Family of Olympic champion gymnast Mary Lou Retton says she is making ‘remarkable’ progress
Updated: 7:23 AM EDT Oct 15, 2023
JENNIFER EAGAN. WCVB. NEWSCENTER FIVE FIVE. ON YOUR HEALTH TONIGHT, OLYMPIC LEGEND MARY LOU RETTON IS STILL FIGHTING FOR HER LIFE MORE THAN A WEEK AFTER SHE WAS HOSPITALIZED FOR PNEUMONIA. HERE TO TALK ABOUT THIS IS DR. SIMONE WILDES, AN INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST AT SOUTH SHORE HEALTH. GREAT TO SEE YOU, DOCTOR. HEY, DR. WILDES. THANKS FOR YOUR TIME. SO, AGAIN, THIS IS IMPORTANT. LET’S BE CLEAR, MARY LOU RETTON IS NOT ONE OF YOUR PATIENTS, RIGHT? SO WE’RE NOT TALKING FROM A PATIENT DOCTOR. WE’RE NOT VIOLATE A PATIENT DOCTOR AT ALL. BUT YOU HAVE TREATED A LOT OF PNEUMONIA CASES IN YOUR CAREER. SO WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE MOST COMMON CAUSES IS, YES, FIRST, I WANT TO WISH MARY LOU RETTON A SPEEDY RECOVERY. PNEUMONIA IS A VERY COMMON INFECTION THAT WE SEE MOST OF THE CASES THAT HAPPENS ARE A BACTERIAL OR VIRAL INFECTION. SO WHEN I SAY BACTERIAL, I REFER TO LIKE PNEUMOCOCCAL INFECTIONS, VIRAL INFECTIONS, OR THOSE LIKE COVID AND FLU, WHICH WE’RE VERY FAMILIAR WITH. AND WHAT PNEUMONIA DOES, IT INFECTS THE LUNGS. ONE OR BOTH OF THE LUNGS. THERE IS FLUID OR PUS THAT GETS IN THERE AND YOU CAN’T BREATHE. SO YOUR SYMPTOMS WOULD BE COUGH, SHORTNESS OF BREATH, FEVERS, CHILLS. YOU DON’T HAVE AS MUCH ENERGY AND YOU JUST NOT A LOT OF APPETITE AS WELL. THE REAL IMPORTANT THING IS THAT YOU’RE ABLE TO DISTINGUISH WHETHER IT’S BACTERIAL OR VIRAL, BECAUSE THE TREATMENT OPTIONS ARE DIFFERENT FOR BACTERIA. YOU GIVE ANTIBIOTICS AND FOR VIRAL, YOU GIVE ANTIVIRAL THERAPY. SO SO HER FAMILY IS SAYING THAT SHE’S BATTLING AND I’M QUOTING A VERY RARE FORM OF PNEUMONIA. SO WHAT DOES THAT MEAN, DOCTOR? SO MARIA WHEN WHEN THEY WHEN I HEAR A RARE FORM OF PNEUMONIA, I THINK ABOUT LIKE A FUNGAL INFECTION, WHICH IS VERY UNCOMMON, FOR EXAMPLE, WOULD BE COCCIDIA MYCOSIS, WHICH IS COMMON IN THE US. AND WHEN PEOPLE GET THAT INFECTION, IT’S A LITTLE HARD TO DETECT WHAT IT IS AND YOU GET IT BY BREATHING SPORES FROM THE AIR. ANOTHER TYPE OF INFECTION. I THINK ABOUT WOULD BE PARASITIC INFECTIONS. THAT’S CAUSED BY LIKE WORMS NOT COMMONLY SEEN, USUALLY SEEN IN THOSE WHO’S IMMUNE SYSTEM IS IMMUNOCOMPROMISED AND CAN’T FIGHT INFECTIONS. BUT THE KEY THING IS THAT YOU’RE ABLE TO DO TESTING QUICKLY TO IDENTIFY SO YOU CAN CHOOSE THE APPROPRIATE THERAPY. DOCTOR, WHAT’S THERE IS A VACCINE AVAILABLE FOR PNEUMONIA, RIGHT? YES, WE DO HAVE THE PNEUMOCOCCAL VACCINE. WHO CAN GET IT AND HOW DOES IT HELP? YEAH. SO, YOU KNOW, THE PNEUMOCOCCAL VACCINE WE HAVE IT AVAILABLE. ONE OF THE MOST COMMON PNEUMONIAS WE SEE AND WE GIVE IT TO CHILDREN LESS THAN FIVE. WE ALSO GIVE IT TO ADULTS, 19 TO 64 WHO ARE AT RISK FOR PNEUMOCOCCAL INFECTIONS. AND THEN ALSO WE GIVE IT TO ADULTS GREATER THAN 65 YEARS OLD. KEY THING IS THE VACCINE DOESN’T PREVENT THE PNEUMONIA, BUT IT HELPS TO REDUCE THE SYMPTOMS. SO ENCOURAGE YOU TO GET IT AND TO SPEAK TO YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER. AYER. ALL RIGHT. DR
Family of Olympic champion gymnast Mary Lou Retton says she is making ‘remarkable’ progress
Updated: 7:23 AM EDT Oct 15, 2023
The family of Olympic gymnastics champion Mary Lou Retton says she is making “remarkable” progress in her battle with a rare form of pneumonia that landed her in intensive care.Video above: A doctor in Massachusetts discusses Mary Lou Retton’s hospitalizationMcKenna Kelley, one of Retton’s four daughters, posted an update on Instagram Saturday that said the 55-year-old Retton’s breathing is becoming stronger and her “path to recovery is steadily progressing.””Though it’s a lengthy journey, witnessing these improvements is incredibly heartening,” Kelley wrote. “She’s beginning to respond to treatments.”The family disclosed earlier this week that Retton — who became the first American female gymnast to win the Olympic all-around title at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics — was “fighting for her life” and unable to breathe on her own after being diagnosed with pneumonia.Donations have poured into a fundraiser the family set up to help offset Retton’s medical expenses after the family said she didn’t have medical insurance. There have been more than 7,500 donations totaling over $415,000 by Saturday afternoon.Retton was 16 when she became an icon of the U.S. Olympic movement during her gold medal-winning performance at the 1984 Summer Games. The native of Fairmont, West Virginia, also won two silver and two bronze medals at those Olympics to help bring gymnastics — a sport long dominated by Eastern European powers like Romania and the Soviet Union — into the mainstream in the U.S.
The family of Olympic gymnastics champion Mary Lou Retton says she is making “remarkable” progress in her battle with a rare form of pneumonia that landed her in intensive care.
Video above: A doctor in Massachusetts discusses Mary Lou Retton’s hospitalization
McKenna Kelley, one of Retton’s four daughters, posted an update on Instagram Saturday that said the 55-year-old Retton’s breathing is becoming stronger and her “path to recovery is steadily progressing.”
“Though it’s a lengthy journey, witnessing these improvements is incredibly heartening,” Kelley wrote. “She’s beginning to respond to treatments.”
The family disclosed earlier this week that Retton — who became the first American female gymnast to win the Olympic all-around title at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics — was “fighting for her life” and unable to breathe on her own after being diagnosed with pneumonia.
Donations have poured into a fundraiser the family set up to help offset Retton’s medical expenses after the family said she didn’t have medical insurance. There have been more than 7,500 donations totaling over $415,000 by Saturday afternoon.
Retton was 16 when she became an icon of the U.S. Olympic movement during her gold medal-winning performance at the 1984 Summer Games. The native of Fairmont, West Virginia, also won two silver and two bronze medals at those Olympics to help bring gymnastics — a sport long dominated by Eastern European powers like Romania and the Soviet Union — into the mainstream in the U.S.
