Portage County women undergo a rare heart lung transplant

In January, Courtney's Bluekey of Portage County received a life-saving call. She didn't respond immediately.

“I thought it was a scam or something,” she told WPR's “Wisconsin today.”

For 84 days, Zblewski was on the donor's waiting list. She had multiple heart and lung conditions, and her health slowly deteriorated. One of her illnesses, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, makes the walls of the heart ward thicker than usual, making it difficult for the heart to pump blood. This condition killed his father at the age of 42.

At the time of the phone call, Zblewski was unable to climb stairs or play with his elementary school son. Despite her fear that the phone was a scam, she decided to answer the phone. Upon hearing the news that the heart and lungs were available, Zblewski began to sob. She immediately thought about her son.

“He kept saying that Mom could not wait for new organs because he could play with him again,” she recalled. “So when I got the call, I wasn't just screaming out of fear, he was going to get his wish.”

There was no time to wait. That same day, Zubrsky rushed to the hospital and completed the nearly seven-hour procedure, obtaining a new heart and lungs.

Zblewski is one of the few people who have successfully completed a successful dual organ (heart and lungs) in Wisconsin. only 21 other people in Wisconsin I went through the procedure.

In comparison, Wisconsin had 13,977 kidney transplants, 2,540 heart transplants and 1,284 lung transplants. Organ Procurement and Transplant Networka national database of organ transplants and waiting lists in the United States.

The logistics of double ports are complex and require a team of people to make it happen. But if you succeed, the outcome is life-changing.

Heart and lung transplants are “exponentially” complicated

The complexity of double-carry-lung transplants is that the surgeon must prioritize both organs simultaneously.

“We have to think about the complex interactions between the heart and the lungs as the blood flow through the lungs and back to the rest of the heart and back to her body.”

Surgery requires several teams. They are the person who identifies donors and retrieves organs, surgeons with expertise in both the heart and lungs, and doctors who work with post-surgery patients.

One of Zblewski's other surgeons, Dr. Dan Dan McCarthy, is a healthy cardiothoracic surgeon at UW, specializing in lung transplants, specializing in part exponentially complex cardiopulmonary transplants due to timing involved.

Zblewski had one advantage, and McCarthy lives in the Midwest. Healthy UW patients have relatively easy access to both coasts and the Midwest has a high organ donor rate, resulting in an average shorter organ waiting time than people in other parts of the country.

“Dr. Xia and I are extremely sincere in making sure that with every organ offer we don't miss the opportunity to save someone else's life,” McCarthy said.

1,425 Wisconsinians need organs

Around 1,500 people are on the waiting list for organ transplants in Wisconsin. As of April 7th, the majority of people on the waiting list are between 50 and 64 years old. There are also 30 children under the age of 17 and two children under the age of 1 year. Some people are on their list in less than a month while others are waiting. Over 5 years.

Zblewski enjoys the benefits of those who agree to be an organ donor. She realizes that someone has to die in order to have surgery.

She recently wrote a two-page letter to the donor's family telling her who she is. Her letter added, “I don't know if you want to see me or not. I understand that I won't. I don't want to see me if I wear your shoes.” She added, “I hope I will put enough love in this world.”

She included photos of her and her family. Zblewski has yet to receive a reply from her donor's family and understands whether she never did. “I'm sure they're still dealing with grief,” she said.

April is the National Donation Life Month and is the time to raise awareness about organ donation. In addition to being a complicated procedure, Xia marks the 1,000th place in UW Health, marking what was achieved by just 15% of transplant programs nationwide.

But that only happens when people are willing to donate their organs and donate them.

“If you want to consider offering potential gifts of life to patients, such as Courtney and others waiting for life-saving organs… Sign up to become an organ donor,” he said.