Du Quoin Woman Receives Double Lung Transplant

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Lupus erithematosus is a name given to a collection of autoimmune diseases, in which the human immune system becomes hyperactive and attacks normal, healthy tissues. Symptoms of these diseases can affect many different body systems, including joints, skin, kidneys, blood cells, heart and lungs.

Lupus is indiscriminate and can attack any of the body's major organs.

In the case of Barb Smith, 47, wife of Herb Smith, the disease literally took her breath away over a period of several years.

Herb is a nephew to retired Perry County Highway engineer Roy Smith and as it happens the couple lives at 415 Smith Avenue in Du Quoin. "We never forget where we live," Herb quips.

The couple can smile --even laugh--now that they are on the eve of finally getting their lives back.

"My wife has been sick for some time," said Herb, sitting at his wife's side in Barnes Hospital after a double lung transplant exactly two months ago today--Mother's Day.

Barb had been suffering from Lupus for several years and it was finally sent into remission because of breakthroughs in stem cell research. "She had a stem cell transplant back in 2004," says Herb. "She's been through a lot during the past nine years," he says.

Portable oxygen was as much a part of their lives as a wrist watch or a billfold. They couldn't go anywhere without it and had to check their supply day and night. Barb literally couldn't live without it. At rest, she was using oxygen at a rate of 15 liters and even the simple task of walking required turning up the dial to 45 liters.

Years later, the pulmonary fibrosis in her lungs had hardened the lung tissues so much most of the natural elasticity was gone. Something had to be done.

"She got so bad we came back over to Barnes in February," said Herb. "They began doing tests on her and officially put her on the lung transplant list on Friday, May 11 and on Saturday, May 12 there was already a match," he said. The transplant was performed on May 13--Mother's Day--because of lungs donated by a patient in Tennessee.

"Now, she breathes without any assistance. She is exercising every day. We have to stay at Barnes because of the therapy. We will be here through August 24," he says.

"The prognosis is good. The average duration (for a new set of lungs) is five years, but pulmonologists here have one patient who has gone 20 years and another 13 years," he said. "She is on anti-rejection medicine and will have to be on that the rest of her life. If rejection happens it is usually in the first three to six months," he said.

There have been no signs of rejection, he said.

"We have had wonderful doctors and nurses here at Barnes," he said.

"We have been married for 29 years. Uncle Roy is my father's youngest brother."

The couple has also received a great deal of support from all of their family members, including Barb's sister, Penny Loeh of Royalton.

"We would like for the public to know for people going through this there is a great group of pulmonologists at Barnes Hospital," he said.

The couple was back in Du Quoin last week for a family funeral and, in time, the trips back to Du Quoin will come more often until they are finally home for good.

They look forward to turning their house back into a home and living normal lives again. "Until you go through what we went through you don't know how important this has been to us. It gave us our live back.

"The doctors tells us not to feel guilty about accepting the donor lungs, but we encourage everyone to be a donor," he said.