It was the day before Thanksgiving 2021, and Joe Stranglen had just received some shocking news from his doctor: He only had five months to live if he didn’t get treatment for his lung disease right away.
Joe’s doctor, Erin Lowery, MD, MS, a transplant pulmonologist for the UW Health Transplant Center, wanted to admit Joe into the hospital right away. But he and his wife, Leah, really wanted him to be able to spend one last Thanksgiving with his family. So, they waited a couple of days, and then he put himself in the hands of the experts at UW Health.
As it turned out, Joe would have many more Thanksgivings, because just a few weeks later, he received the gift the life with a double lung transplant. “They saved my life,” he said. “All of them did.”
A steep decline
Joe became sick very quickly in early 2021. He was feeling so short of breath that he was unable to work in his job building trusses for houses. After he underwent a computed tomography (CT) scan, his doctor thought he had interstitial lung disease and admitted him to a hospital near his home in Janesville. It turned out the diagnosis was actually idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, but the remedy was the same—he would need a lung transplant.
“It was a bit of shock,” said Leah. “But I had been looking into things behind the scenes, so I wasn’t totally surprised by it.”
Joe’s doctors put him on oxygen right away and referred him to the UW Health Transplant Center. He traveled up to the center in Madison, Wisconsin, a couple of times for pulmonary function testing, and he first saw Dr. Lowery in November, when he was admitted to the hospital.
During the time Joe was in the hospital, he deteriorated quickly. His doctors had to put him on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a support system that takes over the function of the heart and lungs when they are unable to supply the heart with oxygen.
“It was brutal,” said Leah. “I can’t even imagine half of what he was going through. To watch him suffer like that, it’s the worst thing I’ve ever experienced. He couldn’t even talk enough to have a conversation, but if someone came in, he could make a noise and nod.”
Joe received the gift of life with a new set of lungs on Dec. 14, 2021. “It was like a night and day difference, the minute I woke up from my surgery,” he said. “I ended up staying in the hospital a total of a month and a half so that I could regain my strength and walk again.”
While he was in the hospital, both Joe and Leah basked in the care of everyone they met there. “We felt so loved by everyone we met,” Leah said. “When Joe was in critical care, there was a housekeeping guy who came over and sat and prayed for and with us. It was just amazing. It wasn’t just professional—they really, truly cared.”
Now, Joe is able to live his life again. He and Leah go on walks, play pickleball and ride their bikes, and he enjoys tackling projects around the house. He’s determined to make the most of the gift he received. “It was a miracle,” he said.