Rahway resident eager to travel just months after lung transplan

Second in a two-part series looking at Central Jersey transplant patients.
With specific health requirements for organ donors, many patients in need of an organ transplant spend several years on the waiting list. But when patients finally receive the call they?ve been desperate to hear, their experiences can be cause for hope and inspiration.
When Janice McNamara of Rahway was in her 20s, she busied herself with what any 20-something is eager to do ? travel the world, ski, play tennis. But as she grew older, her originally mild health problems began to severely affect her everyday life.
?I would get out of the hospital and be on a plane to Greece ? that?s how crazy I was,? she said. ?But when I was 27, I was exposed to a chemical pesticide while working at Federal Express, and things got worse: I was taking more medicine and had more hospitalizations.?
After McNamara was exposed to the pesticide, she suffered several bouts of pneumonia. Doctors said they believed that the combination of the two led her to develop a disease called bronchiectasis.
According to Dr. Christine Migliori, a transplant pulmonologist at the Barnabas Health Lung Center at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, the disease causes the airways to become inflamed and eventually collapse. The airways can fill with thick mucus, causing a persistent cough and shortness of breath. Though not all patients diagnosed with bronchiectasis require a lung transplant, Migliori said it is suggested for patients whose breath is so short that they cannot perform daily activities.
?We have patients who are so short of breath that they can?t even brush their teeth or get dressed in the morning,? Migliori said. ?And in those situations, we look to a lung transplant.?
And after years of breathing difficulties, hospitalizations and experimental asthmatic treatments, doctors decided that McNamara was a candidate for a lung transplant. So began the waiting process for the right donor. McNamara lived with supplemental oxygen for two years as she waited for the transplant.
(Page 2 of 2)?The last two years really felt like hell for me,John Kuhn #30 Jersey,? she said. ?I always kept a cheery disposition and when my friends came by to check on me I would keep laughing with them.?
After a year on the waiting list, a pair of lungs became available, but McNamara had to turn the opportunity down because a broken foot. According to Migliori,Wholesale Packers T-Shirts, walking is an integral component of the recovery process. Patients are encouraged to be up and out of bed and disconnected from a breathing machine within 24 hours following surgery.
?At one point, I told my friends that I didn?t think I was going to make it,Wholesale Green Bay Packers Hats,? McNamara said. ?But it was my mission to make sure my foot healed properly because I wanted those lungs when they did come.?
On Jan. 24, the 55-year-old McNamara and her family received the phone call they had been waiting for: Lungs were available. After surgery conducted in the middle of the night on Jan. 25, McNamara spent more than one month recovering in the hospital. She said that the recovery process was difficult, and is ongoing.
?While I was in the hospital, I was not accepting the new lungs and I could not breathe as well as I thought I was going to,? she said. ?But once I had physical therapy at home, I started to feel better.?
McNamara is still involved in physical therapy,Live coverage- Paramus Catholic football opens season vs. Gilman (Md.) on Sunday, including speech therapy. The costs of the medical procedure and therapy are covered by Medicare and her insurance company. According to the National Foundation for Transplants, in 2010 the average cost for a double lung transplant and first-year expenses was about $800,000. These costs can vary depending on the type of insurance coverage, the location of the transplant center and the length of the necessary rehabilitation.
McNamara added that her doctors, family and friends are impressed by how much her health has improved in the last six months.
?The doctor told me that he couldn?t believe how crystal clear my lungs sound now,? McNamara said. ?I used to be a wheeze box, and everybody is just amazed every time they see me.?
Since her transplant, McNamara said she appreciates simple activities like walking. Optimistic about her health, she added that she hopes to ski again.
?The doctors say I can?t travel until February,? McNamara said. ?But my friend bought me a ticket to go to Puerto Rico, and then we have a trip to Hawaii for my girlfriend?s wedding. I?m really looking forward to getting strong and doing those things.?
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