Valleywise Health Experimental Spray Helps Saves Patient’s Life
Lipinski is proud to be part of the Valleywise Foundation Team Courage Rising group. She and several other burn survivors hiked Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest single free-standing mountain in the world, in 2022. Money raised from this adventure helps fund the Diane & Bruce Halle Arizona Burn Center – Valleywise Health.
In January 2018, Christin Lipinski, a special education teacher in Peoria, Arizona, was diagnosed with the flu. Her kids and husband had been sick, so she wasn’t surprised she contracted what appeared to be the same virus. She treated her symptoms and assumed she would be back to normal in a couple of days. But that was far from her reality.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), necrotizing fasciitis causes soft tissue like skin, muscle, ligaments, blood vessels, and fat to die. If left untreated, the bacteria spreads throughout the body and can cause death in a short period of time.
After more than 23 skin graft and reconstruction surgeries, several months in the hospital, and countless hours of physical therapy, Lipinski is working to get her life back after the freak incident.
One of the tools the Valleywise Health medical team used to ensure her survival was an experimental skin spray called ReCell. Dr. Kevin Foster, Director of the Halle Arizona Burn Center, thought ReCell, commonly used on burn victims to aid in skin regeneration, might improve the healing and reconstruction of Lipinski’s large open arm wound.
After seeking the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) permission, Foster applied ReCell to Lipinski’s wound. Foster believes this was the first time ReCell was used to treat necrotizing fasciitis. This product is now being used to treat other patients with flesh-eating bacteria.
“I’m so grateful to my family, friends, God, and, most importantly, the knowledgeable medical professionals at the Halle Arizona Burn Center,” said Lipinski. “Seeing how much the doctors and nurses cared about me and my healing journey is unbelievable. I consider these people my family now and credit them with saving my life so I can continue to make a difference in the lives of my kids and special needs students.”
Lipinski is proud to be part of the Valleywise Foundation Team Courage Rising group. She and several other burn survivors hiked Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest single free-standing mountain in the world, in 2022. Money raised from this adventure helps fund the Diane & Bruce Halle Arizona Burn Center – Valleywise Health.
