Isabel’s 12hr heart, lung transplant ‘a success’
A WOMAN who endured several heartbreaking ‘false dawns’ has finally had the double lung and heart transplant she has waited over 14 years for.
Isabel Terry’s operation took place on Saturday and lasted more than 12 hours.
Last night, the 41-year-old was recovering in the intensive care unit of Britain’s Freeman Hospital in Newcastle.
She has been placed in an induced coma. Her condition is said to be ‘critical’, but the operation has been a success so far.
Her sister Julie, who is a Cork University Hospital cardiac nurse, told the Mail last night that days before the operation, Isabel had been warned it had a success rate of just 40%.
That statistic hit home after surgeons finally confirmed the organs were a match for her and just moments before she finally went for the transplant operation on Saturday.
Isabel’s sister said: ‘She was very excited for about ten minutes and then she became very scared.
‘It’s a complex operation and she knew that even though it’s what she wanted, the other side is there was a risk of not coming through the operation.
‘When she was over here a few weeks ago, the team actually went through all the risks associated with it, so they were very fresh in her mind.
‘So, she got a bit frightened because she was told there was only a 40% chance of success.’
On the operation itself, she said: ‘We have met the team and we have met the surgeon and they are very happy with the way it has worked out. There have been no hiccups or anything.
‘She will be unconscious for a couple of days, and effectively put in an induced coma because that is just best for the body and optimum chance to recover.’
Isabel’s mother Deirdre is in the UK with her. The first time the family saw her after surgery was around 11pm on Saturday.
Because of the induced coma, Isabel is not aware of them being there and their visits have to be fleeting due to her condition.
But they said last night that she looks ‘very comfortable’.
Apart from being one of Ireland’s only people to need a double lung and heart transplant, Isabel’s case has drawn attention because the HSE refused to charter an air ambulance to get her to Britain last month.
But at the last minute, an anonymous businessman paid for a private air ambulance to fly Isabel to Newcastle for the meeting instead.
Isabel received a call at around 10.30am on Friday from her transplant team at the hospital, telling her that a set of lungs and a heart had become available.
It was the sixth time that she has had such a call in the past 14 years. On previous occasions, the organs were found to be unsuitable.