NEW DELHI, A year ago, every soul felt like it was on loan, drawing life from the tethered oxygen cylinder it had to carry everywhere.
Today, our neighbor Bhowmik climbs a flight of stairs alone without breaking a sweat. The cylinder has disappeared from her life.
A year after a rare double lung transplant gave her a second chance at life, the Faridabad resident spends her mornings tending to plants, taking leisurely walks, and working in the kitchen in ordinary moments that once seemed far-fetched as the crippling lung disease slowly robbed her of her ability to breathe.
Bhowmick was diagnosed with end-stage interstitial lung disease caused by scleroderma in 2010, and reached a point where even talking for too long or walking across a room left her gasping for breath.
Scleroderma is a rare disease in which the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks its own tissues, causing damage to internal organs.
“Every breath became a struggle and by 2025 I was completely dependent on continuous oxygen support. There were days when I felt trapped between fear and hope, watching life slow down around me,” Bhowmik, 66, told PTI.
But her life was about to change. On May 15, 2025, she underwent a double lung transplant at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in Delhi.
Bhowmik is one of the lucky few to have a donor, and one of the few to survive an organ transplant that has an extremely low success rate.
Doctors say that despite advances in transplant medicine, their biggest hurdle is that there are too few donated organs in India.
At any given time, there are at least 1,000 patients on the waiting list for lung transplantation in India, and only about 150 patients are lucky to get donors.
Most of the others die.
While the marathon surgery to save Bhowmik was a medical achievement, doctors said the real challenge began after that.
Dr Avdesh Bansal, senior consultant in respiratory medicine at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, who was part of the transplant team, said: “A transplant is not the end of treatment. In many ways it is the beginning of a lifelong journey of discipline, monitoring and recovery.”
According to doctors, the first year after lung transplantation is the most crucial year, as it requires constant monitoring for organ rejection, infections and complications caused by immunosuppressive drugs throughout life.
In the first months after surgery, Bhowmick underwent frequent hospital visits, frequent lung function tests, bronchoscopy, CT scans, and blood tests to make sure the donor’s lungs were working properly.
“She initially required long-term ventilation support and intensive rehabilitation. Recovery after a lung transplant is physically and emotionally exhausting because patients have to relearn endurance and respiratory endurance,” Dr Bansal told PTI.
He explained that organ transplant recipients remain vulnerable to severe infections because the medications needed to prevent organ rejection suppress the body’s immune system. Even common viral or bacterial infections can become life-threatening in these patients.
“There is always a delicate balance. If immunosuppression is insufficient, the body may reject the lungs. If it is excessive, the patient becomes vulnerable to infections,” Dr. Bansal said.
Aside from infections, long-term use of immunosuppressants can also affect kidney function, blood pressure and metabolic health, making lifelong follow-up essential.
“Lung transplant patients need constant monitoring throughout life. Rejection can occur months or even years later, sometimes silently,” said Dr Mukesh Goel, senior consultant cardiothoracic surgeon and heart and lung transplant at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, who led the lung transplant.
He said Bhowmick’s recovery was only possible because the family of the brain-dead donor agreed to donate the organs during a moment of tremendous personal grief.
Dr Bansal said that although a single donor can save the lives of several people, the cadaver organ donation rate in India is still much lower than many Western countries.
He cited lack of awareness, social hesitation and limited understanding of the topic of brain death as reasons behind this.
“Despite advances in transplantation medicine, the biggest challenge in India remains the shortage of donor organs,” he said.
Dr Bansal said thousands of patients across the country remain on waiting lists for kidneys, liver, heart and lungs, while only a small portion eventually get the organs.
There are at least 1,000 patients on the waiting list for a lung transplant at any given time in India, and only about 150 patients are transplanted each year.
“Many patients will die while waiting!” He said.
“Lung transplants remain particularly rare because lungs are among the most sensitive organs to retrieve and transplant, with only a limited number deemed medically suitable after donation,” he said.
Dr. Bansal stressed that increasing public awareness and conversations within families about organ donation is crucial to bridging the widening gap between demand and supply.
“Without the consent of the donor family at the most difficult moment in their lives, none of these organ transplants would be possible,” he said.
For Bhowmik and her family, the past year has also been emotionally and financially exhausting.
The cost of surgery, long ICU care, rehabilitation, investigations and lifelong medications can run into several thousand rupees, Dr Bansal said, adding that the psychological burden on both patients and caregivers often remains unrecognized.
“There are days of anxiety, fear of infection and uncertainty about recovery. Family support becomes extremely important to help patients regain confidence,” Dr Bansal said.
Bhowmik said that doctors and her family stood by her during her difficult times.
“I am also grateful to the family who decided to donate the lungs, which gave me a new lease on life,” she said.
For her, every breath she takes now carries the memory of a final gift to a stranger and the hope that more families will choose to give others a second chance at life.
This article was generated from an automated news feed without any modifications to the text.
