Lisa and her husband, Doug live in Wyoming, Ontario. You might recognize Lisa as your friendly neighbourhood bank teller or Doug from his local landscaping business. You might also have seen Lisa at one of her many speaking engagements advocating for the Heart and Stroke Foundation, Canadian Blood Services, SODA and other cancer and organ donation awareness groups. But most of all, if you know Lisa and Doug, they are all about their family! Lisa & Doug have two children, Rachelle & Craig and two wonderful grandchildren, Cooper & Nell, who are their whole world! In 1993, Lisa was diagnosed with a rare childhood cancer - Ewing’s Sarcoma, and underwent surgery to have a grapefruit-sized tumour removed from her left chest wall. She then underwent weeks of chemotherapy, radiation and a bone marrow transplant. Unfortunately, the chemo drugs had enlarged her heart and caused her to have cardiomyopathy. Her heart took up her entire chest wall and was crushing down on other vital organs, which caused a heart attack. She was admitted to the Multi-Organ Transplant Unit as her health became critical. She was moved to the top of the Transplant List and thankfully in the wee hours of the morning on November 3rd, 1999, during one of the worst snowstorms that year, someone donated a heart, and it was a perfect match! As a heart transplant recipient, she was immune suppressed so that her body didn’t fight off her new heart, but that also meant being susceptible to infections, diseases and yes, possibly other cancers. She was again diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer and went through surgery to remove her lymph nodes and went through radiation treatments. Recently, she underwent another surgery to remove a tumour from her left kidney with Renal Cell Carcinoma. Over her lifetime, Lisa has continuously fought against the unknown to be able to watch her kids grow up, go to school, find their careers and now have children of their own. She has done it with grace and her philosophy of living one day at a time that she got from one of her Doctors “Lisa, You are a fighter! You are your destination. You live life ‘one day at a time’ and that is how you will get through this.” Which brings us to today! Lisa is in need of another heart transplant. She has developed Severe Transplant Coronary Artery Disease, a rare side effect of her body rejecting her heart transplant from 23 years ago. Because of her medical situation, the procedure will be complicated and must be done in Toronto. Once a new heart is transplanted, she must stay in Toronto for a few months to be monitored before she will be allowed to come home. Helping Lisa & Doug will mean helping cover all the costs of relocating to Toronto including rent, hydro, food and transportation to and from the hospital in addition to maintaining their house in Wyoming. Needless to say, the cost will be daunting. Doug is self-employed, and days off means no income for them. Furthermore, it will also help pay for medications and trips back & forth between Toronto and home for follow-up appointments for the upcoming year once Lisa is finally allowed to come back home. Please consider donating to this amazing family so that Lisa & Doug can concentrate on Lisa’s recovery and getting back to their family. To quote Lisa, please remember “In sharing my story I hope you see that this is what Organ Donation is all about - it isn’t just signing a piece of paper it is about life and being able to continue living and loving and being a person. Not one minute wasted and cherishing the people around me. It has made a huge impact on my life. One day at a time.”
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