the dark, and it could’ve been been my last last
car ride. I
wouldn’t have been able to see all this
ever again.”
During those first few days back at
home, he
would gaze out of the window, looking lookin
longingly
at his strength to
at his tools and waiting patiently for h
return. Now, nearly two years after his
he’s replacing the entire exterior of his
new lumber and building two decks a
his property.
“Even as a kid, I wanted to create th
hands,” Nettles says. “I believe in my hand
in my mind. There’s nothing that can’t
his transplant,
his home with
and a shed on
things with my
hands, and I believe
can’t be created.”
UF Health patients requiring lung transplants
— like Jerry Nettles — now have access to stateof
the-art facilities at the thoracic and vascular
intensive care unit, or ICU, housed in the UF
Health Heart & Vascular Hospital.
Andres Pelaez, MD, medical
director of the UF Health Lung
Transplant Program and an
associate professor of medicine
in the UF College of Medicine,
performed Nettles’ lung transplant.
He said the new specialized ICU
gives lung transplant patients
advantages they wouldn’t have
elsewhere. Respiratory therapists,
nurses, surgeons and pulmonary
physicians are all close at hand.
Procedures, recovery and follow-up
visits all occur in the same location.
“Bringing all these disciplines
together allows patients to have
early mobilization after a procedure
and aggressive physical therapy
while they are dealing with their
recovery,” Pelaez said.
UF Health ranks first in the
state and 13th in the nation in
lung transplant volume. Since
2014, UF Health first-year patient
survival has increased from 74 to
92 percent. Of 12 lung programs
in the 10 southeastern states, UF
Health surgeons have performed
the second-most transplants with
the second-lowest mortality rate
among adults awaiting transplant
between July 2015 and June 2017.
Tiago Machuca, MD, PhD, a
thoracic surgeon, lung specialist
and assistant professor of surgery
in the UF College of Medicine, said
UF Health provides innovative
care to its lung transplant patients,
including the resizing of donor lungs
to create a perfect fit and the use of
the XVIVO Lung Perfusion System,
which allows donor lungs to be kept
alive and potentially improved to
become eligible for transplant.
“I’m extremely proud of where
we are today,” Machuca said. “We
have become a high-volume
program with excellent outcomes.
It’s due to a lot of hard work by a lot
of people. Putting all our patients
together is a way to optimize
resources so that a strong team of
people can provide the very best
lung care.”
Nina Nettles says her husband's
positive attitude ensures his
ability to heal.
PHOTO BY GREGG MCGOUGH
PHOTO BY MINDY C. MILLER
W I N T E R 2 0 1 9 | 7