Gasping for air: P.A. author shares her story

Donovan had a normal childhood, but became increasingly ill in his teen years.

When he was 20 years old his health took an “unexpected dive.”

He was rushed to the ICU in Saskatoon and after just eight days there, he was airlifted to University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton.

“We were told that his only chance for survival was a double lung transplant, and that the need for organ donors was increasing and the availability of organs was not very good,” said Gobeil.

Donovan was put on a breathing respirator but his lungs were failing rapidly. He was put on life support and at 10 p.m. that night, they were told he would likely die.

Then, everything changed.

“During those hours that he was being put on life support, which meant that he had very little time left with us, we got the call that donor lungs were available,” said Gobeil.

Donovan’s uncle died waiting for a lung transplant in 1988, and at that point, only one person in Canada had ever received a lung transplant.

Only 5 per cent of people who agree to be organ donors qualify, making the availability of organs very slim, explained Gobeil.

The medical staff warned them Donovan would only be their fourth patient in 20 years to receive a lung transplant from life support at that hospital.

“We were told his chances were, I don’t know, maybe not the best, but that was our only hope,” she said. “He was going to die anyway.”

The lungs were approved in the early morning and Donovan was rushed into surgery at 8 a.m.

“We went from the deepest, darkest time of our life, to that glimmer of hope taking us to a mountain top,” said Gobeil.

Before he went into surgery, his body was heaving with every breath, and the respirator was working very hard. After the surgery, Gobeil said it was very different.

“When I looked at him, I asked the nurse, ‘Is he breathing?’ Because it looked effortless. It was incredible,” she said.

A few days after he came off the respirator and then a few more days passed until he was fully awake.

Two and a half weeks after his surgery, Donovan left the hospital.

During their time in Edmonton, Gobeil was blogging. It was from those blog posts that she wrote the middle section of her book, Every Little Thing.

“It was not an easy write. It was also almost lifesaving. It kept me sane, being able to write the blog and being able to turn the blog into a creative, artistic expression,” she said.

In its entirety, the book covers from when Donovan was born, until 2011—when he met his now wife.

Another member of Gobeil’s writing group in Prince Albert said she knew of a company wanting to publish first time authors. Within a couple months, she received word from Hagios Press that it would be published.

“That was just an unbelievable moment for me,” she said. “That was like the beginning of a new chapter.”

Donovan said, after all this time, he was excited to finally see the book.

“I still remember when I was at home one time, and I was sick on IV antibiotics and I asked my mom to write my story. This is coming full circle now that’s it’s here and in our hands,” he said.

Donovan said he was so used to the illness being his life, he was happy to see it from their perspective.

“Being able to read the poems and understand their feelings and what they’re going through, is definitely something that helped myself and my family cope with the illness,” he said.

Gobeil said she’ll split her author’s royalties between Cystic Fibrosis Canada and the Canadian Transplant Association.

“The message I want people to take away is how very, very important it is to consider being an organ donor. I hope that lots of people who maybe haven’t considered it, or haven’t had that conversation with their families will do so,” she said.

Gobeil said only 50 per cent of lung transplant patients are expected to live past 10 years, but in the seven since Donovan’s surgery, he has ran four half marathons.

“I’ve kind of become accustomed to him being healthy and have kind of put worry on the back shelf,” said Gobeil. “We’ll just take it a day at a time and we’ll see what happens in the future.”

The book launch will be held at the Mann Art Gallery at 7 p.m. and will include an author’s reading, entertainment, refreshments and book sales.

The book is available at most book stores and on Amazon.com.

–With files from Khang Nguyen.

asoloducha@panow.com

On Twitter: @alex_soloducha

by Alex Soloducha

Gasping for air: P.A. author shares her story

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