Sigh of relief Late-night call sets Winnipeg transplant patient on long-awaited path to new lung By: John Longhurst Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Monday, Apr. 17, 2023

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/04/2023 (904 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The call came a week ago, very early on Monday morning, April 10 — a lung was available and transplant patient Rick Schmidt needed to fly to Edmonton as soon as possible.

It was the call he and his wife, Sara Jane, had been waiting for since January, when he was put on the active on-call list with the Manitoba Transplant Program.

Schmidt began the health journey in 2018 when he was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), an incurable disease.

In November 2021, the possibility of a transplant was raised. After a series of physical and psychological tests, he was approved to get a new lung in January.

The next step was waiting; the couple was told it could take six months to a year, or more, before surgery could take place.

For Rick, it felt like a “race against time” to see if his health could hold out long enough to get the transplant; each month he felt his condition worsening.

That race ended a week ago when they got the call.

“I was into a good book, so still up reading when I heard the ring,” Sara Jane says of the call, which came at 1:45 a.m. “I raced upstairs as Rick answered, my heart beating fast. Could this really be it? It was. I was trembling.”

They quickly got ready to head to the airport. But then came another call saying a plane would not be available for a few hours. “We went back to bed, but we didn’t sleep much,” Sara Jane says.

First thing Monday morning, they were at a hangar at the southern end of the airport to catch a flight with Vanguard Air Care, a 24/7 medical transport service.

The flight, which had a crew of two pilots and a medic, took just over three hours to get to Edmonton from Winnipeg.

“I was into a good book, so still up reading when I heard the ring… I raced upstairs as Rick answered, my heart beating fast. Could this really be it? It was. I was trembling.”–Sara Jane

Upon arrival, Rick and Sara Jane took a taxi to the University of Alberta Hospital. Meanwhile, the donated lung was on a journey of its own — but there was a wrinkle. It was coming from someone who had experienced cardiac death, not the usual way for an organ to be donated. Brain death is the best and safest scenario for transplantation.

Before they left Winnipeg, the couple was told it might not be suitable, so they were ready when told it wasn’t good enough. All the same, they were disappointed.

“Most people who get there to find out the donor is not suitable have to travel back,” said Nancy Porhownik, who directs the Manitoba Lung Transplant Program. “It’s called a ‘dry run’ and it can be very hard on patients.”

Unfortunately, she said, the transplant team can’t wait until they are 100 per cent certain about a donor before they call in a recipient. “The timeline for this all to be successful is too tight.”

Before they had a chance to digest the disappointing news, the Schmidts were told another lung might be available, but it would take a day to make sure.

“That was a long day of waiting,” said Sara Jane, who headed to a nearby home for the night while Rick stayed in the hospital.

The next morning it was confirmed there was another lung, and that it was a great match for Rick. “Our adrenaline surged again,” she says.

The transplant surgery started at 10:30 p.m. last Tuesday night. At 3:30 a.m., Sara Jane got a call from the hospital telling her everything went fine.

“The surgeon’s words were, ‘A pretty standard procedure, all went well,’” she says.

What followed were hours of careful observation and recovery as Schmidt was awakened from sedation and unhooked from a ventilator.

By Thursday, he was able to sit on the edge of the bed and, with support, take a few steps.

“I’m feeling better every day,” he says, although there continue to be minor setbacks and complications, such as battling a cold and flu virus that came along with the donated lung.

If things continue to go well, Rick could return home to Winnipeg in two to three weeks — first to spend some time at Health Sciences Centre to make sure everything is going OK and then in outpatient care.

“There are no guarantees on when I can leave,” he says.

If the time before the call was like a “slow burn,” the past seven days have been like a “roller coaster ride,” Sara Jane says.

“On balance, I’m doing very well, even if I know things could still go wrong… I’m blessed. We both are extremely grateful.”–Rick Schmidt

For Rick, it’s just one more step in a long journey that has more steps. “The next three months will be critical as my body adjusts to the new lung.”

“On balance, I’m doing very well, even if I know things could still go wrong,” he adds, praising the care he’s received from the transplant team in Edmonton and all the support beforehand in Winnipeg.

“I’m blessed. We both are extremely grateful.”

To become an organ donor, visit signupforlife.ca