Harvard woman recovering from triple organ transplant

HARVARD – Two months ago, Andi Swenson's lungs had deteriorated to the point that they looked like there were beaten by a stick, her father Eric Swenson said.

She was in Loyola Medical Center in Maywood because her lungs had 10 percent capacity, leaving her ill. On Oct. 24, 23-year-old Andi Swenson got the news she had been waiting for. A new set of lungs and a liver became available and a transplant would take place at the hospital.

There were two follow-up surgeries that included repairing an artery, cleaning up some blood clots and removing a layer of skin that was on a lung she received.

Swenson, who was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, needed the transplants because the disease affected her lungs and digestive system. Enzymes needed for digestion were blocked from entering her stomach, making it hard for her to gain weight. Diabetes and cirrhosis of the liver eventually came as well.

The transplant procedure itself took more than a day and felt like an eternity.

It started on the Friday night and didn’t end until the following Sunday morning.

“It was a long process,” Eric Swenson said.

The wait was gut-wrenching, he said.

“At the same time, it’s something you have been hoping for years to happen,” Eric Swenson said.

Andi Swenson was given a tracheotomy to help her use a ventilator without having to be sedated with a tube down her throat. However, she can’t speak because of this.

She uses a dry-erase board in order to communicate, and she has made friends with other patients who have had similar procedures.

Swenson now is expected to be moved from Loyola Medical Center in Maywood to RML Specialty Hospital in Hinsdale to help wean her off the ventilator. However, coming off the ventilator is making Andi anxious, Eric Swenson said.

He said his daughter recently has been able walk a little bit in the hospital, including to a nurses’ station.

“There’s a little progress now,” Eric Swenson said.

She has experimented to see how long she can go without needing a ventilator, and it’s been 30 to 45 minutes, Eric Swenson said.

After she is weaned off the ventilator, which usually takes 13 days, doctors will lower the amount of anti-rejection medication she is taking post-transplant.

Andi hasn’t show signs of rejecting her new lungs and liver.

“The organs are doing great,” Eric Swenson said.

Throughout this ordeal, the Swenson family has received support from the community.

Recently members of the morning crew at the Harvard Food Pantry all wore purple shirts, in honor of Andi.

“The town of Harvard has been praying for Andi and sending her notes and letters of encouragement,” Mary Alice Traeder said in an email to the Northwest Herald.

Eric Swenson, and his wife, Lea, also run the Facebook page "Breathe On Andi" in order to keep people updated on their daughter's progress. More than 2,000 people follow the page.

Eric Swenson said Andi has received a signed hockey stick from the Chicago Blackhawks, an autograph picture from Ben Affleck, among other things. She also has received about 1,000 get-well cards at the hospital.

“It’s been unbelievable,” Eric Swenson said.