Ponderay woman awaits the gift of life

PONDERAY — A Bonner County woman is advocating for the gift of life this holiday season.

Jennifer Taylor is in the home stretch of having her name applied to a list of more than 100,000 people in the nation awaiting life-saving organ transplants.

Taylor suffers from dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition in which the heart becomes too weakened and enlarged to pump blood efficiently.

“I was never symptomatic. It never bothered me,” said Taylor, 30.

But her condition took a turn for the worse several months ago, forcing her to stop working as a nurse and prepare for a heart transplant through the Inland Northwest Thoracic Organ Program at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, Wash.

At the first of the year, Taylor will undergo no less than 36 tests to confirm her medical, psychological and financial viability as a transplant recipient.

“I never knew it was so difficult to get on the list, let alone to get an organ,” said Taylor.

Medicare, Taylor’s primary insurance provider, covers only 80 percent of organ transplant costs. She’s arranged for secondary insurance to take care of the balance of the costs because she could be denied a transplanted organ if she is without the means to properly care for it.

The transplant procedure is estimated to cost up to $700,000 and anti-rejection medications will cost hundreds of dollars a month.

“My goal is that once I’m about a year out and it looks like it’s not being rejected, I’d like to return to work full-time,” she said.

In the meantime, others are stepping in to help Taylor, such as Grizzly Range Snow Removal, which is keeping her driveway plowed so she can get to a hospital quickly if need be.

Taylor said 18 people die every day waiting for an organ transplant. But Taylor remains optimistic she won’t wind up in that statistical group, mostly because of her faith.

Moreover, the organ transplant list is not immune to the tough economic climate. For instance, fewer people are buying motorcycles or going on vacations, where people are apt to throw caution to the wind.

Hearts can also be hard to come by because people only have one, unlike kidneys or lungs.

“I think everybody else is more worried than I am. I don’t think I’m going to die from this,” she said.

Taylor has found that one of the biggest misconceptions about organ and tissue donation is that people believe their status as a donor would affect their medical treatment if they were injured.

“You would not ever get improper medical treatment if you’re a donor. The doctors have nothing to do with the transplant team and don’t even know if you’re a donor or not,” said Taylor.

Taylor recommends that people who are willing to donate their organs make sure their family knows their wishes.

OrganDonor.gov can also help people register to be a donor.

“One donor can save up to 50 lives,” she said.