‘I feel amazing’: B.C. man receives ‘bloodless’ double-lung transplant in Toronto

[Guest Nicole]

Kory Bradshaw says he was in a Toronto ICU with only months left to live when he got the phone call from doctors about getting a long-awaited double-lung transplant.

Bradshaw, who has Cystic Fibrosis, didn’t hear anything for months after having gone through two false alarms since being put on the wait list for a transplant last May.

“Third time’s a charm,” Bradshaw told Global News Monday.

He and his wife, Renee Bradshaw, came to Toronto from their home in Kelowna, B.C., last January with the hope of receiving a transplant faster due to the better wait times in the city.

The average wait time in B.C. is about two years, but in Toronto it’s around six months.

After receiving the transplant over four months ago, Kory said he feels “amazing” now.

“We can have a whole new life together, doing a lot of things that people might take for granted like walking and holding hands,” he said, adding he still has to get used being able to laugh properly.

That new life together will also include a new modular home for them when they move back to Kelowna at the end of the month.

In a cruel twist of fate, while Kory was in the ICU at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto in June, they received a call that their B.C. home was destroyed in a fire.

“They believe it was from a discarded cigarette that caught our cedar hedge on fire, which spread in the shed into our house,” Renee previously said.

Friends and neighbours quickly rallied to help them. Beth Shey, a neighbour they hardly knew, started a GoFundMe page to help them with living expenses while they were waiting for the transplant in Toronto.

The couple said the new modular home should be delivered by the time they get back and should be move-in ready by late January.

The Transplant

Kory underwent his transplant at Toronto General Hospital, which does about 150 lung transplants every year.

But Kory’s situation was unique. Since he and Renee are Jehovah’s Witnesses, and because of their beliefs, a blood transfusion was not possible. The couple said they searched for years but no surgeon would agree to attempt a bloodless transplant until they found Dr. Shaf Keshavjee, who agreed to perform the procedure as long as the couple understood the risks.

Read more: https://globalnews.ca/news/3923183/toronto-general-hospital-bloodless-double-lung-transplant/

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‘I feel amazingÂ’: B.C. man receives ‘bloodlessÂ’ double-lung transplant in Toronto - ?

‘I feel amazing’: B.C. man receives ‘bloodless’ double-lung transplant in Toronto - "I feel incredible": the British Columbia man receives a double lung transplant "bloodless" in Toronto
Kory Bradshaw says he was in an intensive care unit in Toronto, where he has only a few months to live when he received the phone call from doctors to get a long-awaited double-lung transplant.

Bradshaw, who has cystic fibrosis, did not hear anything for months after going through two false alarms since he was put on the waiting list for a transplant last May.

"The third time is a charm," Bradshaw told Global News on Monday.
He and his wife, Renee Bradshaw, arrived in Toronto from their home in Kelowna, BC, last January in hopes of receiving a faster transplant because of the better waiting times in the city.
The average waiting time in BC is approximately two years, but in Toronto it is around six months.

After receiving the transplant more than four months ago, Kory said he feels "incredible" now.

"We can have a completely new life together, doing many things that people can take for granted, such as walking and holding hands," he said, adding that he still has to get used to being able to laugh properly.

That new life together will also include a new modular home for them when they return to Kelowna at the end of the month.

In a cruel twist of fate, while Kory was in the ICU at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto in June, they received a call that said their home in British Columbia was destroyed in a fire.

"They think it was from a discarded cigarette that set fire to our cedar hedge, which spread into the shed to our house," Renee said previously.

Friends and neighbors quickly joined to help them. Beth Shey, a neighbor they barely knew, started a page of GoFundMe to help them with living expenses while waiting for the transplant in Toronto.
The couple said the new modular house should be delivered by the time they return and that it should be ready for transfer by the end of January.

The transplant

Kory underwent his transplant at the Toronto General Hospital, which performs about 150 lung transplants every year.

But Kory's situation was unique. Since he and Renee are Jehovah's Witnesses, and because of their beliefs, a blood transfusion was not possible. The couple said they searched for years but no surgeon would agree to try a bloodless transplant until they found Dr. Shaf Keshavjee, who agreed to perform the procedure as long as the couple understood the risks.
"If there was a sudden loss of blood during his operation, he would die," Keshavjee told Global News.

Keshavjee called the operation a medical breakthrough and said the operation was carried out with almost no blood loss.

"We did that for Kory, so we can do more transplants for everyone without transfusions, we've worked hard for that and we've improved the whole process for everyone," he said.
Kory said he knew that surgery was a risk, but that it was one he was willing to take.

"Toronto General has been absolutely amazing from beginning to end, from the care of the surgeons, the nurses, the whole world, the whole team, it's an incredible program they have."

As for Renee, she said that she is simply happy to have recovered her husband.

"We no longer think about things," he said, adding that the couple said they used to have to plan all day about how Kory felt.

Before surgery, I could not move without an oxygen tank. But today, the couple can walk, shop, go out and do things that other couples would not normally think twice before doing. Kory and Renee even love going to the gym together.

"We can have a normal life, which is something we've never had before," Renee said.

https://globalnews.ca/news/3923183/toronto-general-hospital-bloodless-double-lung-transplant/