Girl from Dexter gets ready for lung transplant

DEXTER, Mo. -- Like most 16-year-old girls, Dexter High School sophomore Savannah Snider's thoughts and aspirations revolve around a recently acquired driver's license, prom prospects, homework assignments, and college plans.

But for Savannah, there are other issues at hand; issues no 16-year-old should have to deal with, but there just the same. Savannah, the daughter of Sheila and Phil Pounds of Dexter and Stan Snider, who resides in Cape Girardeau, has cystic fibrosis. She has lived with the debilitating effects of the disease all her life and has faced a multitude of challenges in her 16 years as a result of her illness. She has had more hospital stays in St. Louis than she cares to count. But, Savannah is about to face her greatest challenge yet. She is near the top of the list for a lung transplant. A two-year plan, full of hopes and fears, is about to become a reality.

Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disease, affecting approximately 30,000 children and adults in this country. It causes the body to produce an abnormally thick and sticky mucus, due to the faulty transport of sodium chloride within cells lining organs such the lungs and pancreas, to their outer surfaces. The result, over a period of time, is a destruction of the lung tissue itself. Lung capacity becomes limited. Infections are commonplace. Breathing is greatly impaired.

Savannah has been blessed with a caring and supportive network of family and friends. Her mother, Sheila, has been instrumental in her treatments since birth. Until Savannah was 12, Sheila provided Savannah with chest physical therapy twice daily. The treatment involved intense percussion on the back and chest to dislodge the thick mucus from the lungs. Treatments were time-consuming and vigorous. About five years ago, Savannah was provided with a therapy vest that does the work her mother's cupped hands previously did. She wears the vest for two 30-minute sessions every day and takes medication for her disease. And although Savannah has suffered many setbacks in her lifetime, doctors attribute her wellness level so far to her steadfast treatment routine.

Delicate situation

It's difficult to realize, during a visit with Savannah and her family, just how delicate her health situation has become. She is an energetic, bright-eyed, beautiful 16-year-old, and except for her diminutive 65- pound frame, which is another result of the disease, she resembles any other girl her age. She drives, has a wide circle of close friends, and even works part time at a Dexter pizza restaurant. But it quickly becomes apparent that Savannah has her good days and her bad and that her limitations are many. On doctor's orders, she recently had to resort to attending school only part time. On days she does not attend, a teacher comes to her home and completes her instruction, a condition which Savannah was not anxious to accept, but a necessity.

"I just couldn't make it for two or three consecutive days this year," she explained. The doctors to which Savannah refers are some of the finest in the country. Since infancy, she has been under the care of specialists at Children's Hospital in St. Louis, many of whom have watched her progress over the years and who now play a vital role in the decision process to proceed with the lung transplant.

"Savannah's name was put on the transplant list about two years ago," her mother explained. "At that time, it was evident to her physicians that the transplant would eventually become a necessity."

"The doctors told us that when the bad days outnumbered the good for Savannah, then it would be time to consider the reality of a transplant," Sheila said.

Savannah has had seven hospital stays in the past nine months, with some of those stays lasting up to two full weeks. She now has a porta-cath inserted in her upper chest that readily accesses antibiotics into her small system in an effort to ward away infection. She is scheduled to undergo a sleep study in the immediate future to determine whether she should begin using oxygen during the night.

Accepting conditions

And so the family of Savannah has accepted the fact that it is nearly time to accept a donor lung when one becomes available. But there are many mountains yet to climb in this most extensive, and expensive process. Savannah and her mother must reside within minutes of Children's Hospital in St. Louis even before the transplant takes place. Then, following the transplant, a three- to six-month stay, in close proximity to the hospital, is mandated.

"Should any rejection of the new lung occur," Sheila noted, "We have to be within minutes of the hospital."

This mandate is going to necessitate setting up an entire second household for Savannah and her mother. Arrangements have been made to rent a small apartment near the facility, but the cost is high. Sheila's job at a local car dealership will be there upon her return, but in the meantime, her income will cease.

"But we're just going to do what we have to do," she said.