The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Two years of doctors, tests and misdiagnoses Continued from page 1 3 · Thursday, January 24, 2013 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.insideHALTON.com turned into pneumonia that caused Childerhose to be hospitalized, and then dissolved to a cough that just wouldn't go away -- after two years of seeing doctors, getting tests and misdiagnoses, it was finally decided he had DP. Childerhose and his wife went on living their lives with their five children as best they could after his diagnosis, and continued to run their construction company in Oakville; that is until the winter of 2011 when Childerhose was no longer able to go up a flight of stairs or lift his toolbox without needing to rest for 10 minutes. After seeing another respirologist at Toronto General Hospital (TGH) in July 2012, and going through a thorough medical assessment later in September, Childerhose was finally placed on the transplant list the following month and given Status 2, the highest priority. Childerhose was readmitted to TGH on Thursday (Jan. 17) and placed on a ventilator after his condition worsened severely with an alarming increase in his CO2 levels. Doctors told Taylor, her husband would remain in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) until his double-lung transplant date -- whenever that may be. "It's been a challenge," Taylor said of the waiting game that is the organ transplant list. "It's definitely frustrating because you have no control. You just have to wait... in the long run we know we have to trust the system and NIKKI WESLEY / OAKVILLE BEAVER / @halton_photog SIDE BY SIDE: Keith Childerhose is waiting for a double-lung transplant at Toronto General Hospital's Intensive Care Unit (ICU), as his wife Sarah Taylor embraces him by his side. Childerhose has diffuse panbronchiolitis, a severe and rare lung disease. Currently on a ventilator, doctors have told Childerhose he must stay in hospital until his transplant date. He is on the waiting list at Status 2 (the highest priority). trust the doctors to make the right call when a pair of potential lungs come in." The first call for a potential transplant came on Dec. 19, 2012. Childerhose went through all the necessary testing and was prepped for surgery, but approximately two hours before the surgery was scheduled to take place, doctors told him and his wife the lungs were deemed "no good," which Taylor says is common and can happen. "While we were prepared for that situation, I was definitely disappointed," she said. "But we really can't complain. There are people that have been on that list for two years, waiting." According to the Trillium Gift of Life Network (TGLN), which oversees organ and tissue donations across Ontario, 1,517 people are currently on the transplant waiting list (as of Jan. 23), with 84 of those waiting specifically for lungs. Taylor says this is why those on the waiting list and their supporters tend to become real advocates for organ donation and awareness campaigns, such as the Oakville Be a Donor campaign. A group of residents and politicians launched the local branch of the provincial campaign last summer to challenge residents to increase the number of organ donors on the registry and help save more lives. The group includes Ward 2 Councillor Pam Damoff, Oakville MPP Kevin Flynn, Julie Pehar, whose family faced the painful decision to donate the organs of a loved one, and organ donation recipient Jennifer Malabar. "As someone who has benefitted from the generosity of my husband's donation of his kidney, my life has been forever changed because of organ donation," Malabar told the Beaver. "Statistics show most people have no issue with organ donation, they just haven't gotten around to registering. We want to raise awareness and make it easy for people to register." According to the Be a Donor website, one See One page 9 VAC H ealth Identifi c a ti o n Cards Welco me · Thorough, consistent and reliable home cleaning · 100% satisfaction guaranteed · Regular and occasional service · Spring Cleaning · Gift Certificates e-mail: anderson@mollymaid.ca Makeime familyet t ime activ A YMCA membership is the perfect way for you and your family to get active -- and spend quality time together. Our membership packages are all-inclusive! Take swimming lessons, work out, try group fitness, play sports, rock climb and more ­ all included in an affordable monthly fee. (905) 681-7484 Contact us today for a free, no-obligation, in-home estimate: January 21-26, Come in for a tour and get a FREE Family Pass! YMCA of Oakville Open House Connect with us! YMCAOakville @YMCAOakville YMCA of Oakville 410 Rebecca Street, Oakville T: 905 845-3417 E: info@oakville.ymca.ca ymcaofoakville.com Scan to see a video overview! Peter Gilgan Family YMCA