Woman still awaiting double-lung transplant

Amanda Jerry came home from Toronto last week to be with family and to “de-stress” from the waiting game she’s been in since May while awaiting a double-lung transplant.
At just 27 years of age, and having never smoked, Jerry needs the transplant because of the damage done to her lungs by emphysema, which she was diagnosed with in December.
To be on the active list for a lung transplant, Jerry had to live within 90 minutes of the Toronto General Hospital, where the operation would take place.
But just after her arrival there three months ago with her husband, Kevin, Jerry unexpectedly was removed from the list because of a potentially fatal condition called “excitable blood” doctors discovered she had.
The condition means Jerry carries a very high concentration of antibodies–and a organ transplant almost certainly would be rejected by her body.
While doctors have been working to find a way to treat her blood condition, the added complication has challenged Jerry but not won her over, her father, Fred Brown, said last week.
“They sent her home for a little bit of mental relief,” said Brown, noting his daughter had improved physically over the past couple of months in an effort to stay as strong as possible should she get back on the active list.
“She is doing very well,” he said. “She’s gone from 35 kg [79 pounds] to 49 kg [110] and is now at an ideal weight if lungs come available.”
Brown said his daughter also had been seeing a naturalist in Toronto who has helped increase her breathing capacity.
“She’s also been getting intensive physiotherapy and now is able to climb a set of stairs–that’s something she couldn’t do before,” he added.
Jerry and her husband returned to Toronto last Sunday, with Brown and his wife, Carol, expected to head there sometime in September to visit them.