>> THIS IS "CHRONICLE," ON WCVB CHANNEL 5.
SHE SAID GOODBYE TO HER HUSBAND AND FOUR DOLLARS.
>> THEN, A LAST-MINUTE MESSAGE.
STRUCK BY A DEADLY VIRUS.
>> THERE WERE FOUR TIMES WHEN CHARLIE STOPPED BREATHING.
>> HE NEVER STOPPED BELIEVING.
>> HE LOVES BEING ALIVE.
A NIGHT OF PARTYING, A BRIGHT FUTURE CHANGED FOREVER.
THEY WERE COOLING HIS BODY DOWN TO MITIGATE DAMAGE TO HIS BRAIN.
>> ON THE FRONTLINES OF MEDICINE, TALES FROM THE ICU, NEXT.
SHAYNA: GOOD EVENING, EVERYONE.
THE INTENSIVE CARE UNIT IS WHERE YOU CAN SEE THE BEST OF MODERN MEDICINE, TECHNOLOGIES, AND TREATMENTS THAT GIVE DESPERATELY SICK PATIENTS A CHANCE AT LIFE.
>> AND NOW A LOCAL ICU DOCTOR IS GIVING US A LOOK INSIDE, AND THE STORIES SHE TELLS ARE COMPELLING AND INSPIRING.
CINDY, A REGISTERED NURSE AND MOTHER OF FOUR DAUGHTERS, WAS HAVING TROUBLE BREATHING.
>> HER LUNGS WERE NEVER GOING TO RECOVER.
SHE WAS SCARED AND TRIED TO SHOW HER CHILDREN SHE WAS NOT.
ANTHON JUST DAYS AFTER POSTING A BACKYARD PARTY, CHARLIE BEGAN TO SLUR HIS WORDS AND WAS UNABLE TO WALK.
>> IT WAS THE WEST NILE VIRUS.
NO TREATMENT WAS POSSIBLE.
WHAT WAS POSSIBLE WAS KEEPING HIM ALIVE.
ANTHONY: 26-YEAR-OLD BEN HAD JUST LANDED HIS DREAM JOB.
A NIGHT OF CELEBRATION WOULD COST HIM.
>> THE EMT’S WERE ABLE TO REVIVE HIM AND BRING HIM TO MASS GENERAL, UNCONSCIOUS.
ANTHONY: THESE ARE THREE OF THE PATIENTS IN A NEW BOOK, "YOU CAN STOP HUMMING NOW." THE BOOK TAKES READERS INSIDE THE CRITICAL CARE UNITS OF BOSTON AREA HOSPITALS, WHERE TOP
QUALITY STAFF AND CUTTING-EDGE EDGE TECHNOLOGY OFTEN TRIUMPH OVER EVEN THE MOST DESPERATE CASES, BUT AT WHAT PRICE?
THE BOOK’S CENTRAL QUESTION, AT WHAT POINT DOES INTERVENTION BECOME TOO MUCH?
I AM IN ICU DOCTOR, SO MY CLINICAL EXPERIENCES DURING FELLOWSHIP WERE LARGELY IN THE INTENSIVE CARE UNIT.
THAT’S WHERE THE STORIES COME FROM.
WHAT I TRY TO DO IN THIS BOOK IS LOOK BEYOND THE ICU AT WHAT HAPPENS TO PEOPLE AFTERWARDS.
THAT TAKES ME FROM THE ICU INTO PATIENTS’ HOMES, INTO THE WORLD WITH THEM.
ANTHON SYDNEY’S SYMPTOMS BEGAN WITH SHORTNESS OF BREATH AND A TICKLE-LIKE COUGH.
HER COUGH PERSISTED.
MONTHS LATER, SHE HAD TROUBLE BREATHING.
DOCTORS DISCOVERED HER LUNGS ERE FAILING.
>> CINDY WAS STRICKEN WITH A SCARRING DISEASE OF HER LUNGS, PULMONARY FIBROSIS.
SHE GOT ON THE TRANSPLANT LIST, BUT SHE GOT SO SICK THAT, IF NOT FOR THIS MACHINE THAT WOULD SERVE THE PURPOSE OF HER LUNGS, SHE WOULD HAVE DIED.
ANTHONY: IN HER ROOM, THE MACHINE THAT KEPT SENDING ALIVE IS CALLED ANPMO.
>> IT IS A MACHINE THAT SERVES THE PURPOSE OF THE LUNGS.
IT DRAWS BLOOD OUT OF THE BODY THROUGH A LARGE CATHETER, OFTEN THROUGH THE NECK.
ANTHONY: CYNDI’S HUSBAND AND DAUGHTERS WERE REGULAR VISITORS, BOOSTING HER SPIRITS AND RESOLVE, BUT LIVING ON THE EPMO WAS BRUTAL.
>> SHE HAD A LOT OF PROBLEMS WITH BLEEDING.
WITH EACH BLEEDING EPISODE SHE BECAME WEAKER.
DOCTORS AND SIDNEY HERSELF STARTED TO WONDER IF PERHAPS WHAT SHE WAS GOING THROUGH OF A TRANSPLANT, PERHAPS THAT PAIN OUTWEIGHED THE INCREASINGLY UNLIKELY BENEFIT.
ANTHONY: WEEKS TURNED INTO MONTHS.
AFTER ALMOST A YEAR IN THE HOSPITAL AND OVER TWO MONTHS ATTACHED TO THE ECMO HAD HER 23RD STOMACH REALLY -- ATTACHED TO THE ECMO, SYDNEY HAD HER 23RD STOMACH BLEED.
>> THE DOCTOR WONDERED, SO HE TOLD ME, WHETHER THIS WAS NOT THE RIGHT THING TO DO, THAT MAYBE THEY HAD GOTTEN TO A POINT WHERE THEY WERE ALSO CONNECTED TO THIS PATIENT, PERHAPS THEY
WERE NOT ABLE TO SEE THAT WHAT THEY WERE DOING WAS TO HER INSTEAD OF FOR HER.
THE BURDEN WAS ON HER TEAM TO SAY, WE SEE YOU ARE SUFFERING, A TRANSPLANT IS BECOMING LESS LIKELY.
I THINK THE WORST THING WE DO IS GO ON AND NOT OFFER THAT POINT.
ANTHONY: THAT DAY, SYDNEY MADE AN AGONIZING DECISION.
SHE COULD NOT GO ON.
SHE SAID GOODBYE TO HER HUSBAND AND FOUR DAUGHTERS.
LATER THAT EVENING, AFTER GOING THROUGH ALL THAT AND GETTING TO TERMS WHERE I WAS SENT WITH EVERYTHING, SAYING GOODBYE TO EVERYBODY, HE COMES IN AND WAS LIKE, WELL, I KNOW WE
ARE NOT DOING THE SURGERY, BUT I FOUND LUNGS FOR YOU.
THAT WAS THE LAST THING I REMEMBER.
>> AT THE MOMENT SYDNEY WAS READY TO DIE, SHE WAS GIVEN AN OPPORTUNITY TO LIVE.
ON NOVEMBER 1, 2014, SYDNEY SCRIBNER UNDERWENT A LUNG TRANSPLANT.
>> I WOKE UP WITH LUNGS AND COULD BREATHE.
IT WAS AMAZING.
IT WAS LIKE A MIRACLE.
SHAYNA: WOW.
THE DOCTOR SAYS THE FACT THAT HER HUSBAND AND CHILDREN VISITED HER REGULARLY LAID A HUGE ROLE IN HER RECOVERY.
ANTHONY: SHE SEES THIS A LOT.
FAMILIES WHO ARE INVOLVED IN THE REGULAR CARE OF THEIR LOVED ONES ABSOLUTELY HELP THE RECOVERY.
BUT ALSO HELPS IS SHE IS A DOCTOR, AND OTHER CAREGIVERS GET TO KNOW THE PATIENT BETTER BY GETTING TO KNOW THE FAMILY, AND THAT HELPS THEM AS WELL IN TERMS OF TREATMENT AND CARE.
SHAYNA: A MOSQUITO BITE TURNED HIS LIFE UPSIDE DOWN.
>> THE IDEA, WOULD I EVER GO HOME WITH A FERVENT HOPE