Help Dr. Shanda With Her Double Lung Transplant!

Dr. Shanda Johnson needs our help!

Dr. Shanda has dedicated her entire life to helping others. She is a mother, sister, aunt, friend, mentor, nurse practitioner, professor and so much more. Many have seen her pushing through with her oxygen tank in tow, but very few know her story.

Like most asthmatics, Shanda Johnson successfully managed her asthma with medications. However, she began experiencing a prolonged, abnormal series of breathing complications. Shanda was finally referred to advanced pulmonary care in June 2019 at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. After a series of tests and procedures the pulmonary team diagnosed her with Chronic Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis (CHP) which resulted from mold exposure in her apartment. This disease has a life expectancy of up to 7 years if identified early and treated with immune suppressor/steroid therapy. Without transplant of the diseased lung(s), death is certain. In 2021 Shanda moved her advance pulmonary care to the hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (UPENN Medicine).

At the moment, Shanda is 5 years out from her initial battery of tests and diagnosis. As the disease progressed to its late stages and following her latest severe attack, Shanda made her way to the top of the transplant list. While a timely match is not guaranteed, we are hopeful that she will be presented with a new set of lungs sooner than later. Until then, Shanda will require high flow oxygen which can only be provided in a medical setting. Although she would love to go home, the progression of her disease will not allow for her safe return home at this time.

While experiencing all of this, Shanda is still a full time single mother to a college sophomore and works as a full-time professor at a NJ University. During the pandemic and throughout each hospital stay, Dr. Shanda continues to lecture and maintain her university responsibilities virtually. However, we are unsure how long this is sustainable. Additionally, Shanda’s family will need to relocate her within one hour of her transplant hospital so she can remain in the area after surgery for her appointments and emergency support. Shanda’s twin brother, Shawn, has retired from the police department to be her full time caregiver during this time.

For those close to Shanda, they know that she opens her wallet for any and every one when she can. Now, it’s time for us to pay it forward. The financial demands of this transplant are monumental. While Shanda is pushing through to work now, the time will come when she must step aside to prioritize her health. That decision will impact her insurance coverage and support of her post-transplant medications. Additionally, she must continue to supplement her son’s tuition in an effort to keep his life and routine as normal as possible. Lastly, this unexpected hospital stays, and abrupt relocation has also presented a financial challenge.

Dr. Shanda Johnson has given so much of herself in a purpose-driven life. Please help ensure that she stays with us all longer!