Rare lung transplant breathes new life into mother of two

Dr. Milton Saute, who developed and implemented a valuable technique in the field of video surveillance in lung surgery, said Morad first began coughing uncontrollably four years ago.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
LIZ MORAD, who received a lung transplant, is recently visited by her doctors at the Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus in Petah Tikva. From left: Prof. Mordechai Kramer, head of the hospital’s Pulmonary Institute, Morad; and Dr. Milton Saute. (photo credit: Courtesy)
LIZ MORAD, who received a lung transplant, is recently visited by her doctors at the Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus in Petah Tikva. From left: Prof. Mordechai Kramer, head of the hospital’s Pulmonary Institute, Morad; and Dr. Milton Saute.
(photo credit: Courtesy)
A 39-year-old woman with respiratory disease, who was attached to a respirator for the last year, has been given a new lease on life thanks to a rare lung-transplant procedure.
Liz Morad underwent the surgery at the beginning of January at the Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus in Petah Tikva. Unable to speak and embarrassed to be seen in her condition prior to the transplant, the mother of two recently returned home after months of hospitalization.
She is now speaking and walking again, and finally able to hug her daughters, with whom she communicated exclusively by SMS and video throughout her hospitalization because she did not want to be seen in her ailing condition.
Dr. Milton Saute, who developed and implemented a valuable technique in the field of video surveillance in lung surgery, said Morad first began coughing uncontrollably four years ago. As her condition declined, she had to stop working and was hospitalized at Beilinson for many months because she could not breathe regularly. She even had to be resuscitated twice, he said.
The operation was very complicated because she was respirated for so long, Saute said. “It took many hours and was not a conventional lung transplant. Her breathing muscles were very weak because she had not been breathing on her own for so many months. I am happy to report that she is finally breathing on her own and able to speak.”
Prof. Dan Aravot, head of the cardiothoracic surgery department, said it was “a very rare case. Elsewhere in the world, there have been only a few cases of transplants on patients that didn’t breathe on their own for such a long period. This is the first such case in Israel. We are happy that she is recovering rapidly.”
Prof. Mordechai Kramer, head of the hospital’s Pulmonary Institute, said that “there was no more emotional moment than calling Morad’s family and telling them we had lungs for her. Her case proves that organ transplants save lives. It was hard to believe that she would return to a normal life.”
“The public must not be apathetic about the issue of organ transplants and should register with the National Transplant Center, which can give life to hundreds of people on the waiting list,” he said.