For most teens, hospitals and blood draws are a hard pass. But Maddie Wright doesn’t really have a choice.
This 17-year-old recently got a behind-the-scenes tour of Vanderbilt Medical Laboratories’ massive 110,000-square-foot facility that processes and analyzes patients’ labs from around the region.
“This is where my labs come to, and it’s a whole process,” said Maddie, who was born with cystic fibrosis (CF). “It’s really cool what we don’t ‘see’. I’ve always been obsessed with microscopic images, bacteria, and all the behind-the-scenes lab stuff happening in our bodies.”
Born premature with CF, Maddie’s been through more medical procedures than many people can imagine.
CF is a genetic disease that causes her body to produce thick mucus that can lead to issues with breathing and digestion. Then at age 4, she was diagnosed with liver disease, caused by CF. In 2021 she became a liver transplant recipient.
And yet another plot twist complicates Maddie’s lifelong medical journey
She needs antibiotics, but most won’t work for her.
She’s part of an ever-growing category of patients experiencing what is called antimicrobial resistance, or AMR, one of the world’s top 10 global health threats. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports more than 2.8 million Americans become ill with AMR infections each year. Evidence supports a link between antibiotic use in food-producing animals and the occurrence of antibiotic-resistant infections in humans.
Her story is part of a documentary, “Holobiome,” a multipart film created by Michael Graziano and funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation that explores the past, present and future relationships with antibiotics.
Romney Humphries, PhD, professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology and director of the Division of Laboratory Medicine, invited Maddie to the Vanderbilt Medical Laboratories facility, which can process more than 550 outpatient and specialized tests, ranging from histology and cytology to hematopathology, molecular diagnostics, infectious diseases and genomic testing.
Every day the results underpin treatment decisions all around Vanderbilt Health and a growing number of lab clients.
On Nov. 26 Maddie got the chance to watch a special bacteria sample get processed in a petri dish: her own.
“I could just be here all day. I know it’s not for everyone, but this is so amazing,” said Maddie. “And to have my labs drawn here and to see the process that occurs for testing all of my samples — I’m just geeking out!”
Maddie spent time talking with lab employees, asking questions about a multitude of petri dish samples and learning more about lab medicine.
“It’s just really cool that I can discuss these topics with you guys. You are my kind of people,” she told the group. “I would love to come back anytime,” she said. “This is so fascinating. I mean, I am seriously grateful for what you guys do. You are the soldiers behind the scenes who are saving lives.”
From the various specialties of expertise, the volume of labs processed, and the high-tech sterile automation, Maddie glimpsed a vital part of the system that helps people get healthy.
“This tour opened up my eyes to a whole world that not many people get the privilege to see,” she said. “From the very beginning, I have always been interested, deep down, in these kinds of things. I want to learn more about what is attacking me and my body and how I can learn to coexist with them. The people in the labs need so much more credit — I am so grateful for their work.”
Even when lab results are swift, Maddie knows that time can slow to an anxious crawl for the people awaiting answers. But now whenever she’s waiting, she knows all about the technology and people working to uncover her results.
“I have a whole new perspective,” said Maddie. “This lab is saving valuable time with all its automated functions that in turn save lives. The more time we can save, the more lives we can save.”
