Newswise — MAYWOOD, IL – Sadly, only 20 percent of lung transplant recipients survive beyond the 10-year mark, a fact that is not lost on Diane Williams as she celebrates the tenth anniversary of her transplant. After suffering from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a debilitating lung disease that causes scarring of the lungs, Williams received a life-saving lung transplant in 2014.
At age 63, Williams had been living with her condition for 15 years. Her lungs had deteriorated to the point that she had a hard time keeping up with everyday life and needed oxygen to sleep. Her doctor referred her to Daniel Dilling, MD, medical director of lung transplantation at Loyola Medicine. After tests determined she was a good candidate for a transplant, Williams was placed on the national transplant waiting list in June 2014. She got the call a month later from the transplant team that they had found a match.
"When I woke up from surgery and took my first breath in the ICU it surprised me," Williams said. "You almost forget how to breathe normally, you haven’t been able to do it in so long. It was something I will never forget."
A decade later, she continues to visit Dr. Dilling every few months for follow-up appointments and takes medication daily to prevent rejection, but her lung function is still 100%. "I'm grateful every day for the doctors and the transplant," said Williams. "I never forget that I have somebody's lung that I need to take care of."
"I always tell people that a lung transplant is more than just the surgery," said Dr. Dilling. "It's a lifetime of medications and doctor visits, or years down the line, people start to reject the organ. Thank goodness that hasn't happened to Diane."
The Loyola Medicine Lung Transplant Program marked a milestone this year when Jovita Delgado became the 1,200th patient to receive a lung transplant at Loyola. Delgado's transplant came just one month after the birth of her second grandchild. Since the program began in 1988, Loyola has performed more lung transplants than any other Illinois hospital, including the first single-lung transplant in Illinois in 1988 and the state’s first double-lung transplant in 1990.
To learn more about Diane's journey, check out this video: Loyola Lung Transplant Patient Celebrates 10 Year Anniversary.
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About Loyola Medicine
Loyola Medicine, a member of Trinity Health, is a nationally ranked academic, quaternary care system based in Chicago's western suburbs. The three-hospital system includes Loyola University Medical Center (LUMC), Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, MacNeal Hospital, as well as convenient locations offering primary care, specialty care and immediate care services from nearly 2,000 physicians throughout Cook, Will and DuPage counties. LUMC is a 547-licensed-bed hospital in Maywood that includes the William G. and Mary A. Ryan Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine, the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, the John L. Keeley, MD, Emergency Department, a Level 1 trauma center, Illinois's largest burn center, a certified comprehensive stroke center, transplant center and a children’s hospital. Having delivered compassionate care for over 50 years, Loyola also trains the next generation of caregivers through its academic affiliation with Loyola University Chicago’s Stritch School of Medicine and Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing. Established in 1961, Gottlieb Memorial Hospital is a 247-licensed-bed community hospital in Melrose Park that includes the Judd A. Weinberg Emergency Department, the Loyola Center for Metabolic Surgery and Bariatric Care, Loyola Cancer Care & Research at the Marjorie G. Weinberg Cancer Center, acute rehabilitation, a transitional care center, childcare center and fitness center. MacNeal Hospital is a 374-licensed-bed teaching hospital in Berwyn with advanced medical, surgical and psychiatric services and a 68-bed behavioral health program.
For more information, visit loyolamedicine.org. You can also follow Loyola Medicine on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram or X (formerly known as Twitter).
About Trinity Health
Trinity Health is one of the largest not-for-profit, Catholic health care systems in the nation. It is a family of 121,000 colleagues and nearly 36,500 physicians and clinicians caring for diverse communities across 27 states. Nationally recognized for care and experience, the Trinity Health system includes 101 hospitals, 126 continuing care locations, the second largest PACE program in the country, 136 urgent care locations and many other health and well-being services. In fiscal year 2023, the Livonia, Michigan-based health system invested $1.5 billion in its communities in the form of charity care and other community benefit programs. For more information, visit us at www.trinity-health.org, or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and X (formerly known as Twitter).
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