When she woke up after lung transplant surgery earlier this
year, 20-year-old South Brunswick resident Joy Ventola said
her chest felt light and hollow. “I took a breath
and my chest expanded. I felt like I had King Kong’s
chest,” she exclaimed. “I could hear air moving
inside. It was awesome.”
Ms. Ventola was among the first New Jersey residents to
receive a lung transplant at the state’s only certified
Lung Transplant Program at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center,
an affiliate of the Saint Barnabas Health Care System.
Both Ms. Ventola and her younger sister were diagnosed with
cystic fibrosis within months after they were born. Ms. Ventola
describes her lungs prior to the transplant as feeling like
heavy sacks of sand that caused her to hunch over and gave
her only very shallow breaths. She was home schooled since
fourth grade due to her illness and frequent hospitalizations
were routine throughout her teens. She spent two years on
the transplant waiting list of a New York hospital. “It
was very discouraging,” Ms. Ventola recalls. “There
were so many people waiting for the same thing.” Her
condition became so serious several years ago that she was
placed on hospice care.
New hope came when Ms. Ventola met the physician leaders
of Newark Beth Israel’s Lung Transplant Program, Sean
Studer, MD, MSc, and Lawrence McBride, MD, at their satellite
office at Monmouth Medical Center. “It was a lot of
traveling to my appointments in New York, but they came to
see me at Monmouth Medical Center,” she said.
The Lung Transplant Program’s satellite office at
Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch offers local access
to the highly specialized and experienced multidisciplinary
team. “All of the initial examinations and testing
necessary to evaluate a patient for a lung transplant can
be performed at Monmouth Medical Center,” noted Dr.
Studer. “Transplant candidates and their families may
not need to travel to Newark for many of the visits prior
to transplant surgery.”
When Ms. Ventola needed to be hospitalized late in 2008,
Drs. Studer and McBride suggested she be admitted to Newark
Beth Israel where she and her family would have the opportunity
to meet the entire team and tour the facility in preparation
for a transplant they were confident she would receive. “They
treated me like family and kept me positive and hopeful,” reflected
Ms. Ventola.
“I pop a grin and do a little jig when I think about
the changes,” said Ms. Ventola, who is now job hunting
and driving for the first time in her life. She has also
started riding her horse again and enjoys helping her sister
who is still managing cystic fibrosis. “She would have
done anything for me, now I like doing little things for
her,” explained Ms. Ventola.
For more information about the Lung Transplant Program at
Newark Beth Israel Medical Center call 1-888-LUNG-1.
Date: April 6, 2009
Contact: Caren Malone
Public Relations Department
Saint Barnabas Health Care System
[ top ] [ back to
news index ]
|
