Published: Wednesday, 26th March, 2008 12:00
Days from death before double lung transplant
By Nicola Findlay
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Double lung transplant patient Marion Wiseman congratulates Muckhart Primary headteacher Helen Finch, who ran the Alloa Half Marathon to raise funds for the charity LAM Action.
Pic by: Jan van der Merwe
BRAVE Marion Wiseman, who was days from death before a life-saving double lung transplant, is urging people to sign-up to the Organ Donation Register.
Marion (46) discovered she had a rare condition, which progressively erodes lung function, four years ago.
She was taken into hospital with a collapsed lung and was diagnosed with Lymphangioleiomyomatosis - also known as LAM.
Marion’s condition deteriorated to such an extent that she was flown to the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle, which is a specialist centre for heart and lung transplants, on 1 November last year.
When she arrived in Newcastle she only had days to live and her family were told that without a transplant she wouldn’t see Christmas.
However, Marion turned out to be one of the lucky ones as she only spent a week on the Organ Donation Register before having a double lung transplant on 6 November.
The mum-of-two told the Advertiser, “The first thing I knew about my condition was four years ago when I had a collapsed lung.
“Over that four years I was in and out hospital two or three times a year with my lungs collapsing and in the last year my lung function deteriorated very badly.”
Everyday tasks such as housework became increasingly difficult for Marion – who is a primary school teacher in the Shetland Isles – and she became more reliant on her husband Dougie.
Marion went on, “I had to use oxygen when I was walking anywhere or doing any form of exercise so it certainly did limit me.
“I wasn’t allowed to fly, so foreign holidays were out of the question. Basically, things people take for granted I wasn’t allowed to do in case my lungs collapsed.
“I went into hospital in Lerwick in July and was moved to Aberdeen before being flown down to Newcastle to await transplant on 1 November. The doctors thought if they waited any longer I wouldn’t survive the flight.
“I was literally days from death when I went down to Newcastle and there is no doubt that without the transplant I wouldn’t have seen Christmas.”
Marion was the first person in Britain to be placed on a Nova Lung – an external artificial lung which helps keep a patient alive.
Since her transplant in November Marion has gone from strength to strength, and in many ways, has got her life back.
“I was in hospital for five weeks but I have just come on leaps and bounds since I came home,” she said.
“I am just a normal person again and it is incredible the difference a transplant can make.
“I can go on my exercise bike and go swimming again. It is hard to believe how ill and limited I was only four months ago.
“When we asked my son what he wanted for Christmas he said all he wanted was for me to get new lungs.
“The transplant has meant everything to my children as they have got their mum back instead of watching me die.
“Signing up to the Organ Donation Register can make a huge difference. It gives people that have no hope of life a second chance and it has certainly given me my life back.”
Marion is delighted that Muckhart Primary School has decided to raise money for the charity LAM Action.
“I am absolutely over the moon and really touched that the school thought about me and decided to raise money for the charity,” she said. “LAM Action is a very small charity that doesn’t receive a huge amount of funding from the public compared to other charities.
“Over the next few years they want to raise £70,000 towards research which will hopefully find a cure or at least a treatment that will slow down the progression of the illness.”
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