A 26-year-old woman with cystic fibrosis has successfully received a third set of donor lungs after pleading with doctors to take up her case and give her a second lease on life.
Taylor Stevenson, whose lungs were irreparably damaged by a genetic disease as a teenager, was devastated when she learned in April 2023 that her second lung transplant had been rejected. It was.
“I’ve always been told that these two [lung transplants] That’s how it was,” she told the Thursday Post. “I cried my eyes out.”
By September, Stevenson’s lung capacity was 14%. Then, after she got the flu, it dropped to 8%.
“I thought I was going to die,” she said in a phone interview. “I don’t know how she put up with it.”
Stevenson overcame the flu while living in Dallas, where she underwent a second transplant, then traveled 17 hours to Durham, North Carolina, where she underwent a third transplant at Duke University Hospital. .
But before a match was found, she was forced to use an oxygen tank and suffered from extreme fatigue and loss of appetite as her body continued to reject the transplanted lungs.
Potential lung recipients must be in good health before a transplant, so despite his frail condition, Stephenson underwent more than a dozen heart therapy sessions, including walking, cycling and strength-control exercises.
She had to undergo 23 sessions before getting her name on the transplant list, but doctors were able to convince the transplant committee to accept her at just 17 years old, and she was born on November 29th. Officially added.
More than a month later, and a new year, I finally received a call around 11 a.m. on January 13th that an available set of lungs might be a match.
By 1pm that same day, Stevenson was on his way to the hospital, hoping for a third chance of survival.
However, doctors still need to look at the lungs “with the naked eye” to determine if they are suitable. Shortly before 5 p.m., doctors gave the green light for the donor organ, and Stevenson was ready for surgery an hour later.
During the surgery, doctors discovered the difficulties associated with those undergoing a third transplant.
Stevenson had significant scar tissue and bleeding from a previous transplant and was forced to return to the ICU with an “open chest.” That means her doctors didn’t close her back before taking her to her intensive care unit.
She remained in an “open heart” state for about 12 hours while doctors tried to stop the bleeding and was stable enough to return to surgery and receive a new lung transplant.
However, the fight was not over.
Two days later, Stevenson faced another complication when doctors discovered a blood clot in her lower right lung. Fortunately, they were able to remove it from her back.
On Valentine’s Day, she underwent her first post-transplant biopsy and was told there were no signs of rejection. Her lung capacity is currently at 50% and rising.
“I can’t express in words how smooth everything went,” Stevenson said of her post-surgery experience, especially compared to her second transplant, which left her with third-degree burns. The first biopsy showed signs of rejection.
As Stevenson prepares for her three-month biopsy in April, she’s also preparing to climb three mountains. This is the goal she wants to achieve with her new lungs.
“I’m going to do it,” she said with determination.
Stevenson was just 16 years old when she received her first lung transplant at St. Louis Children’s Hospital in 2015. About four years later, in 2019, her body began rejecting her lung transplant.
However, at that point she was no longer a minor, so she could not return to St. Louis for a second transplant. She eventually went to UT Southwestern in Dallas, but the university initially rejected her pleas to have the surgery because they “wanted to stick with the guys who had done it in the past,” she said. Stevenson said.
After complaining to the hospital, the head transplant surgeon accepted her complaint. But her lungs would fail her too. Her team tried everything they could to overturn her refusal, but ultimately they were unable to do so.
UT Southwestern also refused to give her a third transplant, saying it had never done one before. Her doctors then referred her to Duke University Hospital in August. The hospital has performed a total of 13 third lung transplants in the country.
Stevenson said she is extremely grateful to her medical team, especially Dr. Jacob Clapper, who performed the surgery.
“He really cares,” she said of the surgeon, calling her “a lifesaver.”
Now, Stevenson wants to be an advocate for people who are going through the same things as her.
“I want to share what has happened so far,” she said. “A third transplant is also possible.”
What’s the biggest lesson she wants other transplant recipients to know? “Keep fighting.”
