Temple University Hospital gives elderly patients a second chance at transplant

TOMS RIVER, N.J. (WPVI) — For nearly a decade, Temple Hospital has led the nation in lung transplants.

One reason for this is the innovative ways Temple helps those who would otherwise be excluded survive and thrive.

When Michele Corcione first felt shortness of breath, she thought she was just feeling unwell.

It quickly became a crisis.

“We went to Aruba and we had to sit on the ground every five feet or so because we couldn’t breathe,” Michele recalls.

Corcione was shocked to learn that the cause was pulmonary fibrosis and that he would need a lung transplant.

She said to her doctor, “I’m going on a cruise in October. I don’t have time to fix it right now. No, I don’t have time. And the doctor said, ‘You have to do this. It’ll be ‘time.’

Corcione’s rheumatoid arthritis was probably the culprit.

“It can attack anything, and it just attacked my lungs,” she said.

Corcione was in her late 60s, over the age limit for transplants at many hospitals.

But Temple University Hospital is different.

“We think age is just a number,” says Dr. Rachel Criner, a pulmonologist at Temple Health.

“Why not think about these patients who have healthy hearts, livers, kidneys, and brains, and really only have lung disease?” says Dr. Kleiner.

She said UNOS (United Network for Organ Sharing) recommends guidelines, but individual transplant centers can set their own guidelines.

“I think the biggest difference between us is age,” she says.

Professor Temple also doesn’t automatically turn away lung patients with collagen disease, an autoimmune disease that makes patients more susceptible to reflux after a transplant.

Kleiner said a feeding tube placed directly into the stomach usually gives the body three months to recover.

“We re-evaluate their swallowing and then remove the feeding tube, because most of them are fine in the end. It’s only during the first three months that they are very weak. ” she says.

She added that pulmonary rehabilitation before and after transplantation is especially important for older patients who are more susceptible to physical deterioration.

“The more committed you are to your transplant, the better your success will be and the faster your recovery will be after the transplant,” says Dr. Criner flatly.

Through her rehabilitation and following the team’s instructions, Michele was able to leave the hospital in just 10 days, less than half of the original estimate.

“I did everything they told me to do. Everything,” she emphasizes.

Corcione and her husband have a blended family of four adult children and grandchildren, and their children’s friends often come over.

So she decided to make a strong recovery.

“When people complain, ‘I’m on too many meds,’ I think, ‘Oh, there’s too many meds. So don’t take the meds. So you’re wasting organs? You have to be totally committed. ‘ she says.

But a year later, at age 70, she is living proof of that effort.

“I clean, I cook, I take walks, I walk every day. Do I take 10,000 steps? No, but to be honest, I’ve never taken 10,000 steps in my life. “Yes,” Michele says with a laugh.

Dr. Kleiner says many elderly patients have been tied to oxygen machines, making them even more grateful for a second chance.

Some were excited to just take a shower without stopping to catch their breath.