VANCOUVER – Kelly Johnston was a healthy young woman, enjoying life and its adventures, until she was about 21 years old.
The now 52-year-old was rushed to the emergency room and was diagnosed with end-stage renal disease. She spent almost one year on dialysis and received her first transplant, which lasted for 13 years. She ended up getting another kidney in 2000, but in 2007 she was forced to return to the doctor. A cardiologist diagnosed her with atrial fibrillation, obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and mitral valve stenosis. “One of these on their own is bad but with all three I was a ticking time bomb,” said Johnston in an email interview.
MORE: Click to help Kelly while she waits for a new heart
She was then placed on the heart transplant list and is waiting for a new heart.
“I was placed at a Status 4S, which is the very top of the list,” said Johnston. “Due to previous transplants it makes getting a new one even harder and I am O+, which again makes it really hard to find a match. Being placed that high right out of the gate means there is a death date, which could be a day to a year. But I’m pretty resilient having done this before, I know what I’m in for and it’s not going to be pretty but I’m a fighter.”
Johnston, who lives in New Westminster with her therapy dog Lily, is now facing some new financial struggles due to her health conditions. Her long-time friends have set up a GoFundMe page to help her not have to worry about her bills during this difficult time.
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“I can’t work anymore as much as I would like to,” she said. “Being idle drives me crazy. So I saved some money, got insurance on my credit cards, had my extended health from my Union.”
However, when she was placed on the transplant list, Johnston said her health insurance was denied by ScotiaBank and then she said Union ACFC West terminated her extended health coverage.
So she is in need of some assistance.
But Johnston is remaining optimistic throughout this whole process and said she feels lucky to have lived such a wonderful life already. She would like to see one thing changed however.
“I am a strong supporter of organ donation but this country is doing it wrong,” she said. “We need to become presumed consent where everyone over the age of 18 is automatically a donor. Eighty-five per cent of Canadians believe in organ donation but only 19 per cent have signed up. Why? Because people have good intentions but they’re lazy. It would save millions and millions annually. They way it would work would be you can opt out but you need to makes the effort to opt out, most people won’t. Also, even if you’re a donor your family can still say no to your wishes and it happens way too much.”
Johnston added that any money left over in the fund will go to her friend Mary Ann McGowan, who is in need of a liver transplant.
It only takes a few minutes to sign up to be an organ donor in B.C.
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