Bear Down Wildcats

Long story short …. About 7 years ago my wife and I were hiking with our 7 year old up near Brighton Ski Resort (Utah). During the hike, my wife started to complain about being unusually out of breath. The feeling persisted over the next few days and she went to the Dr. Over the next few months, she went through tests and exams to try and figure out what was going on. Finally, it was discovered that my wife had a rare lung disease of unknown origin.

Over the next few years, my wife’s lungs disintegrated like a brush fire. She went from 100% lung capacity down to below 20%. She was on oxygen all the time, could barely walk and was lucky to be alive. During this time it was determined that the only thing that could spare her life would be a lung transplant. We opted to go to the University of Utah Hospital because it’s about a 40 minute drive from our home and we are both U of U Alums. We were denied. The University of Utah didn’t want her case because of the mysterious nature of her condition. That was a pretty devastating time for us. My wife’s next choice was to try Arizona, because she spent most of her summers in Phoenix with her grandmother when she was a kid.

We were fortunate to find and get involved with the U of A’s Medical Center Lung Transplant Team and Medical Center. What a night and day difference for us. After about 7 and 8 months of consultation and rigorous tests my wife got the news that she was accepted. Last November, we got the call that they had 2 new lungs for her. She underwent a 8 hour procedure in the middle of the night with an amazing couple of surgeons. They would call me every hour and half and explain to me what phase of the surgery they were doing. Lungs are so fragile that they actually had my wife opened up her chest cavity cut while the lungs were being flown in. My wife and I spent the next 3 weeks at the U of A’s Medical Center Hospital in Tucson with a collection of top notch Doctors and Nurses. I could never repay their awesomeness. They were beyond incredible. We then spent from mid December to mid February at a condo in Tucson so my wife could undergo rehab and further testing to avoid rejection.

A few weeks ago, my wife was able to come home back to Utah. What an unbelievable miracle. She no longer needs portable oxygen, she is on the treadmill everyday building up the strength she lost and has gained her life back. My wife has a red U of A hat and I have a blue hooded U of A sweatshirt. We wear them nearly every day here in Utah. I just wanted to drop a note and express my gratitude for an amazing University, particularly the Medical Center. I spent a lot of anxious moments over the past few months walking the campus as my wife’s future hung in the balance. Beautiful campus. Loved Tucson, ate a lot of El Charro and Slomo and Vito’s Deli food (near our temporary housing).

Fortunately, we get to come back to Tucson every 6 months of so for follow up visits. Thank U again U of A, you have several new life long fans.

My wife is now 3.5 years post-transplant with her new lungs. This is a critical point because doctors consider anything over 3 years a win (1/3 of lung transplant patients don't survive 3 yrs). My wife is fortunate that she hasn't had any complications and has been fanatical about diet and exercise.

We still visit Tucson yearly for an annual checkup and I can't help but think about the U of A whenever we see Wildcat Football or Basketball. My wife and I both wore U of A gear during a New Year's Day party watching the Fiesta Bowl and at a local watering hole during your NCAA Tournament game against Wisconsin.

Once again, nothing but love and gratitude to the amazing people at the UMC and U of A.