{"id":474425,"date":"2021-04-09T17:00:43","date_gmt":"2021-04-09T21:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/?p=474425"},"modified":"2021-04-09T17:00:43","modified_gmt":"2021-04-09T21:00:43","slug":"oklahoma-firefighter-and-father-of-four-survives-covid-19-and-receives-lifesaving-lung-transplant-at-dignity-health-st-josephs-in-phoenix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/oklahoma-firefighter-and-father-of-four-survives-covid-19-and-receives-lifesaving-lung-transplant-at-dignity-health-st-josephs-in-phoenix\/","title":{"rendered":"Oklahoma Firefighter and Father-of-Four Survives COVID-19 and Receives Lifesaving Lung Transplant at Dignity Health St. Joseph\u2019s in Phoenix"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nApril is National Donte Life Month
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PHOENIX, April 09, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — A 44-year-old firefighter and father-of-four from Oklahoma recently received a lifesaving double lung transplant at Norton Thoracic Institute at Dignity Health St. Joseph\u2019s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix after having survived COVID-19. Now, Captain Randy Blake is making a remarkable recovery following four months of hospitalization.<\/b><\/p>\n

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Blake was first admitted to the hospital in his hometown of Stillwater, Okla. after contracting COVID-19 in October 2020. After spending nearly a week in the ICU, he was transferred to Oklahoma Heart Institute in Tulsa. Prior to his COVID-19 diagnosis, the Stillwater Fire Department Captain had no preexisting conditions, was in excellent physical shape and made it a point to take good care of himself for sake of his job and his family.<\/p>\n

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While at the Oklahoma Heart Institute, Blake\u2019s condition continued to rollercoaster. Eventually, he would be placed on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for more than a month. He also had a tracheotomy and underwent several procedures to treat blood clots that had formed as a result of the infection.<\/p>\n

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Essentially an artificial lung that oxygenates the blood, ECMO can be used to help support patients while their lungs recover. Although it is not always a treatment option, ECMO can help some patients recover from severe pneumonia caused by COVID-19. Although Blake was able to improve and come off of ECMO in December, COVID-19 caused severe and irreversible lung injury, and he required a lung transplant to survive.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOne day, one of my physicians, Dr. Ghuloom at Oklahoma Heart said he thought I\u2019d be a good candidate for a double lung transplant and that he\u2019d call someone he knew in Arizona,\u201d recalls Blake. \u201cIt felt like a very short time later, Dr. Ghuloom came back and said \u2018they want to evaluate you for transplant,\u2019 and then before I knew it, I was on a medical transport plane to St. Joseph\u2019s Norton Thoracic Institute in Phoenix. The team at St. Joseph\u2019s worked so quickly, so diligently and with such compassion that not long after I arrived at St. Joseph\u2019s in January, I had a new pair of donor lungs.\u201d<\/p>\n

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When Blake\u2019s wife, Jenn, learned the doctors had called a lung transplant program in Arizona, she started researching online. \u201cI remember when Dr. Ghuloom told us they wanted to evaluate Randy for transplant, I asked desperately, \u2018What program?!\u2019 He looked in his notes and said that it was St. Joseph\u2019s Norton Thoracic Institute. I was immediately relieved and overjoyed. We\u2019d been blessed again.<\/p>\n

St. Joseph\u2019s Norton Thoracic Institute was the one place I\u2019d spent all night reading about after learning it has one of the leading lung transplant programs in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Lung transplants are among the most complicated surgical procedures, and these patients require lifelong care. \u201cPatients who have had COVID-19 and require lung transplantation present additional challenges. They often experience longer hospitalizations and have more medical interventions, in addition to severe lung damage,\u201d explains Shair Ahmed, MD, Blake\u2019s primary lung transplant surgeon at St. Joseph\u2019s Norton Thoracic Institute. \u201cThankfully, Randy\u2019s surgery went well given his critical situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Being hospitalized for nearly four months, Blake lost 55 pounds of muscle and spent two weeks in St. Joseph\u2019s Barrow Neurological Institute Neuro-Rehabilitation Center to retrain his muscles and relearn what most would consider basic tasks.<\/p>\n

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\u201cRandy is doing wonderfully, and we couldn\u2019t be happier that he\u2019s ready to go home. He is no longer on oxygen and is working hard in physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy,\u201d says Sofya Tokman, MD, Blake\u2019s pulmonologist at St. Joseph\u2019s Norton Thoracic Institute. \u201cIn fact, just a few days before his discharge, I saw him walking and lifting weights.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A humble first responder who was on the frontlines of the 2015 Homecoming Parade Tragedy in Okla., Blake says he would never seek attention for himself, but adds that he hopes his story will inspire other individuals and families who are facing similar situations.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI am beyond grateful to St. Joseph\u2019s and Norton, my family, God, my organ donor and their family, and everyone I\u2019ve come in contact with throughout this journey. I almost lost my life so many times, and now, I\u2019m just working really hard in rehab and can\u2019t wait to get out of the hospital, and then back to my family and my life,\u201d says Blake.<\/p>\n

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St. Joseph\u2019s Norton Thoracic Institute was the third lung transplant program in the country to perform a lung transplant as a result of lung damage from COVID-19, and Blake\u2019s case is Norton\u2019s fourth post-COVID-19 lung transplant.<\/p>\n

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