Iowa Woman Receives Groundbreaking Quadruple-Organ Transplant

Advancements in modern medicine are really incredible.

According to a release from Northwestern Medicine, 36-year-old Elizabeth Wehrle, who is from Montezuma, Iowa and has cystic fibrosis, underwent a first-of-its-kind surgery.

A quadruple-organ transplant is rare enough but hers is the first known quadruple-organ transplant involving retransplanted lungs in the United States.

Besides a kidney and liver, she received 2 donor lungs for a second time after her body's chronic rejection of the first lung transplant. It took surgeons from multidisciplinary fields to complete it, as redo lung transplants are one of the most difficult procedures in medicine.

She had her first lung transplant in 2017 and in January of this year, things started to go downhill for her.

But luckily, the quadruple-organ procedure earlier this year went well and Elizabeth has just gotten to go home! She quickly recovered after the procedure with her new lungs, liver, and kidney functioning well. She's been walking 3-4 miles a day and weightlifting. (So our excuses to not go to the gym are invalid)

As for Elizabeth, she's going to enjoy pool time this summer, saying:

I don't hide my scars. I’m looking forward to going to the swimming pool this summer and showing off my battle scars. I earned them. They saved my life.

The hospital acknowledges the generosity of an organ donor and the donor's family.