On February 25th, we were joined by Graham and Louise Gardiner to talk about Graham's double lung transplant journey.
 
Graham’s story!
 
Graham’s journey started 15 years ago when he developed Scleroderma, an auto-immune disease that hardens tissue and major organs.  The first signs were external (his skin and joints) then it moved internal to his lungs.  In Sep 2017 Graham experienced a major respiratory failure and was put on 24/7 oxygen.  By early November it became clear that he would need a lung transplant and the process to get Graham on the lung transplant list began.
 
On November 14th Graham experienced a second major failure and was hospitalized.  On December 1st 2017 he was accepted onto the transplant list.  He was triaged and made the top third of the list immediately.  On December 10th he received his first lung call from Toronto General Hospital but they were not suitable.  On December 21st 2017 his second lung call arrived and he underwent his 7 hour surgery.
 
Going into the operation, he told his wife Louise that he would see her at Christmas.  Little did he know how many complications he would have over the next month. 
 
Graham woke up 28 days later to find out that while he was unconscious he had suffered, pneumonia, delirium, kidney failure, rejection, paralyzed vocal chords and the list went on.
 
How did he get through this? He stayed positive and never gave in! He counted on the support of his primary caregiver Louise and the many family and friends that visited him in Toronto. 
 
Prayer was also a key driver and you should never underestimate the power of prayer.  Over the next weeks Graham worked very hard to physically and mentally get back to normal and he was finally released from hospital on Mar 7th.  His wife had moved to Toronto in December and taken a leave from work to look after him and he moved into the Front street condo and stayed as an outpatient of the hospital until May 1st when he and Louise returned home to Kitchener for good.
 
During Graham’s induced coma his mind stayed active.  He travelled to Jamaica for golf twice, to Scotland where he adopted a dog named Molly and all on a Russian airliner. 
 
Many times Graham has been asked if he saw the white light! He did not but he did have a powerful spiritual event and heard the voice of God.  A deep soothing voice that told him “You are not dead until you say you are dead” He remembers thinking he did not want to die that day and he didn’t.
Graham is thankful for all the support he received at Toronto General Hospital from all of his many nurses and doctors and from his family. 
 
He is also very thankful for his new lungs and is very supportive of our organ transplant program.
 
He encourages everyone to check to see if they are a donor, to become a donor and to promote the organ donor program.
 
You can do this on his site at www.beadonor.ca/campaign/graham-gardiner please share his quest to get the word out by posting this social media.
 
Today, Graham and Louise are speaking to as many organizations as they can to ensure the message of donor giving is not lost.  They feel this is what Graham is meant to do to give back.  If you know of any clubs, churches or groups that would benefit from hearing his story please connect directly with him at lg.gardiner@rogers.com