Stanford Medicine Children's Health celebrates two milestones in thoracic organ transplantation: 35 years of pediatric lung transplants and 50 years of heart transplants
Needing a heart-lung transplant won't stop Tony Rose Legaspi from living a full life. She recently completed the final steps in preparing to become her dream librarian.
“I love reading and have long dreamed of becoming a librarian,” says ToneeRose.
After earning a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Berkeley and working in real estate management, the 33-year-old earned a master's degree in library and information science. She would like to work at a library near her home in San Ramon, California.
ToneeRose also loves traveling. She recently went to Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Next year I'm planning to go to Japan, the Philippines, and Taiwan. She is excited to see Kyoto and Taipei, which she has not visited yet.
“My goal is to go somewhere new every year, whether it's in my state, the United States, or somewhere in the world. So far it's been going well,” she says.
When Toni Rose was three years old, doctors discovered that she was ill. septal defect (There's a hole in my heart) pulmonary hypertension (pulmonary hypertension). She remembers being a sick child all the time and having to undergo cardiology and respiratory care, including receiving medication on a continuous pump. She began receiving care at: Stanford Medicine Children's Health When I was about 8 years old.
“Doctors had always talked about eventually having a heart-lung transplant, so that was always a concern of mine,” Tony Rose says.
That day came in 2008 when she was 17 years old and a senior in high school. She remembers the day she learned a transplant was imminent. She went to Stanford Children's Hospital for a checkup and sat in her hospital room doing homework. when she fell asleep. She woke up to see medical personnel looking at her with concern. They told her that she was heart failureand she had to stay at Stanford Children's Hospital until she received a transplant.
Six weeks later, a donor heart and lung was found and the transplant was performed. Tony Rose remembers his doctor Dr. Jeffrey Feinsteindirector of pulmonary vascular disease in Betty Eileen Moore Children's Heart Centercame to the operating room to hold her hand on the day of the transplant.
She is grateful for the support she received from her family before, during, and after the transplant. “My older sister, Frida, went to a university nearby, so she used to come visit us often. My mom and dad brought my younger sister, Nina, and we took turns staying over,” she says.
ToneeRose became friends with the nurses at 3-West and remembers one in particular who would have tea with her. She also met many of her transplant friends at Stanford Children's Center. Some have become lifelong friends.
She spent her first summer after her transplant doing something she loved but couldn't do as a child because of the medication: swimming in the pool and ocean. “After the transplant, I was able to walk longer distances and didn't get tired as easily. I felt a great sense of freedom because I didn't have to carry around pump medication,” says ToneeRose.
She is currently receiving respiratory care on the adult side. stanford healthcare. She has quarterly medical check-ups. They are monitoring her lung function, which is stable but slightly decreased. She understands that she will need another transplant at some point, but not right away.
“October will mark 16 years since my transplant and 16 years since I received my first donor heart and lungs,” she says.
“This is a remarkable milestone for Mr. Legaspi and speaks to the incredible progress we have made in lung and heart-lung transplantation,” said Nicolas Avdimirets, medical director of the Pediatric Lung and Heart-Lung Transplant Program at Stanford Children's Hospital. says the M.D. Ph.D. . “Hearing about these success stories after patients transition to adult treatment motivates our team to continue to innovate so we can continue to improve both post-transplant survival and quality of life.”
The first pediatric heart-lung transplant at Stanford University was performed in 1988. With his transplant 16 years ago, Tony Rose became the second-longest living heart-lung transplant patient at Stanford Children's Hospital, the oldest being 24 years old.
ToneeRose shares her experience living with a heart-lung transplant at local hospitals and in international group chats.
of Pediatric Lung and Heart-Lung Transplant Program Stanford Children's Hospital has performed 98 pediatric lung and heart-lung transplants, more lung transplants than any other pediatric center on the West Coast, and more heart transplants than any other pediatric center in California. We offer “Our program has a long-standing track record of delivering excellent patient outcomes. Our innovations are based on an international study of pediatric lung and heart-lung transplant patients and using cutting-edge technology to and optimizing post-transplant health, including detecting early signs of rejection,” says Dr. Avdimilets. “Ultimately, the success of our program is due to our strong multidisciplinary team and the lasting connections we make with our patients and their families.”
Learn more about our lung and heart-lung transplant programs >
