Mother Thrives After Rare Second Double Lung Transplant at St. Joseph Norton Thoracic Institute

Valley Mother Thrives After Two Double lung Transplants, Celebrates Mother’s Day At 65

USA: Terry Raymond is marking Mother’s Day after surviving two double lung transplants that returned her to an active life and allowed her to watch her sons grow into adulthood. Her case spans more than two decades of lung disease, a failed first transplant and a rare second transplantation that doctors say was lifesaving.

Raymond’s lung problems began in the early 1990s. After a 2005 diagnosis of severe emphysema and years of declining respiratory function requiring supplemental oxygen, she received donor lungs in 2009 but experienced rejection about a year later. Facing rapidly worsening health, she was evaluated for repeat transplantation.

In 2011 surgeons at St. Joseph Norton Thoracic Institute performed a second double lung transplant, a highly complex and uncommon operation. Clinicians involved described the procedure and recovery as challenging but capable of dramatically restoring quality of life for selected patients who have suffered graft failure after an initial transplant.

More than a decade after the second surgery, Raymond is hiking and backpacking in the Grand Canyon, attending family milestones including a son’s wedding, and celebrating her 65th Mother’s Day. Her story highlights both the difficulties of chronic lung disease and the potential for transplantation to provide extended years of activity and family life after even the most daunting setbacks.

Video originally published on 2026-05-08 23:00:17