Billy Curtis Double Lung Transplant
Donation protected
- This is my 1st public post about what our family has been go through. As most people know, in October 2021 Billy was critically ill with ARDS, Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome or Lung failure. After 11 days on a ventilator he was extubated and on the road to recovery, however his lungs would never fully recover and he learned to live with certain limitations. Now, On February 14th 2024, Billy came down with the Flu. After a few days trying to get better it just wasn’t happening. We were hit with the extremely rare and unlikely reality that Billy had ARDS again and was in full lung failure for the 2nd time. He was put into a coma and intubated again. On February 18th Billy was life flighted to MGH Boston where he could get the best medical care possible from the best Dr’s in the world. After a few days at MGH there was no forward progression, his lungs were not getting better, only worse. Billy was put on a 2nd type of life support called ECMO. It’s essentially dialysis for your lungs. The Medical team was hopeful this would be a bridge to one of 2 things, healed lungs or a bi-lateral lung transplant. Unfortunately, the Dr.s came to the conclusion that Billy’s lungs were to damage and would likely never heal. It was also, at one point, someone as sick as he was would not get a transplant in such a quick time period. It’s actually never been done in someone with an acute illness. However, by the grace of God on 3/6 after almost 3 weeks on 2 types of life support Billy was granted the gift of being listed for transplant. The morning of March 7th, the very next day, I got the call that donor lungs became available and he would undergo a bi-lateral lung transplant that afternoon. He is the 1st known patient to be lung failure 2 times and, to receive a double lung transplant in 3 weeks time. The doctors told me at this point…if they didn’t do this operation for Billy, who would they do it for. He is healthy in all ways except for his lungs. On March 7th @ around 7pm Billy was taken into the operating room. After a 9 hour operation Billy received NEW LUNGS. He would continue to be on life support for another few days in order to get the new lungs rested and acclimated to his body. Billy continues to be stable and make forward progress. By the end of this week he should start waking up and be on the road to recovery and living his life that he loves so much!! He is always saying “I LOVE my life”.
After such an intense operation Billy will be disabled for at least a year but maybe forever. We are not sure. For our family there are a lot of unknowns. It’s a huge operation to recover from and it changes so much about our lives but it is LIFE and we are so grateful. He will not be able to go back to his profession working in concrete regardless. I was only working part time so I don’t qualify for paid leave. Billy will not be able to be left unattended for over 12 weeks. We will be traveling to appointments in Boston 2x weekly ( I’ve been back and forth to Boston everyday for a month now being by his side every step of the way), he will be on a lot of anti rejection medication for the rest of his life. If anyone knows us, you know we will always pay it forward. It takes a lot for me to ask for help and at the same time Asking for help has saved Billy’s life more than once! Billy ALWAYS gives back and this time will be no different. We just bought a house in August and this is going to cause a huge financial strain for us. I’m trying to raise some money to help us stay afloat while we navigate what direction our lives take from here. We would be so grateful to anyone that would help us out and/or share our story. Billy’s life is nothing short of a miracle❤️
God Bless, Love,
Billy, Stephanie and our entire tribe.
Organizer
Stephanie Curtis
Organizer
Athol, MA