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By Richard Toynton Jamie Warren, 28, recovered greatly from double lung transplant surgery Dec. 10 in Pittsburgh and was downgraded to a regular hospital patient from critical status Wednesday.
submitted photo
Bryan and Jamie Warren smile at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
"She looks great," her sister Nikki Riley said Thursday. "She's talking, but still very weak, and she's even sitting up now."
Warren was born with cystic fibrosis, which is an inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system of about 30,000 children and adults in the U.S., and about 70,000 people worldwide.
This year her health started to deteriorate and she required oxygen supplementation around the clock. She was invited to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center on Dec. 2 for medical evaluations required before a lung transplant can happen. According to Warren's mother, Chris Peery, the timing couldn't be better. "Doctors said her carbon dioxide level was one hundred and sixteen – normal is forty five," Peery said.
Now doctors have to teach Warren how to breathe, Peery said. "She's used to breathing shallow with her old lungs," she added. If everything goes according to the plan, Warren will spend about two more weeks in the hospital, and then two to three more weeks in a Pittsburgh home near the hospital. After that, she can return home to Blackfoot if there aren't any problems, Peery said. She will have to return to the Pittsburgh hospital every two months for medical testing.
Peery said the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center is on the cutting edge of technology, "they don't do things the old fashioned way there," she added. Surgeons performed a "clamshell cut" along the base of Warren's ribs during the lung transplant and then "popped the hood," Peery said. "They removed her lungs, inserted the new ones and installed drainage tubes because the transplanted lungs fill up with fluid." Warren still has tubes in her lungs that drain excess fluid, but they'll be removed next week.
"I thought it was interesting because they can trim lungs," Peery said. The lung donor was just an inch taller than Warren, but Warren is very petite so doctors trimmed a bit off of the transplant pair so they would fit.
"They said her heart was a bit enlarged on one side, but she's young enough to heal," Peery said.
"I can't express in words how thankful I am," Peery said. "Saying something is so small in comparison to what the community has done for us."
Warren traveled to Pittsburgh early in the morning the day after her spaghetti fundraiser Dec. 1, which raised $9,000. "We served about three to four hundred people and the auction did really well because people bid generously." Another $2,500 was raised thanks to the generosity of Outback Steakhouse in Idaho Falls, which provided a fundraiser lunch Dec. 18 in which all food was donated. "They even cleaned up for us," Peery said.
Warren's family is used to expensive medical bills, and in spite of her good medical insurance a double lung transplant is very expensive, Peery said. She doesn't know exactly how much costs have accumulated, but the initial transplant cost will be around $50,000 and anti-rejection drugs that ensure Warren will not reject the new lungs will cost about $3,000 monthly.
To learn more about Warren and to see pictures of her, visit http://www.jamiebug.blogspot.com/. Donations may made out to Jamie Warren at Bank of Commerce, 280 W. Judicial St.
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