OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – An Oklahoma City woman was given a few years to live in 2022, after being diagnosed with a serious lung disease. However, thanks to a double lung transplant, she was given a second chance at life.
“Just that miracle of being able to know that I could function and live life, that’s my second chance,” said Debbie Frick, double lung transplant recipient.
Debbie was diagnosed with IPF, Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, a serious lung disease that causes scarring and stiffness in the lungs.
“I was told that I had three years to live, and I was too old for a transplant,” said Frick. “I had to wear a personal oxygen concentrator.”
She says that the condition made it hard for her to breathe and caused progressive loss of speech.
Debbie knew she had more life to live, but her Oklahoma doctors were not optimistic.
That’s when her family in Phoenix put her in touch with Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center for a second opinion.
“When she kind of got a signal from Oklahoma saying that she’s aging out, she’s getting older, she started looking at other options,” said Dr. Ashwini Arjuna, a pulmonologist at Norton Thoracic Institute Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center.
“We were able to safely, as a team, make this decision that she would be a good candidate to move forward for listing for bilateral lung transplantation,” said Dr. Arjuna.
Then, Debbie received good news.
“Days later, I had two brand new lungs,” said Frick.
She says it was more than just new lungs; it was a new life she was breathing in.
“That first breath I took was, I could speak. I could produce words,” said Frick. “I got to keep up with my two-year-old granddaughter, to be able to spend my holidays this Thanksgiving with my family and Christmas, and I pray many more holidays after that.”
Holidays that Debbie says are now possible, thanks to a generous stranger – her donor.
“They had the courage to put that heart on their driver’s license without a thought,” said Frick.
It’s a new lease on life, she says, she will not take for granted.
“I am so extremely grateful for this holiday season, and getting that second chance to tell everyone, even you, how much I love you,” said Frick.
She is nine months post-surgery and has wasted no time in tackling this new life. She traveled to Lebanon, had two “friends-givings” and is spending lots of time with family.