Lung Transplant Program Offers Hope to Iowans

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By Erin Leach

Story Created: Aug 9, 2007 at 11:26 AM CST

Story Updated: Aug 9, 2007 at 5:09 PM CST

IOWA CITY - Less than a year ago, Dianna Bauman's doctor gave her the shock of her life. She says, "He told me I probably had two years left."

After years of battling lung disease, asthma and emphysema, and carrying around an oxygen tank wherever she went, her lungs just couldn't keep up. She says, "I couldn't get my breath. I couldn't do a lot of things because it felt like someone was suffocating me all the time."

Dianna needed a transplant and at the time she thought her only option was to go to St. Louis. But that meant moving there for a while. "I just wouldn't do it, she says. “I'd rather spend the time I had left with my family."

Luckily though, the University of Iowa just reopened its lung transplant program. Eleven years ago the lung transplant program at UIHC ended when a surgeon moved on. One year ago, the program was reinstated
It's the only one in the state.

Now, just a month out of surgery, Dianna is feeling much better. But the road to recovery hasn't been easy. Dr. Julia Klesney-Tait says, "We tell our patients that they can expect to be in the hospital, ICU, for two to four weeks and in the hospital itself for six to eight weeks."

But the outcome is worth it. In about five years, 50% of transplant patients are alive and well. That may not sound like a long time but, "If you consider that we only transplant patients whose life expectancy is measured in months or a few years, so a lung transplant patient is a fantastic option for these patients," says Dr. Klesney-Tait.

For Dianna, it means a few more quality years doing things she's only ever dreamed of. She says, "I want to get together with my grandsons and play a baseball game."

Next Article Field of Dream Project Advances to Full Iowa Senate

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