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Marcia's Transplant




- All images copyright Lisa Nipp 2010
Marcia, exhausted, lies back in bed to rest while her husband Bob watches helplessly. Bob spends every evening on weekdays and most of the day on weekends with Marcia in the hospital. - All images copyright Lisa Nipp 2010
The transplant patients waiting for hearts head outside to sit in the hospital courtyard. Fifteen minutes of sun and conversation wear them out. Only Marcia must match for lungs as well. - All images copyright Lisa Nipp 2010
Marcia lets out a yelp as RNs Roy Alsobrook and Kim Schafer draw blood for the fourth time on the morning of the transplant surgery. Meanwhile, Bob alerts friends from First Baptist Church "to crank up the prayers" in preparation for the surgery. - All images copyright Lisa Nipp 2010

Surgical fellow Dr. Adras Kollar, left, prepares to pass the new heart and lungs off to lead surgeon, Dr. Richard Pierson, right, for placement in Marcia's empty chest cavity. - All images copyright Lisa Nipp 2010
Swollen with fluids from surgery, Marcia lies unconscious in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit. Her chest cavity is open but covered by a protective wrap. - All images copyright Lisa Nipp 2010
Bob greets a just awakened Marcia while RN Dorothy Nuusilla hovers close-by in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit. Surgeons closed her chest cavity in the morning but left her on the ventilator while her condition continues to stabilize. - All images copyright Lisa Nipp 2010
Weak and shaky, Marcia struggles to measure a correct dosage of one of the 24 medications she must take daily to ward off infection and prevent organ rejection. - All images copyright Lisa Nipp 2010

Marcia nestles against Bob for support as Dr. Lisa Lancaster performs a thoracentesis to drain almost a liter of fluid off her right lung. Marcia's doctors are unsure why the fluid is building up in her lungs and worry it may indicate rejection. - All images copyright Lisa Nipp 2010
Marcia covers her scar with zinc oxide--a trick used by models--and later with make-up so that it will not show. The faint scar runs from the base of her neck to three inches above her navel. - All images copyright Lisa Nipp 2010
Marcia and Bob plan to turn their 66-acre Texas farm into a nursery for antique roses. The Vintage Rosery will be more than a business, it will be Bob and Marcia's home, their future. "I grew up in the country. I just wanted to live there again." - All images copyright Lisa Nipp 2010

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 Washington DC 202-412-3467 		All images copyright Lisa Nipp 2010