Second Wind pp 111-121 | Cite as
Getting “The Call”
Abstract
After years of suffering with debilitating lung disease, facing death, undergoing a strenuous evaluation, and surviving the ordeal of waiting, the moment when someone got word it was time for transplant was bound to be dramatic and memorable. “Let’s face it,” said Scott Collien, “It’s not every day someone rings up and says they’ve got a set of lungs for you.” Years later Lori Hughes still pictured the exact setting when she got the call. “My husband and I were sitting, and we had just finished dinner. Dinner of pork chops and hash browns. I’ll remember that forever.” As Karen Couture put it, “The call is always in capital letters: THE CALL.” It was met by an adrenalin rush. Frank Avila was in physical therapy when his coordinator walked in with a “look on her face that said it all.” His excitement was recorded by the pulse oximeter he was hooked up to, which showed an increase in his heart rate. When he called his family, they got excited, too, and Avila “heard screaming and crying from my mom and sisters.”4 While excitement was typical, as the quotes at the start of this chapter suggest, there could be a host of other feelings and they might vary dramatically during the few hours before the much-anticipated transplant.
Keywords
Operating Room Organ Donation Lung Transplant Brain Death Transplant CandidatePreview
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Notes
- 2.Nancy Hulet, “Gary Makes a Miracle,” in Joanne Schum (ed.), Taking Flight; Inspirational Stories of Lung Transplantation (Victoria, B.C.: Trafford Publishing, 2002), 148.Google Scholar
- 3.Laura J. Scott Ferris, For Love of Life (Flol Publisher, 2001), 205.Google Scholar
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