Queens Woman, Subject Of #OomphForKaty Campaign, Undergoes Double Lung Transplant
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A Queens woman, who is the subject of a viral social media campaign, is recovering after undergoing a double lung transplant.
After waiting months for a new set of lungs, Katy Starck-Monte got the news she was waiting for Thursday night.
"We were in the room -- Katy's mother, her two sisters and myself -- and the doctor came in and said, 'It's your lucky day" and pretty much wheeled her into surgery within two minutes of getting the good news," Monte's husband, Joe, told 1010 WINS' Mona Rivera. "We were all excited, Katy was smiling from ear to ear."
Woman At Center Of #OomphForKaty Campaign Undergoes Double Lung Transplant
Starck-Monte underwent the operation at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center.
Her pulmonologist, Dr. Lori Shah, said the surgery went fairly smoothly and without complication.
"This is a redo double lung transplant for her so it is a complicated surgery by its nature, but it went pretty smoothly and we're all keeping our fingers crossed for her," Shah said. "She could be out jogging as soon as the good weather hits this spring."
This is the second pair of donated lungs for the 30-year-old woman who suffers from cystic fibrosis, a genetic lung disease.
After her first set of donated lungs failed, Starck-Monte's husband and supporters launched #OomphForKaty, a social media campaign on Twitter and Facebook, in an effort to get her a new set.
Shah said it's not known if the new lungs came through because of social media but she hopes the campaign spurs organ donations.
"That could be more than one life saved," Shah said.
