Photo: Michael Brunick was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which he believes was caused by his years of welding galvanized steel without proper protection. Brunick hopes to undergo a bilateral lung transplant in the next two to 10 months, depending on a waiting list for the operation. His operation will be performed in Arizona. (Tim Appel/Journal staff.
The clear tubing that snakes across Michael Brunick’s living room floor is his lifeline.
It pumps a steady stream of oxygen from a tank in another room into his nostrils and into his lungs. A man who used to climb towers and hike in the Black Hills, Brunick is now essentially tethered. Even with the oxygen, he can barely walk from his couch to the kitchen.
“I’m lucky if I can walk through the grocery store anymore,” he said.
Brunick, 59, was diagnosed with emphysema, a type of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, in 2003.
He will move this month to Arizona where he will be placed on a waiting list to receive a double lung transplant.
Currently, there are 114,288 people on the transplant waiting list in the United States. Of those, 1,637 are waiting on lung transplants, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In 2010, more than 6,500 people died while waiting for a transplant, according to Donate Life Wisconsin.
Brunick said he has become well aware of the wait and the risks.
Read more: http://rapidcityjournal.com/lifestyles/more-than-americans-waiting-for-organ-donors/article_56d4c2e4-9b9f-11e1-ba5e-001a4bcf887a.html#ixzz1ufKx83NR
{Register to be an organ,eye and tissue donor. To learn how, www.donatelife.net or www.organdonor.gov}
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