You wouldn't know it, but Mandy Wilk is now three months out from a double-lung transplant. The patient and her doctors at Northwestern Medicine have called it a medical breakthrough.
"It's amazing," Wilk said. "I still can't believe it."
Wilk survived stage 4 colorectal cancer, which spread to her liver, but when it spread to her lungs, conventional therapy wasn't working.
"Every Christmas, every holiday, all of our get togethers, it's like, 'is this going to be the last one?'" Wilk said.
The elementary educator from Bloomington, Minnesota grew up in the suburbs and was often in Chicago for her husband's job.
After her liver procedure in Chicago, she was referred to the Dream Program at Northwestern Medicine. It is a program that gives cancer patients a last chance with lung transplants.
"We were able to remove all the cancer cells from the lungs then put brand new two lungs in her," said Dr. Ankit Bharat, Northwestern Medicine Chief of Thoracic Surgery. "She's over three months out, and based on all the testing that's available to us, including DNA testing in the blood, there is no sign of cancer left in her body."
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Wilk's case was the first double-lung transplant with the Dream Program that originated at colorectal cancer. Her eight-year dream of ringing the bell, signally she was cancer free, came true June 10.
"Mandy's determination has no limits," said Dr. Catherine Myers, Northwestern Medicine Pulmonologist. "When other hospitals told her there was nothing more they could, she really didn't take no for an answer."
Wilk hopes other patients will benefit from the program and live cancer free.
"When something doesn't feel good, I should take that as the end all be all," Wilk said. "If I had done that, I wouldn't be sitting here today. So it think it's really important for people to explore other opportunities."
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