COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV/Gray News ) – A 17-year-old Colorado girl needs a lung transplant after a routine wisdom tooth removal surgery led to the discovery of a rare autoimmune disease.
Lonnie Pesterfield was a normal, healthy teenager who underwent wisdom tooth surgery last October.
“He was the healthiest child I had. He never got sick. the last time he was sick was when he was 6 years old and he had the flu,” said his mother, Stephanie Pesterfield.
But shortly after his wisdom teeth were removed, things took a turn for the worse. Lonnie Pesterfield ended up in the ER after coughing up blood. He was declared septic and within 48 hours, he was placed on a ventilator in the ICU.
After a series of tests and conversations with doctors, he was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease called ANCA+ vasculitis.
“Vasciitis means inflammation of the blood vessels,” said physician Dr. Richard Vu. “Vasciitis is an autoimmune condition where your own immune system attacks your own healthy cells.”
Stephanie Pesterfield said the diagnosis is “one in a million” for someone her son’s age, but she’s grateful it was caught early enough to start the right treatment right away.
The disease affects about 1 in 50,000 people, but is more common in middle-aged white men and women.
Lonnie Pesterfield’s lungs filled with blood and he spent three weeks in the hospital.
Once he was discharged, “we thought recovery was the only thing we would have to deal with,” wrote Stephanie Pesterfield in a GoFundMe post.
But as it turned out, Lonnie Pesterfield’s lungs weren’t the only organ affected. The vasculitis flare-up also damaged his spleen to a “non-functional point” and caused mild to moderate damage to his kidneys and liver, according to his mom.
A week after undergoing a kidney biopsy, Lonnie Pesterfield developed respiratory distress and was hospitalized again and put on a ventilator last month. He then underwent an “extremely risky” lung biopsy, according to his mom, which revealed scar tissue and inflammation.
“They started him on a stronger immunotherapy drug, but at this point, it became clear to us that if they didn’t start showing improvement soon, Lonnie wouldn’t be able to maintain his current lungs as they were only at 13% function,” Stephanie said. Pesterfield.
Stephanie Pesterfield said her son’s condition is constantly changing. To make matters worse, the Colorado Springs family has to make a three-hour round trip every day to the hospital in Aurora to see him.
“It looks like his journey is going to be much longer, much more difficult, and I won’t be able to work like I used to for a long, long, long time,” Stephanie Pesterfield said.
Lonnie Pesterfield is now being evaluated to be on the waiting list for a lung transplant in May, something the family never thought she would have to go through. As he continues to struggle, his family adjusts to their new reality.
Stephanie Pesterfield said the family has four autistic children at home “for whom we try to balance everything.”
“We’re almost four months into this nightmare with Lonnie, and I’ve been working really hard to ‘make it work’ without outside help, but Lonnie needing a transplant means that until he gets new lungs, he’s going to have a lot of medical needs. . . Transplantation will be a tough surgery with an even harder and longer recovery time,” he said.
The family is asking for donations via GoFundMe to help them through this difficult time. You can donate here.
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