Heart-Lung Transplant: Loving, Breathing and Moving On.

2nd January, 2009 - Posted by gail - No Comments

During December, several people told me how glad they were that 2008 would soon be over.  It had been a terrible year and they were worn out.  They’d done all they could with what they had and were ready to leave it all behind and start again.  A new calendar year means new beginnings, new opportunities, cutting ties with the sufferings of the past, a chance to take a new breath.

While our 2008 was pretty wonderful (despite the economic losses we suffered along with everyone else), 2009 has started out on a challenging course.  A dear friend of Bob’s – a fifty-ish woman who has been like a daughter since they met at Tucson’s University Medical Center’s Heart-Lung Transplant Program some twenty years ago – has decided it’s time to go.

Cathleen is a strong woman, clear-minded, forceful and ready to take on whatever life has to offer.  In her case, life offered her Primary Pulmonary Hypertension when she was in her thirties.  Her first heart-lung transplant worked well until her body rejected the borrowed organs.  A second heart-lung transplant three years later gave Cathleen enough years of life to meet her mate, Barry, and give birth to their son, Ryan, despite doctors’ worries. No heart-lung transplant patient had tried pregnancy before Cathleen decided that Ryan needed to be born. A playful, engaging nine year old, Ryan performed enthusiastically last month with the Tucson Boy’s Chorus at their Holiday Concert, which Barry videotaped for Cathleen, who has been confined to UMC for several months.

Back in July, Cathleen developed an infection – obliteritis – which destroys the cells in the lungs.  There is no cure.  Initially, there was hope for a single lung transplant.  Now, after five months in a hospital bed, hoping for a match, Cathleen has taken her name off the list.  Her body’s systems are breaking down.  She is no longer a viable candidate for a transplant. She has decided it’s time to go.

Cathleen would like Bob to be there when the ventilator is removed.  Her family is arriving today.  Cathleen and Barry have done what they can to prepare Ryan.  Despite her feeble condition, the essence of Cathleen remains - clear-minded, forceful, and ready to take on what life has to offer.  In her case, life is now offering another transition.  We believe her new beginning offers new possibilities – the fullness of Love with no need for a human heart.  The rhythms of breath with no need for a lung. Cathleen - Bless her and surround her with Light and Love - has decided to move onward into Source.

We send her on with love, admiration and the knowledge that she is now able to surround her son and husband with joyful love in total freedom and peace.  May Cathleen’s family feel her presence and her grace and may they be comforted by knowing her love forever.