Now they are breathing heavily and making plans for the future – all thanks to a lung transplant. Two of the first patients in Ukraine who were transplanted respiratory organs from donors met at the place of their salvation – St. Panteleimon Hospital of the First Medical Association. They talked about life before and after transplantation.
56-year-old Oleksandr Chernyshkov was operated on by surgeons at the Saint Panteleimon Hospital only two months ago. But 58-year-old Viktor Babi had new lungs transplanted a year and a half ago. For both patients, transplantation was the only chance for salvation. The organs of these men were destroyed by the same disease – bullous emphysema. This is a life-threatening disease in which lung tissue turns into giant air-filled cysts.
Total bullous emphysema could take Alexander’s life at any moment. The man is a single father and is raising his 12-year-old son Timofey himself. Due to severe shortness of breath, any of their joint walks became a real test. A month after the transplant, Oleksandr is working hard on his lungs with the help of special equipment and an exercise bike, and already takes more than five thousand steps every day. And after completing rehabilitation, Oleksandr promises Tymofiyka that they will definitely go fishing together.
Viktor Babii, who has been transplanted for more than a year, now feels full of strength and energy. Before the lung transplant, the man did not leave his apartment for years: he could barely take a few steps across the room and could not imagine his life without an oxygen concentrator. And now Victor walks a lot in the fresh air and even rides a bicycle. He also plans a joint vacation with his wife and dreams of having grandchildren.
We will remind you that last year a record number of transplants were performed in Lviv, saving almost a hundred Ukrainians in Ukraine. Medical teams of the First Medical Association transplanted 7 hearts, 12 livers and 78 kidneys: of them, three kidneys and one liver were given to children.