Local teen saved by lung transplant

A 17-year-old double lung transplantee from Pleasant Point is still at the Children's Hospital in Boston recovering from her February 22 surgery. Kelly Keezer cannot return home until her house is free of allergen-causing materials and made handicapped accessible. All the carpeting in the Keezer home must be replaced with laminate flooring and an air purifier put in Kelly's bedroom.

A fundraising Chinese raffle will be held from 1 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 5, at the Beatrice Rafferty School, and all donations are tax deductible.

In addition, a 45-member team called Mighty Mouse raised $750 in the May 20 Make-A-Wish Walk in Dennysville in honor of Kelly, whose nickname is "Mighty Mouse."

"My family, my children and my sisters have been amazing," says Kelly's mother, Lori Keezer, of the assistance they have received. "The Sipayik community and surrounding communities have taken my breath away with their support. I can't even begin to name all that have helped in one way or another, through money, prayers, cards and love. They give us the strength to continue when we think that we cannot."

On May 25 of last year, Kelly was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary hypertension and, since the transplant, her family has learned that she also has pulmonary veno occlusive disease (PVOD). "That condition attacks the airways in her lungs and constricts them until no air can pass," says her mother. "It is a rare disease usually diagnosed in autopsy, or when it is diagnosed the person dies before transplant."

Kelly was placed on the transplant list on October 30. Worried about possible bad weather, which might have prevented Kelly from travelling from Pleasant Point to Boston when a pair of lungs became available, Lori and her daughter spent the month of November and half of December with Lori's uncle, Earl Carroll Sr. of Windsor Locks, Conn. "On December 18, we returned to Boston for an IGG infusion," says Lori. "On the 19th, we were allowed to return to Maine. We did not let anyone know. My sister Jackie came down and got us. We arrived home to surprise her family. We were home for two weeks, and she was life-flighted back on January 5."

Her lungs were failing so fast, Kelly was placed first on a transplant list, and on February 22 her family was informed that there was a match. She received her new lungs in an operation that began that evening and lasted into the early morning hours of February 23.

"Since the transplant, we have come close to losing her several times," reports Kelly's mother. "Her lungs have developed something called sloth, and she has undergone 37 bronks [bronchoscopies] to date. She was placed on a respirator more times than I can remember. She now has a tracheotomy, which allows them to do bronks easier."

Kelly's doctors have told the family that she will not be released from the hospital for at least another two months. "Every week she goes back to the [operating room] to do bronks, where they clean out her lungs and dilate the airways," says Lori. "Hopefully, she will be able to get stents put in that will allow her to keep those airways clear and open. She also has what is called a G tube, where she receives feeds. She is still unable to eat."

Lori Keezer explains that, although the bilateral lung transplant cured her daughter's pulmonary hypertension, "she will be on rejection medication for the rest of her life, seeing doctors... in Boston every month for two years, then continuing treatment for the rest of her life."

Lori stresses that Kelly's spirit is "amazing," even though her journey has been long and difficult. "She misses home very much but possesses more courage, strength and fight then anyone I know. She is, by far, my hero."