Jennifer Matthews: This daunting row of pills is a necessary part of an organ recipient's life.
Bill Settino: I take about 25 to 29 pills a day. Sometimes, I don't have to eat.
Jennifer Matthews: It's a lot, but when an autoimmune disease caused his lungs to start failing, Bill Settino was running out of options.
Bill Settino: I had 54% capacity in one and 46 in the other.
Jennifer Matthews: A lung transplant was his last hope. But even with strong medications, the organ is often rejected.
Aldo Iacono: There have not been advances in therapeutics in lung transplantation over the last 10 years, so that the average survival is only about three to four years.
Jennifer Matthews: Doctor Aldo Iacono may have an advance that can extend Bill's life even more. Three times a week, for two years, transplant patients breathe in an aerosol form of the anti-rejection drug cyclosporine.
Aldo Iacono: The concept is that if you inhale the drug, it'll go directly into the lung where rejection takes place.
Jennifer Matthews: Early studies are exciting. Patients function better and survive longer.
Aldo Iacono: It's hard for me to believe it myself but they are what they are.
Jennifer Matthews: Four years after his transplant, Bill has all the confirmation he needs.
Bill Settino: I've been off it about two and a half years and I still have not had rejection, so maybe that's the reason that I didn't because of the cyclosporine.
Jennifer Matthews: He's back to working full-time and looking forward to many years to come.
Jennifer Matthews: This is Jennifer Matthews reporting.
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