Rising Communication junior Josie Nordman is breathing on her own as she recovers today from a double lung transplant surgery, according to her mother, Nicolle Nordman.
Josie Nordman, who was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when she was 4 months old, is in the intensive care unit at the University of Chicago Medical Center, her mom said. She underwent the operation early Sunday morning.
Rehabilitation can takes months and may lead to organ rejection, but barring any complications, the surgery should allow Josie Nordman to breathe normally.
“I find it hard to fathom that sometime tomorrow I will wake up and take a real, deep breath,” Josie Nordman wrote at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday in a Facebook post. “Thank you to everyone who has supported me through all of this. Every single one of you.”
Since the beginning of the year, dozens of student organizations have raised thousands of dollars for Josie Nordman’s lung transplant fund. Her family has said they will have to pay up to $75,000 for the procedure.
Josie Nordman was placed on the lung transplant list in December, and her mother has said her daughter would likely receive the next available lungs that match her height and blood type. The family was notified of a donor match Saturday night, and Josie Nordman entered the 10-hour surgery the next day.
Josie Nordman’s lungs were 16 percent functional as of April. If recovery goes well, she has said she will still have cystic fibrosis-related complications in her stomach, pancreas and other body parts, but restored lung function will allow her to continue her passions of theater and horseback riding.
— Ally Mutnick
