DATE: Sunday, June 1, 1997                  TAG: 9706010066

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER    

DATELINE: KILL DEVIL HILLS                  LENGTH:   72 lines

COMMON FUNGUS - UNCOMMON MEDICAL TRAGEDY

When heart surgeons opened Joe West's chest, they were expecting to find a damaged organ. They also discovered something even worse.

An organism was eating at West, dissolving chest tissue and turning ribs to dust. The culprit turned out to be a fungus that West never knew existed.

The 52-year-old former restaurateur now spends his days on the second level of his Kill Devil Hills home, hooked up to intravenous fluids that are both helping and hurting him.

It is difficult for West to talk for long. He's lost 10 of his 26 ribs, part of his sternum and his collarbone. Muscles from his chest and stomach have been surgically relocated to protect a new heart he received in 1994.

It was while awaiting a heart transplant that West came in contact with aspergillus, a toxic fungus that can trigger allergies, produce flu-like symptoms and, in extreme cases like West's, consume organs.

Aspergillus is common in our world, found frequently within buildings, both public and private. Most people come in contact with it regularly and never get sick from it.

But it's a different story for those allergic to the microorganism or, in West's case, suffering from an impaired immune system.

``It's like a lot of other organisms out there that healthy people don't have a problem with,'' Dr. Newt MacCormack of the State Center for Health and Environment Center said.

``But if your immune system is compromised, you're set up for a serious infection from organisms like aspergillus.''

That's what happened to West, and that's why he wants others to know his story.

``It's literally eating him alive,'' Sue West, 45, said of her husband's condition.

West, who is originally from Ohio, is not sure where he was exposed to aspergillus. ``It's ubiquitous. It's everywhere,'' he said.

But he knows roughly when it happened.

West's immune system had to be suppressed to receive a new heart in May 1994; otherwise, the body would reject the organ.

People with low immune systems are particularly suspectible to the several strains of aspergilloses.

``If you're healthy, you're OK. But if you're compromised at all, in any way, this stuff can get into your body,'' West said.

West, once active, is now limited to what he can say and do.

In addition to being short of breath, he also is continuously nauseated and weak from an antibiotic administered intravenously every other day.

The drug - amphotericin - reacts similarly to chemotherapy in cancer patients, West said. The family has nicknamed it ``amphoterrible.''

``Only difference would be the fact that I don't lose my hair - I've done that naturally,'' West said good-naturedly.

Side effects also include terrible chills and uncontrollable shaking. ``It feels like my skin is crawling inside out,'' he said.

So painful is the treatment that West has to be medicated beforehand to help him deal with it. The reason he receives doses every other day is to let his fragile body rest before the next assault.

``He feels like he did before the heart transplant. He has no energy,'' said Sue West, who works at First Flight Middle School. ``It's hard to tell if it's from the aspergillus or amphotericin.''

Sue, who has been married to Joe for 18 years, said the family treats every day as a blessing. They also draw comfort from members of their church, Kitty Hawk United Methodist.

The couple has two children - Justin, 14, and Tiffany, 11.

West said he's been told by medical experts that his is among the worst cases they've seen. Normally, he said, the infection is found earlier and can be eliminated.

Doctors are weighing options, which include new drug therapy that might cause his heart to be rejected or another radical surgery to remove more contaminated areas, including a spot recently found on his back.

``We have not had a normal life since the first spot of aspergillus was found,'' Sue West said. ``And the outcome does not look good.''

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