Transplant patient waits for organs

Press, 1 July 1988, Page 2

Transplant patient waits for organs

By

TONY VERDON

in London

A Siiverstream heartlung transplant patient, Mrs Cathy Montaperto, has been told she may have to wait months in Britain to have her surgery. , She and her husband, Mr Victor Montaperto, have already waited in Britain for eight months for suitable organs to become available. But they were told by Harefield Hospital authorities this week that they should be prepared to remain in Britain for another six months. The warning has come as another setback for Mrs Montaperto, aged 44, a former Lower Hutt theatre manager, who has suffered from bronchial emphysema since she was five years old.

Because Mrs Montaperto is a small person, the hospital has had difficulty finding suitable organs. Even though Harefield Hospital surgeons had performed 15 transplants in the last few weeks, none of the organs had been suitable for her. Mrs Montaperto and her husband are living in a flat at Gerrards Cross about a 10-minute drive from Harefield Hospital, west of London. She must remain on oxygen for about 20 hours a day, and cannot move about without it. The last fortnight has been particularly trying for the couple, because of the deaths of two transplant patients who had become close friends. One was an Australian, and the other was Mr

Norman Rae, of Mosgiel, who died earlier this month after suffering from rejection. “When Norman passed away two weeks ago we nearly gave up and started packing; we really wanted to go home,” said Mrs Montaperto. “But we decided there was no point in going back, and that we have no alternative but to wait here.” But the waiting was also more lonely now that another heart transplant patient from New Zealand, Mr Joe Wansink, of Dunedin, had returned home with his wife. Mrs Montaperto said she and her husband had decided they would not become too friendly with other transplant patients because of the deaths of their two friends.