Rare Surgery Saves Life Of LI Woman After Coronavirus Recovery

VALLEY STREAM, NY — A rare throat surgery helped to save the love of a Valley Stream woman after she recovered from the coronavirus this spring.

Two months ago today, Shrille White underwent surgery at Long Island Jewish Medical Center to cure scarring she received while intubated during her fight against coronavirus. Today, the 55-year-old White and her partner, Maggie Raabe, returned to the hospital to thank the doctors who saved her life.

White was admitted to Mather Hospital in Port Jefferson on April 3 after testing positive for coronavirus. A week later it was almost impossible for her to breath, and she was intubated and put on a ventilator. She stayed on the device until April 24.

“I don’t remember much from the beginning, but I do know that after I was on a ventilator, it was a lot easier to breathe,” said White.

During her time in hospital, White also suffered from acute renal failure and was placed on dialysis three times a week. These conditions were even more threatening due to her severe asthma, for which she was being treated by pulmonologist Dr. Arthur Trust.

White was released from the hospital on May 8. But after returning home, she found it was becoming even more difficult to breathe. She returned to the hospital, and Trust found she had an upper airway obstruction.

“At her worst, she was breathing through an airway hole smaller than the opening of a straw,” Trust said. For that reason, he suggested that White immediately seek treatment with Dr. David Zeltsman, the hospital's head of thoracic surgery, who decided that she should undergo a tracheal resection and reconstruction.

“Tracheal resection is an operation on the windpipe — the tube that connects the voice box to the lungs,” said Zeltsman. “It involves a short section of the windpipe being removed and the cut ends of the windpipe are then stitched back together.”

Tracheal resections are very rare in patients who were placed on ventilators because they can be extremely dangerous.

“We hear often of complications of the lungs, kidneys, heart — all the major organs and systems can be affected," Zeltsman said. "This is a situation that, although rare, can happen as a result of COVID-19.”

Raabe, White's partner, was home alone and also sick with the coronavirus while White was in the hospital.

“After what we’ve been through, all I can say is that people should be careful,” said Raabe, who is a nurse. “Follow all the rules about social distancing and gathering in small groups. They said Shrille is a miracle; we’re so grateful to everyone here who took such good care of her.”

The day was especially meaningful for White, who was also celebrating her son Eugene’s 38th birthday.

“Eugene, mommy loves you…I’m so happy that I’m able to be here today with my family," she said. "My doctors said I’m a miracle...and that’s how I feel.”