It’s National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week, and while it serves as a great reminder to make sure your donor card is filled out, Craig is also looking at ways to limit the number of transplants that need to happen.
Jon Holmes is a Londoner who was diagnosed with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD), a treatable illness, however, many provincial health plans – including OHIP don’t cover the needed medication.
“In my mid-thirties, I was athletic and partook in various outdoor activities, and there were many times that I became breathless. After my diagnosis, I was lucky to be able to start augmentation therapy for alpha-1 as it was covered by my workplace. However, I lost that coverage after changing jobs 5 years later,” he said in a news release from Alpha-1 Canada. “After being on and off augmentation therapy for years due to the cost and lack of provincial coverage, I was informed that my lung capacity had dropped to 22%. When I finally was able to receive a double lung transplant, my lung function had dropped even further to 14%.”
That meant Jon had to get a lung transplant in order to save his life. But did that transplant need to happen?
He joins Craig on the podcast to share his story – and talk about the future of treating AATD in Canada.
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