Kevin Beale (on left) together with his household that features 2 UVA alums. Beale turned an excellent greater Wahoo fan after his lung transplant journey at UVA Well being.
A lifelong tennis participant, Kevin Beale has at all times been in fine condition. However final 12 months when he reached his mid 60s, he had to surrender his new favourite sport — pickleball. He received winded simply strolling to get the newspaper. The explanation? Pulmonary fibrosis. He wanted a lung transplant ASAP.
Widespread Explanation for Lung Transplant
Pulmonary fibrosis is the commonest continual lung illness that results in lung transplant in the US, says Christopher Scott, MD, a thoracic surgeon who carried out Beale’s surgical procedure.
Pulmonary fibrosis scars the lungs. And the lungs step by step lose their capability to cross oxygen to the remainder of the physique. Typically, we do not know the trigger.
Pulmonary fibrosis can’t be cured. Specialists can normally deal with it with treatment, however Beale had a extreme kind. He wanted an oxygen tank.
Getting Beale New Lungs ASAP
Final April, barely in a position to breathe, Beale ended up within the ER close to his residence in Richmond. As quickly as a hospital mattress turned accessible at UVA Well being, Beale was transferred to Charlottesville. Right here, he met the transplant group.
“It was fairly a shock to him, the phrase ‘transplant’ even. He wasn’t conscious that was one thing he was going to wish within the short-term interval,” says Hannah Mannem, MD, medical director of the UVA Well being Lung Transplant Program.
However she defined to Beale and his household, “You’ve got a lung illness that is deadly. And sadly, your illness is progressing at a quick tempo. If we do not transfer quick, it could outpace your capability to have the ability to get a lung transplant.”
April is Donate Life month. Turn out to be an organ donor.
With New Lungs, Again to Pickleball Court docket
The transplant group moved rapidly. They received Beale via many pre-transplant checks and steps. By final April 28, he received on the organ wait checklist. Then on June 9, transplant surgeons gave him a brand new set of lungs. He joins the greater than 600 folks who’ve had a lung transplant at UVA Well being.
At present, Beale not wants an oxygen tank to breathe. And he is again on the pickleball courts.
“The complete transplant group has been great,” Beale says.
He provides, “I used to be very fortunate. And I received a fantastic set of lungs. Now I’m working at holding them going.”
Meet Kevin Beale and his outstanding lung transplant group
