Mother of two headed for Boston for double lung transplant

 

by Elizabeth Trail

copyright the Chronicle July 13, 2016

IRASBURG — The average wait for a double lung transplant is 90 days. Katrina Griffin was officially added to the waiting list on March 20, so she’s almost to the four-month mark. She carries a beeper everywhere.

“It could be any minute,” the 35-year-old Irasburg mother of two says matter-of-factly. “When it beeps, I go.”

That will mean heading for Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, one of the few options in the Northeast for the surgery.

Ms. Griffin has a rare, possibly hereditary, lung condition called lymphangioleiomyomatosis, or LAM. LAM causes cysts to form in the lungs, swell, and burst, filling the lungs with fluid.

Except for dark circles under her eyes, Ms. Griffin hardly looks sick. There’s not an oxygen tank in sight. She laughs a lot, and her conversation is lively.

“Unfiltered, they call me,” she said with a mischievous grin…To read the rest of this article, and all the Chronicle‘s stories, subscribe:

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