Surgery a success

Alicia Brogle, right, a 32-year-old Lodi woman born with cystic fibrosis, underwent a successful double-lung transplant Thursday. (News-Sentinel file photograph)

Surgery a success

Lodi's Alicia Brogle gets double-lung transplant

By Lauren Nelson

Friday, July 10, 2009 12:08 AM PDT

Comments (3 comment(s))

Lodi Living Editor

Alicia Brogle, the 32-year-old Lodi woman born with cystic fibrosis, underwent a successful double-lung transplant Thursday.

Brogle, who was profiled in the News-Sentinel's Lodi Living section on July 4, received a phone call from Stanford Medical Center on Wednesday saying that lungs the correct size and blood type were available.

The family had 20 minutes to pack a few bags and load them into the car in order to make it to Stanford for testing to ensure that Brogle's body was healthy enough for surgery.

Excited and fearless, Brogle entered the operating room at 5:30 on Thursday morning, Sheila Brogle said.

Sheila Brogle said her sister was excited more than anyone else, and had her small arm raised high in a victorious fist as she was wheeled into surgery.

"She was so, so excited. She really wasn't scared. I have to say, I wasn't scared either. I had 100 percent faith it was going to work," Sheila Brogle said in a telephone interview from the hospital waiting room.

More than 10 hours later, around 3 p.m., doctors announced that Alicia Brogle had received two new lungs without any major complications.

"She will be breathing on her new lungs tonight," said Sheila Brogle.

On Thursday afternoon, the family was still waiting to see Alicia Brogle, but the doctors said she was just starting to wake up.

Surgery was done by cutting along the middle of Brogle's sternum. Doctors previously told her it is less painful and allows for faster recovery than the other option, the "butterfly," that requires making two incisions under her breasts.

Alicia Brogle is a Tokay High School graduate who has always had a creative side. In high school, she acted with the Tokay Players, and then went on to study fashion design at San Joaquin Delta College. She's one pre-algebra class short of earning her degree, which she plans to get as soon as she is used to her new lungs. She's looking forward to her first breaths and new life that she plans to spend writing about her lifelong struggle with cystic fibrosis and designing everything from clothes to purses.

Brogle will remain under close watch in an intensive care unit for at least 10 days. The main thing doctors will watch for is rejection, whether or not Brogle's body accepts the foreign lungs. According to information on Stanford's Web site, when a new lung is placed into a patient's body, the body sees the transplant as a threat and tries to attack it. If that happens, Brogle will have to take a medication to fight the rejection every day of her life.

During the next three months, Brogle will live in an apartment near the hospital in Palo Alto. Sheila Brogle will be her full-time caretaker, and is starting the look for a place to live that is both good for Alicia Brogle and will allow the sisters' two small dogs, a Chihuahua named Rue and a Pomeranian named Shuggie, to live with them. Hospital guest housing is available for $1,200 a month, but pets are not allowed.

Alicia Brogle was born with cystic fibrosis and has had to breathe through oxygen tubes in her nose for the past year. In the weeks leading up to her surgery, she had 22 percent lung capacity, while the average person breathes at 96 or 98 percent.

For more information on Alicia Brogle and her condition, read "The Breath of Life" at www.lodinews.com/lodiliving.

Contact Lauren Nelson at laurenn@lodinews.com.

Reader Feedback

fwlinsley wrote on Jul 13, 2009 7:45 AM:

" Alicia, My name is Fred and I am 58 years old. I have asbestosis which causes fibrosis in the lungs. I went on the lung transplant list at Emory Hospital in Atlanta, Ga. on June 17, 2009. I am also down to about 20% use of my lungs. I have been following your story and am estatic that you got your lung. Congratulations! You are in my prayers. "

Report Abuse

sam wrote on Jul 10, 2009 5:06 PM:

" Alicia, my nephew has CF too. You are and have been in my prayers from some time. I am anxious to hear how your new lungs feel. Much love to you and best wishes. "

Archives

Story Tools

Indexes