‘Transplant Stories’ follows the journey of many individuals waiting for an organ transplant. There are more than 600 British Columbians on the waitlist right now, and this Knowledge Network docuseries shares the perspective of those waiting for a transplant and the process of receiving one. It also sheds a light on the experiences of health-care professionals and caregivers.
As 72-year-old Dianne McPhee waited for a transplant, the Langley resident watched her grandkids grow up. They learned to crawl and walk over the tubes of her oxygen tank. Post-transplant, she continues to spend quality time with them. Dianne shares more on her life after transplant.
Life has been pretty good! I had a very active life before my transplant. Things happened quite fast – they found blood clots in October 2020 and I had new set of lungs by June 2023.
The lungs have been absolutely fabulous. My new lungs are very happy and allow me to breathe effortlessly.
I do have some other health concerns at the moment. I have gastroparesis, where the intestinal tract slows down a lot. Basically, you can’t eat a lot and if you do, you get sick. I am trying to build my weight back up and I am positive that I will be able to return to a healthier weight soon.
I don’t know who my donor is but I am receptive to meeting their family if they are receptive to it. I don’t want to put pressure on them, I want to give them their space and if at some point, they want to meet me, that’s fine. If they don’t want to meet me, that’s also fine. Their story is tragic and mine is life-giving.
I had scleroderma, which is an autoimmune deficiency. My scleroderma was caused by pulmonary fibrosis in the lungs, so this means that the tissue of my lungs was stiffening and scarring. They also found blood clots and I was referred to the cardiologist who put me on medication that kept everything relatively steady. I needed oxygen, but I was functioning generally well.
Suddenly, things got worse, and I couldn’t breathe at home anymore so we made the decision to go into the hospital. After surgery, they said I only had two weeks left to live. The biggest problem was they couldn’t find the correct-sized lungs for me. I am not a very big person, so I needed small lungs. A miracle happened right on time when the perfect size lungs became available.
I have gone back to bowling! I am a five-pin bowler, and I have bowled my entire life, so I was very excited to pick it up again. I have also coached five-pin bowling for 30 years to youth and adults. I recently returned to coaching and I am currently coaching the coaches how to coach.
I also enjoy spending time with my grandchildren. All three of them learned to walk and crawl over the tubes of my oxygen tank. They are now five, three and the youngest one is going to be two years old in February. The youngest one would come over and turn on the oxygen tank for me and was very happy to help grandma. It is such a blessing because without these lungs, I wouldn’t have been a part of their lives. Although they live in Calgary, we spend a lot of time with them and my goal is quality time with the grandkids.
Absolutely fabulous! Sheona [the series producer, director and writer] and her crew were unbelievable. They came out to see me three to four times before I went into the hospital. They were so easy to talk to and personable. To give you an example, when we made the decision to go into the hospital because I couldn’t breathe anymore, we gave Sheona a call and they met us at emergency. They met my family and interviewed them and even joined me during my recovery at G.F. Strong Rehabilitation Centre. They made it very natural, and I think they did a fabulous job.
I think the documentary is very powerful. I even found the trailer to be powerful in just thirty seconds. I am excited for more people to watch it, and I am doing everything I can to spread the word. I have shared the trailer with my large community of acquaintances and encouraged them to watch the documentary.
Dianne, Terry, their son and grandkids
I really love how the documentary shines a light on the caregivers. It is not easy to connect and understand the full situation when you are not personally experiencing it. People don’t understand the amount of stress on the caregivers and the amount of work that they must do while they care for us. This documentary allows us to see this perspective and I am grateful for that.
I think we need to do a better job at raising awareness about organ donation. Some people know about registering their decision on organ donation, but we need more public awareness. You can register your decision at any age, young or old.
Quick links:
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Episode 1001 – THE WAITING GAME
A grandmother gets weaker while on the waitlist for a donated set of lungs but time is quickly running out. A young father races into hospital for a liver transplant but finds out it’s not a sure thing. A woman’s eyesight deteriorates to blindness and a delicate cornea transplant gives her a glimpse of hope.
