Teenage girl almost dies after having her braces tightened

March 9, 2018  15:22

A teenage girl nearly died after developing a freak disease when she had her braces tightened.

Just one week after visiting the dentist, Leah Kitchen, 15, complained of a high temperature, chills, headache, and joint and muscle pain, which doctors initially dismissed as flu.

Leah's mother Andrea Kitchen, 42, from Thorngumbald, Hull, became increasingly concerned when she acted confused and forgetful, prompting her to take her daughter to hospital with suspected meningitis.

Multiple tests revealed Leah was suffering from an infection, known as endocarditis, which caused her to endure two mini strokes and is thought to have been brought on by a piece of metal, from her braces, entering the teenager's heart.

Leah was forced to undergo open-heart surgery, lasting five-and-a-half hours, before spending eight weeks in hospital, where she celebrated her 15th birthday.

Although now home and '90 per cent back to her normal self', Leah will require regular hospital check-ups for the rest of her life. 

Ms Kitchen is speaking out to raise awareness of endocarditis.

Surgery may be required to repair heart damage.

Speaking of her daughter's illness, Ms Kitchen said: 'You don't think something like that will happen to you.

'In something like that, you think [of] the worst case scenario. You think, "oh my god something is going to happen to my baby." This kind of thing changes you as a person.'

Leah was transferred to Leeds General Infirmary on December 1 and underwent open-heart surgery the following day.

Ms Kitchen, who lives with her partner Ian Moses, 53, and his daughter Ellie, said: 'We were on the bed and she just asked how we'd got there. The doctor asked her when her birthday was and she didn't know. Then after five minutes it came back to her.

'They took me to one side and said they would have to operate immediately, but they would have to prep for surgery, which would take two-and-a-half hours.

'I had to sign a form to say that if anything happened to her during that time, it wouldn't be the responsibility of the hospital.

'I was up there on my own until my mum and dad came, which was just enough time to see Leah go down to surgery.

She added: 'I was just thinking, "please be fixed, please be fixed."

'In hospital, you get wrapped up in a kind of bubble and you have nothing to think about and manage to shut down everything outside of there.'

Leah, who was allowed home for Christmas before going back to hospital on Boxing Day, finally went home for good on January 15, however, she is far from being fully recovered.

Ms Kitchen, who has started fundraising for the Children's Heart Surgery Fund, said: 'She tires a lot more easily now, which is recovery I think.

'She had her first full week back in school last week.

'She'll be under Leeds general for the rest of her life. We have a six-week check up and that will go to every three months, to every six months to then once a year.'

Speaking of her wish to raise awareness of endocarditis, Ms Kitchen added: 'My main concern is the children who have braces, but it can happen from piercings and tattoos too.

'If it is caught quickly, it doesn't have to get to this stage.'

After Leah's initial flu-like symptoms worsened, Ms Kitchen took her daughter to Rosedale Community Unit hospital in the middle of the night.

She said: 'They were kind of like, "Why are you here? She has flu." I took her to the doctors who said the same thing but as soon as she got home she started throwing up.'

Yet is was Leah's confusion that sparked fresh concern in Ms Kitchen, who said: 'She was asking when we had got a new washing machine and a new carpet.

'I took her to Hull Royal where she had a CRP blood test. Where her levels were meant to be zero, they were 260.' C-reactive protein (CRP) is a measure of inflammation.

Doctors initially started treating Leah for meningitis, however, further tests and an MRI scan ruled out such an infection.

Ms Kitchen said: 'They found she had an infection on her spine to her brain, which meant she had had two mini strokes.

'They also found she had some vegetation on her heart from the metal on the braces - which must have been very sharp - and that had jumped to her brain. It was this that was causing the confusion.' 

 

 

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