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Hay River woman waiting for double lung transplant

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2802lou!_new Dawn Loutit Hay River woman in need of double lung transplant File photo 2017 Hay River Photo courtesy of Dawn Loutit

Since late last year, Dawn Loutit of Hay River has been on a waiting list for a double lung transplant in Edmonton.

"I'm totally ready," she said. "I'm not afraid. I just want to wake up with them pulling out that tube and me breathing in on my own."

Dawn Loutit is on a waiting list for a double lung transplant in Edmonton. photo courtesy of Dawn Loutit

The 54-year-old Loutit requires a double lung transplant because she has been suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease since the mid-1990s.

There is no way of knowing how long she will have to wait for a donor.

"It has to be somebody my size exact and my cavity has to be able to fit that lung into it," explained Loutit, who stands about five foot, one inch tall, noting there are not that many potential donors her size.

She noted that the wait is very hard.

"Because there are a lot of days where I have to sit and I can't breathe," she said. "I get scared. I cry. I pray. I don't want somebody to die just for me to get a lung. It's hard to pray and ask because someone does have to pass away. There has to be a donor out there. It makes it hard."

She explained that she prays that a potential donor has signed a donor card.

Loutit was in Edmonton for testing in November at University Hospital, followed by four weeks of physiotherapy.

"It was hard, but I got through it," she said.

The testing showed that she is healthy enough for the double lung transplant, while the physiotherapy showed her 10 to 12 exercises she needs to do to strengthen her body, especially her legs, in advance of the operation.

"It makes an easier recovery," she said.

After she returned home from Edmonton, she received a call in December that she had been added to the waiting list.

The time in Edmonton also prepared her in other ways for the operation.

She went to classes to learn about what to eat and what not to eat, and she was shown the intensive care unit of the hospital.

After the surgery, she will have to do three months of physiotherapy in Edmonton. In advance of the operation, she is working with a physiotherapist in Hay River.

In Edmonton, Loutit even met other people who had gone through the same surgery.

"And they came through with flying colours," she said. "It gave me hope."

Loutit said it's now just a waiting game for her.

Previously, it had been an issue with the GNWT whether Loutit could wait in Hay River for a transplant and be flown to Edmonton once donor lungs become available, or whether she would have to relocate to Edmonton.

That issue has been worked out and she can wait at home in Hay River, she said.

However, Loutit said the GNWT has advised her that a plane might not be immediately available in the winter because of potentially bad weather.

So next winter, if she doesn't have a transplant before then, she is considering relocating to Edmonton for several months.

As she waits, Loutit said she is asking her family and friends to spread the word about the importance of signing donor cards.

"You never know whose life you're going to save," she said. "It could be your family, your friend. You never know."