Ryan Taylors Double Lung Transplant Recovery

My name is Gavin, and this is on the behalf of Ryan Taylor, my dad. Ryan is 39 years old, and recently underwent a double lung transplant to combat his end stage COPD and end stage Emphysema, which was enhanced by his Alpha-1 Antitrypsin deficiency, which is a genetic disorder affecting the liver and lungs.

In 2012, Ryan was diagnosed with an “Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency”, which is a rare genetic disorder which can affect the lungs and liver. In this case, it affected his lungs, and therefore developed his COPD. COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) is a disease which causes air flow blockages within the respiratory system. Emphysema is yet another condition which affects the lungs exclusively, and damages the air sacs within the lungs. In other words, it made breathing a labored task, which made it difficult for Ryan to live his life to the fullest. On March 15th, 2022, Ryan was having an unusually hard time breathing, to the point where he had trouble getting dressed. After trying to catch his breath, he called 911 and was rushed to the hospital. The doctors had said that his lung functionality was dangerously low, and he was immediately placed on oxygen.

This past summer, I was lucky enough to spend a few months living with my dad, and was able to see firsthand how difficult living on oxygen had been for him. The constant sound of the oxygen machines whirring, having to wheel around a tank full of compressed oxygen whenever we left the house; a transplant was sorely needed. Ryan put his heart and soul into working towards being listed for transplant, but he needed as much support as he could get. With this, his mother began flying to and from Edmonton to do just that. With his hard work and dedication to exercising and physio and the support of his family and friends, he was listed. Soon after, on December 29th, he was called in for his first transplant, which was unfortunately a no-go. However, with a stroke of luck, he was called in for surgery on January 13th, which was a triumphant success.

Ryan is currently in the months-long recovery process, meaning he will be restricted in many ways. He must ensure that he doesn’t overwork himself, and needs to travel to and from the hospital every day for checkups. He will also need to purchase some medications and equipment as part of the ongoing treatment and rehabilitation, for the rest of his life. These two costs combined are insurmountable, and doesn’t account for the cost of his mothers travel, nor his basic living expenses. Needless to say, we have quite the challenge ahead of us.

$25,000 is only an approximation of the costs we’ve encountered so far, and doesn’t account for those we have ahead of us. However, with your support, we can help get Ryan back onto his feet, and back to living his life to the fullest! If you’ve taken the time to read this far, I extend our greatest thanks, from his family, his friends, and myself. ❤️