Dr Oz: Medical Miracles + Recovery & Rabies Infection Survivor

Dr Oz: Medical Miracle

Do you believe in miracles? Dr Oz loves sharing profound stories of seemingly remarkable recoveries that make people question everything they know about science and medicine. Most recently, he learned about a man named Michael who was a first-year pharmacy student at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Michael developed flu-like symptoms and fell extremely ill. He was rushed to the hospital, but by the time he arrived, he was pale and cold with dangerously low blood pressure.

An echocardiogram was performed to check Michael’s heart function and it was discovered that the chambers hardly seemed to be contracting at all. His heart was beginning to shut down and Michael was diagnosed with acute myocarditis. Acute myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle often caused by a virus.

 

Michael was in pretty bad shape but doctors came up with a plan to buy him time. He was put into a medically-induced coma and added to the heart transplant list. The outlook was still grim but an ECMO machine was connected to essentially take over for the heart and lungs.

Dr Oz: Miraculous Recovery After Heart Failure

The ECMO machine works as a last-stitch effort for patients, like Michael, who’s hearts are failing. But as Michael lay in the hospital bed connected to the machine, bacteria began growing in his blood and he developed sepsis. All hope seemed to be loss but Michael was left on a breathing machine and ECMO. After two weeks, one of Michael’s heart chambers began pumping again. Over the next few days, his blood pressure improved and other heart chambers began working. Doctors were able to take him off both machines.

Michael is now a healthy, 27-year-old man and he was thrilled to sit down next to Dr Oz. The last thing Michael remembers from that time was being told by his doctors that his heart was functioning at 10% and there was a 30% chance his heart would recover. Michael agreed with his doctor that his recovery was miraculous.

Michael’s doctor wrote Dr Oz a note that stated “Acute myocarditis could have killed Michael. Sepsis could have killed Michael. He could have died from complications on the ECMO machine. Today, Michael survives with a normal heart and no long-term complications of any of his medical illnesses or interventions. Miraculous.”

Dr Oz: Rabies Infection Survivor

Dr Oz then heard from a woman who was bitten by a bat when she tried to rescue it from inside her church where it had gotten caught. About three weeks after she was bitten, she began getting an odd tingling feeling in her left arm. At a volleyball game, she started experiencing double vision. She was seen by a pediatrician who instructed they go to the children’s hospital. Her parents were essentially told they could put her in a dark room in the hospital to let her die, or they could take her home and let her die.

A doctor at the children’s hospital decided to try putting her into a medically-induced coma, hoping it would allow her body to fight the deadly virus. After 6-7 days she was taken out of the coma, but didn’t move for about 3-4 days. But when her eyes were held open, she responded to the sound of her mother’s voice.

Gina was 15 when she was bitten by a wild animal and infected with the rabies virus. Most of the time a rabies vaccine can be administered, but it was too late for Gina to get one. Now, 12 years later, she’s the first human ever to survive a rabies infection without receiving a preventative vaccine. Doctors still call her a medical marvel.

Dr Oz: Bride Walks After Being Paralyzed

Another incredible story was of a woman named Jackie who broke her neck when she was a teenager, paralyzing her from the waist-down. Doctors told her she would never walk again, but eight years later, she managed to walk down the aisle at her wedding, to her groom and even dance at their reception. Dr Oz was thrilled to welcome Jackie as she walked out to join him on set.

Jackie now feels incredibly blessed to have come so far. Jackie underwent surgery to remove part of her spinal column and underwent intense physical therapy, which she documented on social media. Jackie’s doctor explained that children with Jackie’s injury typically have a 5% chance or less of making a meaningful recovery. That’s why Jackie’s case is truly a miracle.