Fawn celebrates a decade with transplanted lungs

Fawn Kruger, 35, appears to be an ordinary woman living in Johannesburg. She is married, has four pets, runs her own business, and spends a lot of time socialising with her friends.

You may have also seen her at a recent Transplant Education for Living Legacies (TELL) fundraising and awareness event at Clearwater Mall with Zane the Zunicorn.

Also read: Celebrating a decade with transplanted lungs

Fawn is unique in that her lungs were removed and replaced with strangers’ lungs 10 years ago in an attempt to save her life. Fawn was born with Cystic Fibrosis, a genetic disease. This degenerative disease is a lifelong burden that necessitates continuous invasive treatment. The disease affects several organs, but the lungs are the most dangerous because they are filled with thick sticky mucus that slowly kills the lungs until the patient is unable to breathe.

“It’s like having a constant bronchitis infection every day of your life – it’s exhausting and painful,” Fawn explained.

The F508del Cystic Fibrosis mutation affects 86.4% of all mutations, while the G542X mutation affects 4.6%. Most patients have two F508del genes, but Fawn has one F508del and one G542X gene, which is a much more difficult mutation to treat.

Also read: Today in history: Dr Chris Barnard completes the first human heart transplant

Fawn was born in Zimbabwe and was diagnosed with CF at the age of one. Her daily treatments included taking digestive enzymes with each meal and nebulizing twice a day with chest physio. By the age of 13, she was spending two weeks every three months in the hospital receiving intravenous antibiotics. This was causing significant disruption in her life, and her lungs were only getting worse. Fawn was in the hospital for over 700 days before her transplant.

“I couldn’t plan anything with my friends because I never knew how I would be feeling by the time the date would come around. I missed so many special occasions because I was either in hospital or just not well enough to attend.”

Her lungs eventually deteriorated to the point where she couldn’t breathe without being hooked up to an oxygen machine 24 hours a day.

“I’d take the oxygen tubing off to wash my face and my lips would immediately start going blue and I felt lightheaded.”

She had an oxygen tube in her nose, a feeding tube surgically implanted in her stomach, an insulin machine attached to her, and a portacath in her neck for medication access. She was on the waiting list for a double lung transplant at this point.

Fawn was told in March 2013 that they had found a match for her and that she could finally have the surgery to replace her lungs. The eight-hour procedure landed her in the hospital for three months as she recovered from several complications. Fawn needed about a year after being released from the hospital to regain the mental and physical strength she had lost over the years. It was all uphill from there as she enjoyed doing things she couldn’t do with her ‘original’ lungs.

Fawn is one of only 22 South Africans who have survived a lung transplant for 10 years or more.

Fawn celebrates her ‘Lungaversary’ every year, and this year is no exception. She intends to invite all of her friends, family, and members of her medical team to join her in celebrating the occasion.

Fawn co-founded TELL to increase the number of transplants performed in South Africa.

“One of the most difficult aspects of this disease is losing friends who did not receive a transplant in time,” she states.

Instead of gifts, she has asked all of her guests to donate to TELL at her 10-year Lungaversary party. Her goal is to raise R10 000 to support TELL’s ongoing efforts to educate the public and medical professionals about organ donation, as well as to provide support to patients. If you would like to donate, please visit Backabuddy at https://www.backabuddy.co.za/champion/project/fawns-10-year-lungaversary.