Anne Turnage Needs New Lungs

They are words that no one ever wants to hear, but this month our family heard them: “Mom needs a lung transplant.” In early November our mother, Anne, scheduled a doctors appointment. She knew she was sick, at worse pneumonia she thought. She had a cough she couldn’t shake, and she couldn’t catch her breath. After a few x-rays she was admitted to Carteret Health Care. There was a lot of fluid in her lungs, and she had an enlarged heart. A lot of scary words were being thrown around, and eventually it was recommended that she be transferred to Duke University Hospital, three hours away. Two weeks later we had a diagnosis: Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH). Scarring in her lungs had caused fluid buildup which had caused the enlargement of her heart. Medication can help her heart, but there is no reversing the scar tissue on her lungs. Oxygen tanks and medicine pumps have become her new way of life. For a woman who has always lived a healthy lifestyle this has been difficult, though she handles it with grace. As to the cause, the best guess is mold exposure prior to a surgery she had two years ago in which she was oxygenated, and it stirred up the mold that then lay dormant in her lungs. No matter the cause though, her doctors have been baffled with how quickly her PAH has progressed.

In January Mom returned to Duke for a transplant analysis. Shortly after, her team of doctors made their assessment that she needed to go ahead and make the move to the Durham area and begin the transplant process. And that’s where we are now, finding an apartment, making preparations, and a big part of those preparations involves the cost of a lung transplant. Mom needs a total of $20,000 in order to have the transplant. It’s a large sum of money that neither of our parents expected. A lot of Mom’s friends have reached out to her and to us, her children, asking how they can help. Any amount that you can donate would be absolutely amazing and would help our wonderful, sweet mother spend more time with her husband, her children, and her grandchildren. We thank you for the love, prayers, and support! Let’s get Anne new lungs!

Thank you so much,
Kristina, Ryan, and Sawyer