One glance around Willie Dalagan’s east Vancouver home, and it’s clear that family is at the centre of his universe. In the living room, a half dozen musical instruments rest against the wall. An elaborate Lego constructed mansion shares space with partially finished acrylic paintings.

It’s hard to imagine that only months before Willie was preparing his wife, Michelle, and their three children for the possibility of a future without him.

In spring of 2016, Willie’s health rapidly declined and he was in urgent need of a lung transplant.

The 44-year old construction manager was admitted to VGH with respiratory failure, having been previously diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis – a disease that causes scarring of the lungs. In May, he became BC’s first patient to be placed on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) while waiting for an organ match.

This novel application of ECMO – a machine that extracts and oxygenates a patient’s blood before re-infusing it – was used to buy time for a transplant. Willie recalls the touch and go days and weeks leading up to his June 7th transplant. He knew his wife worried whether there would be a donor, and if it would be on time. While barely conscious in ICU, Willie recalls asking himself, “Have I done enough for my family; created enough good memories? And my answer was ‘no.’”

Willie’s lung transplant surgery took about seven hours and he was discharged less than a month later, a testament to Willie’s strength and the world class care at VGH, noted transplant surgeon Dr. John Yee, who performed Willie’s operation.  Through his recovery, Willie continues to be grateful for each family tradition he is able to reinstate – movie nights, board games, bike
rides and dates with Michelle.

“The team at Vancouver General Hospital made it possible for me to have a second lease on life, and I’m not going to waste it,” he says.

Join us in supporting the Future of Surgery and improving outcomes for patients like Willie.

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於Willie Dalagan在温哥华东區的家，很明显看到家庭是Willie的中心。 在客厅里，有六件乐器靠在墙上。 精心制作的乐高積木建筑与待成的畫作共享空间。

很难想象就在一个月之前Willie还在為妻子Michelle及三个孩子计划及安排自己死後他们将面对的生活。

在2016年的春天，Willie的健康狀況全面崩溃，他迫切的需要肺部移植。

这位44岁的建筑公司经理被送到温哥华综合医院時，呼吸衰竭，被诊断为特发性肺纤维化 – 是一种导致肺部结疤的疾病。 在5月份，他成为卑诗省第一个被接駁体外造氧機（ECMO）的病人，並等待器官配对捐贈。

体外造氧機 (ECMO) 的使用 – 它是一种在患者血液内提取和充氧的儀器，抽取后再注氧入病人体內 – 以爭取更多等侯移植的时间。Willie回忆起了他在6月7日接受肺部移植前一周生命懸於一線。他知道妻子極担心會否有捐贈者出现，或者會否出现及时。虽然在急診室裏近乎無意识，Willie回忆他當時不停的问自己：我为家人做得足够吗？为他們缔造了足够美好的回忆吗？ 我的答案是“不”。

Willie的肺移植手术花了约七个小时，不到一个月他便可出院了。这全赖 Willie自身的意志力和温哥华综合医院世界级的高水準护理，著名肺移植外科医生Dr. John Yee爲Willie的主刀医生。能迅速康復，Willie非常感恩，他可以继续参与家中的活动 – 电影之夜，桌盘游戏，骑自行车及與Michelle的约会。

Willie 説：温哥华综合医院的团队给予我重生的机会，我一定要好好珍惜。

请加入我们的行列，支持＂外科展望計劃＂，讓更多像Willie一样的病人受惠。