Double-lung transplant patient celebrates one year

PICKERINGTON – Last year this time, Jodi Dixon, of Pickerington, was lying in a hospital bed wondering if she would ever see the next day.

Dixon was waiting for a pair of lungs, matching all the criteria necessary to undergo a double lung transplant that would hopefully save her life. She knew even if the organs came there would be a good chance her body would reject the organs. The odds against her kept mounting.

Dixon, who grew up in Lancaster, waited years on a lung transplant list. She didn't end up receiving her new lungs until she was given a high lung allocation score of 96, which means in that moment, she was the sickest person in the nation in need of a transplant.

On life support with her kidneys shutting down, Dixon remembers her doctor coming into her hospital room and patting her on the hand and telling her it would be OK.

"He had lungs for me," she said, adding that she knew a lot of things could go wrong, including the doctor examining the lungs and determining they weren't viable or had been damaged in transport.

Still, her hope didn't fade.

"I just had a feeling it was supposed to happen," she said.

She learned later that the lungs were donated by a 24-year-old man from Erie, Pennsylvania, after a sporting accident. The man was determined brain dead and Dixon said his family made the most difficult decision by donating his organs and giving others a second chance at life.

On Sept. 10, Dixon will have reached one year of recovery after a double lung transplant, which is a benchmark only 85 percent of double-lung transplant patients reach.

"My thoughts are 'Thank you God for letting me make it a year,'" she said.

Dixon's journey began 15 years ago when she developed scleroderma, or the hardening of the organs. This lead to multiple health complications and the desperate need for a transplant.

"(Doctors) told me (I could live) two years without a double lung transplant, and I made it 15."

It took 70 days before Dixon was released from the hospital following the surgery. Her body had rejected the organs twice, and she continued to take 70 pills per day to help stabilize her immune system.

"I'm down to 38 (pills) now and it will go down to 25, which will be for the rest of my life," she said, adding that she is thankful to have insurance as her medication is $18,000 per month and her hospital bill is $1.8 million.

The advanced machine, which was brought in from New York, keeping Dixon alive cost $20,000 each day it was in use.

Dixon, who grew up in Lancaster with the maiden name Kilbarger, received a lot of support locally. About $10,000 was raised at one fundraiser.

Dixon has had several complications since she was released from the hospital. She was readmitted various times over the course of the year. But, every day, she said she feels herself getting stronger.

The longest Dixon has heard someone with scleroderma living after a double lung transplant is nine years.

Dixon knows that any time after her transplant is a gift — one that she does not want to squander.

She wrote to the family of the 24-year-old man and is hoping for a response back. She wants to know what the man enjoyed and fulfill his wishes.

"What would he have wanted to do and I'll go do it," she said.

Still waiting

There are 18 Fairfield County residents waiting for a life-saving organ transplant who are registered at The Ohio State Wexner Medical Center alone.

In Central Ohio, there are 200 people waiting for organs and 122,383 people on the national waiting list, according to data collected on Aug. 26 from Lifeline of Ohio. Lifeline of Ohio is an organ procurement organization that serves 37 counties in central and southeastern Ohio and two counties in West Virginia.

In Fairfield County, about 62 percent of the population are registered organ donors, which is up from the state average, which is just over 58 percent.

Jessica Petersen, media and public relations coordinator for Lifeline of Ohio, said the organization's goal is to bring that number closer to 100 percent.

There are a lot of misconceptions, Petersen said, about being an organ donor, like that doctors won't save a dying patient if he or she is an organ donor.

"It takes an army of people to get out there and bust those myths," Petersen said.

Dixon plans to join that army by speaking to groups about the importance of organ donation. Not only was Dixon on a waiting list for many years, but she saw many patients in need of organs die at the hospital because there were no viable organs to give them.

What can complicate matters is the availability of organs in a patient's area. Even though Dixon was given a national lung allocation score, which was the highest in the country, she still had to wait for organs to become available in her region.

About 22 people die every day because they have not received an organ, according to Lifeline of Ohio.

"I watched so many people not make it out of there — young people," Dixon said. "It just blew my mind that all these people need lungs and some of them aren't going to get them."

Dixon admitted that prior to her health complications, she hadn't put much thought into organ donation and the seriousness and complexity of the issue.

Now she hopes to reach people who had her same mindset and help save lives of those still on the list.

"You just think of people who don't get organs," she said. " I want people to understand the importance (of becoming a donor.)"

sroush@lancastereaglegazette.com

740-681-4342

Twitter: @SpencerRoushLEG

MORE INFO

For more information on the need for organs or to register as a donor, go to LifelineofOhio.org.