The Challenge: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Emphysema
Tammy Cook woke up one day and felt short of breath just walking to the bathroom. She'd been a heavy smoker for most of her life. But at 51 years old, she just thought it was a symptom of menopause.
Normally strong and energetic, she wasted no time seeking medical care. An urgent care doctor took x-rays and spotted abnormalities in her lungs.
After visits with several doctors, Tammy learned she had COPD.
Cigarette smoking — a habit she picked up as a teenager — had destroyed the lining of the tiny air sacks in her lungs. She couldn't breathe because air pockets formed in the damaged tissue.
Within a year, Tammy was on oxygen and her doctor was urging her to think about a lung transplant.
“At work, when everyone took lunch breaks, I took oxygen breaks," says Tammy.
“You don't realize how important it is to take care of your body until you've ruined it and ruined your life."
The Path to the UPMC Lung Transplant Program
At first, Tammy rejected the idea of a transplant.
“I didn't think I was that sick. I thought I would get better," she says. “Then everything went downhill. "
Tammy's pulmonologist referred her to the UPMC Comprehensive Lung Center for a lung transplant assessment. They placed her on the lung transplant waiting list in October 2017. By then, she was 55 and in a wheelchair.
As a wife and mother, Tammy was heartbroken at the idea of saying goodbye to her three children. She made 26 goodbye videos for family, friends, and others she cared about.
Everyday life was a struggle.
“It was awful. Everything was hard. I was out of breath with the slightest exertion," she says. “I felt like something was laying on my chest and I was breathing through a cocktail straw."
The Solution: A Lung Transplant
Tammy was fearful of the lung transplant process until she talked with a man her mom met at church. He was 71 and had undergone a transplant himself.
“He showed me his scar and talked about how good he felt," she says. “He made it real to me. And he was almost 20 years older than me. I felt if he could do it, I could do it, too."
On May 25, 2019, Tammy, 57, got the call that lungs were available. Twelve hours later, the transplant team at UPMC Presbyterian wheeled her into surgery.
In her hospital room afterward, she couldn't believe she was breathing without oxygen support for the first time in four years.
“It was amazing. I couldn't believe someone else's lungs were in my body doing the work," says Tammy. “I was very emotional."
The Results: A New and Active Life
Since her transplant, Tammy has worked hard to enjoy life and take better care of herself and her new lungs. She's thankful for her lungs and thinks often of the donor — a 30-year-old Purple Heart recipient and father of two.
“I'm so grateful to be alive," says Tammy. “I have a renewed sense of life. This was my second chance and I'm doing everything possible to take care of myself. I owe him the honor of caring for his lungs."
When she first returned to her Coraopolis home, Tammy walked laps around the house and did leg lifts at the kitchen sink.
Five months later, she did a five-mile walk around the lake at North Park. And two weeks after that, she logged 21,000 steps on her activity tracker during a nighttime hike.
She joined a gym and started working with a trainer, and bought a bike and a bike rack.
Tammy now regularly:
- Bikes 25 miles a week.
- Logs 30-minute runs on the treadmill three days a week.
- Hikes about 10 miles every two weeks.
- Celebrates every time she hits her daily goal of 10,000 steps.
“I'm amazed at what my body can do now. The more I exercise, the more I want to do," says Tammy. “I'm in endless awe."
Tammy also found her “purpose."
She's active with the Transplant Support Group at UPMC, helping others who are going through the transplant process.
“I feel compelled to tell my story to anyone who will listen. It's important for people to know what a transplant can do for a person's quality of life," says Tammy.
Tammy's treatment and results may not be representative of all similar cases.
