Friday, September 26, 1997
Merkel teen emerges from coma
By JOHN STARBUCK / Abilene Reporter-News
MERKEL -- A Merkel teen-ager remains in critical condition
in a Lubbock hospital, but he is no longer in a coma.
Heath Henderson's condition "looks a lot better than what
it did," his father, Greg Henderson, said Thursday from University
Medical Center. "He was a very sick young man."
The high school honor student, who became seriously ill while
visiting family members in Lubbock last weekend, is able to move
his limbs and can recognize faces of his relatives.
Doctors still "consider him critical but stable,"
his father said.
Greg Henderson credited the use of nitric oxide in aiding his
son. The gas allows blood vessels to expand thus providing more
oxygen into the lungs, he explained.
Doctors consulted the family about using the gas as part of
a new experimental program approved for the teaching hospital
by the Food and Drug Administration.
"When he was very sick Monday, the oxygen level in his
lungs was less than 70 percent," said Henderson. "Within
a couple of hours after they gave him the first dose through the
ventilator, the oxygen level in his lungs started to improve and
it continued to improve."
The Badger football player was taken off the treatment Wednesday
morning after being on it for more than 24 hours.
Test results received from the Center for Disease Control in
Atlanta confirmed what doctors suspected.
"What he has is a very aggressive form of viral pneumonia,"
said his father. "It's rare. It's not person-to-person transmitted."
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