and partner Julia calls an ambulance.

After a few hours in A&E at Basildon Hospital, Terry is seen by a doctor who diagnoses him with cluster headaches brought on by stress. He sends him home with painkillers.

February/ March: Terry tries to get an appointment at the GP's in Chafford about the ongoing pain. Told he must wait for an appointment because it isn't an emergency. A doctor prescribes him with painkillers after phone conversation.

In desperation the couple visit Queens Hospital, Terry is sent home with more painkillers, he visits Queens A&E again within weeks, and an A&E doctor diagnoses chronic sinitus.

April: Terry has the CT scan booked in January at Queens Hospital, Romford.

Days later he has to visit Queen's A&E again as the pain intensifies, a doctor perscribes more painkillers and nasal sprays.

He sees a doctor at King George Hospital, Redbridge.

The doctor books Terry in for non-urgent surgery for a deviated septum and for his sinuses to be flushed and made bigger, he is told this will be in two to three months time. At this stage Terry cannot walk properly anymore.

June: Terry tries to get an appointment at the GPs but is told its a four week wait. They go to Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, where they are told Terry is out of the catchment area.

June 13: Terry has the appointment with neurologist at Orsett Hospital that was booked in January. The specialist shines a light in Terry's eyes and spots a large brain tumour.

He requests an urgent MRI scan.

Days later they see a doctor at Nuffield private hospital, who says Terry's symptoms don't match up with the diagnosis of sinitus.

June 24: Terry goes to Basildon Hospital for an MRI scan which confirms the tumour.

June 27: Terry is taken to Queens Hospital where he has an operation to remove the tumour and a large cyst

His partner Julia Bathie, 43, said the couple have been 'on a roller coaster to hell and back' in the last few months.

She said: 'I'm so angry at the way Terry was treated. He was just fobbed off by doctors and endured months of pain when he didn't need to.'


Before the brain tumour was picked up, Mr Purkiss saw two GPs, visited Basildon A&E once and Queen's A&E in Romford three times, during which he had a CT scan. He was also taken to Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford. 

Over the six months he was incorrectly diagnosed with an infection, cluster headaches and even the common nose disorder of a deviated septum.
 
The life-threatening condition wasn't picked up until he went to an appointment with a neurologist at Orsett Hospital in June, that had been booked in as a precaution by his GP back in January. 

The neurologist shined a light in Terry's eyes and immediately picked up on the tumour.

An urgent MRI was then requested, and the benign tumour and cyst were removed at Queen's Hospital.


Julia said: 'The doctors told him the cyst was the size of a Jaffa orange, and was one of the biggest he had ever seen.


'They said the tumour and cyst were three millimetres away from his optic nerve, he could have lost his sight, or been left paralysed.


'He would have been dead within four weeks if they hadn't got it out, because of the pressure it was putting on his brain.


'Despite what he went through before, we would like to thank Mr Low the surgeon who saved his life.'
Mr Purkiss is now recovering at home after the operation, he has since complained to the Patient Advice and Liaison Service, and Thurrock MP, Jackie Doyle Price, about the care he received.

Pat Trinnaman, spokesman for Basildon Hospital said: 'We are unable to go into details about an individual's treatment, but it would appear that once this patient saw one of the trust's specialists, his condition was swiftly diagnosed and treated.

'Talking generally, patients coming to A&E with a headache or any other long-term pain or problem, would be assessed and have appropriate tests carried out.

'A doctor would refer a patient for an x-ray or a scan only if there was a clinical indication for one.

'It would be clinically wrong - all imaging carries a degree of risk - and financially and logistically impossible to do so as a matter of course.' 


Nicola Eves, spokesman for Queen's Hospital, added: 'We have not received a complaint from Mr Purkiss regarding his care, but apologise if he feels that mistakes were made.

'We are pleased that we successfully managed to remove his brain tumour and wish him a speedy recovery.
'If a complaint is received by the trust then we always carry out a full investigation.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2011710/Doctors-miss-life-threatening-brain-tumour-cyst-size-ORANGE.html#ixzz1RQayOK4j

Europe E.coli outbreak......

Europe E.coli outbreak may have been caused by Egyptian seeds

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 5:20 PM on 30th June 2011

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The deadliest outbreak of E.coli ever recorded, which infected more than 4,000 people in Europe and the U.S, may have stemmed from seeds grown in Egypt, experts say.

The strain, which has killed at least 48 people, has been linked to sprouted fenugreek seeds in initial investigations by European scientists.

The bacteria caused a major outbreak in Germany and a smaller one around Bordeaux in France in May.

Almost all of those who sickened lived in Germany or had recently travelled there.

Victim: A patient in intensive care at the Hanover Medical School after becoming infected with E.coli

Experts from the Sweden-based European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the Italy-based European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) have carried out initial investigations.

In a joint statement they said: 'The tracing back is progressing and has thus far shown that fenugreek seeds imported from Egypt either in 2009 and/or 2010 are implicated in both outbreaks.'

Fenugreek is used as a herb or spice.


At one point British seed trader Thomson & Morgan had been cited as a possible source for the outbreak in France, but they were cleared by health authorities.

A speciman dish with E.coli bacteria: There is still uncertainty as to whether Egypt is the source of the outbreak 

The strain of E.coli infections in the current outbreaks - known as STEC O104:H4 - can cause serious diarrhea and, in severe cases, kidney failure and death.

The ECDC and EFSA inquiry teams warned, however, that since contamination of the seeds could have occurred at any stage in the long and complex supply chain between seed production, transport, packaging and distribution, 'this would also mean that other batches of potentially contaminated seeds are still available within the EU (European Union), and perhaps outside.'

The ECDC and EFSA said a batch of fenugreek seeds imported from Egypt in 2009 appeared to be implicated in the outbreak in France, and a 2010 batch was 'considered to be implicated in the German outbreak.'

But they said there was still "much uncertainty" about whether these seeds from Egypt were 'truly the common cause of all the infections' as there are currently no positive bacteriological results.

'Until the investigation has been finalized, ECDC and EFSA strongly recommend advising consumers not to grow sprouts for their own consumption and not to eat sprouts or sprouted seeds unless they have been cooked thoroughly,' they said.

 

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Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2009946/E-coli-outbreak-Europe-U-S-caused-Egyptian-seeds.html#ixzz1R3btCJ6j