By Laura Davidheiser

For The Beachcomber

On July 12, 1998, I was witness to the amazing power that one person’s decision to be an organ donor can have. On that summer day I was given the gift of a second chance at life when I received a lung transplant.

I was diagnosed with idopathic pulmonary fibrosis soon after the birth of my second son in 1992. This disease causes inflammation and scarring of the lungs without a known cause and restricts lung capacity. At first the disease progressed slowly, but after five years, my lung capacity was very restricted. I was placed on portable oxygen to use when I needed it. By the time I was placed on the transplant list, I was using oxygen 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

I was told by my doctor that without a lung transplant, I had 18 months to live. I was placed on the lung transplant waiting list soon after my 37th birthday. I received my call from the hospital four months later.

Having an organ transplant is by no means “a walk in the park.” I need to take up to 50 pills a day. The immunosuppressant drugs to prevent my body from rejecting the transplanted lung are necessary for the rest of my life. Many times these drugs cause side effects that require other drugs. My sons were 8 and 6 when I received my lung transplant. Today they are 19 and 17. Watching them grow up with my husband and being a part of their lives is worth every doctor’s visit and every pill.

University of Washington Medical Center is the only hospital in Washington performing lung transplants. Their program started in 1992. I was the 82nd transplant performed at the UW Medical Center. Today they have performed 544 lung transplants.

To be a match with the donor, the doctors consider primarily the comparative body size of donor and recipient as well as their blood type. When I was on the lung transplant list, the allocation was based on seniority after they found a match. Today the lung allocation system is based on diagnosis. The sickest are placed at the top, and there is no longer seniority.

The UW has already performed 16 lung transplants this year. There are 60 people currently on the waiting list. The year I received my transplant there were fewer than 20. My transplant gave me a second chance at life. When a person makes the courageous decision to be an organ donor, she can save or enhance 50 lives.

Without enough donors, not everyone waiting for an organ is as fortunate as I. While I was celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday a year ago, my friend Tammi Shanks was dying in the hospital waiting for a lung transplant. I was sure she would get her new lung in time. Tammi was 46 years old and also had idopathic pulmonary fibrosis. She was a wife, mother, daughter, sister and a surgical nurse at Northwest Hospital. Tammi died waiting for her new lung. Despite being at the top of the lung transplant list, there were not enough donated organs. Tammi never got her chance to breath freely again.

Transplantation is a remarkable success in the history of medicine. Despite continuing advances, the need for organs, eyes and tissues is vastly greater than the number available for transplantation.

I hope my personal story can inspire you to take action today. I encourage you to register to become an organ donor at www.DonateLifeToday.com and ask others to do the same. When you do, you have the power to save or enhance the lives of more than 50 people through your gift. Anyone can be a potential donor regardless of age, race or medical history.

April is National Donate Life month. Register now at www.DonateLifeToday.com. We each have the power to make a difference…one person at a time.

— Laura Davidheiser is an artist, mother and advocate for

organ donation.