It's unusual to meet someone happy to be on a waiting list

Jim Bair, the Keizer man awaiting a double-lung transplant, is keeping his regularly scheduled doctor's appointment today in Seattle. That might not sound noteworthy, until you hear about what he just went through.

He came down with pneumonia, was removed from the national transplant list, suffered a mild stroke, recovered from both ailments, and then returned to the waiting list.

The 50-year-old husband and father of two teenager boys is breathing a sigh of relief, as much as he's able.

His lungs are working at about 18 percent capacity because of obliterative bronchiolitis, which is characterized by inflammation and scarring of the tiny airways. The disease eventually turns fatal without a transplant.

Bair, who believes his lungs are scarred from working years amid the toxic fumes at an agriculture seed-cleaning plant, has been on the list since Oct. 3. The average wait time at the University of Washington Medical Center, where he will have the transplant, is about four months.

He's eager for his monthly checkup today with the transplant team. Just a few days ago, he had doubts that he would be able to keep the appointment, let alone get back on the waiting list.

"It's been really scary," Bair said. "Having the stroke was the scariest thing I've ever been through in my life. I actually shouldn't even be here."

Doctors had warned if he ever came down with pneumonia, he probably wouldn't survive. But here he is.

Jim and his wife, Lisa, have had their bags packed -- as recommended -- since he made the list. And for three months, their lives have been in agonizing limbo.

"It's the waiting and living out of a suitcase and every time the phone rings thinking, 'Is it the call?' That part of it is very stressful," Lisa Bair said.

The Bairs have been told that Jim has only one person on the transplant list ahead of him with his blood type. They've known that since before Christmas, and were devastated when a mild stuffy nose to start the New Year turned quickly into pneumonia.

Jim wasn't well enough to stay on the transplant list, and they knew it.

"You don't want to have to make that phone call and tell them he's sick," Lisa said. "But you have to."

Jim naturally was depressed. It helped to learn that he could go back on the list, in exactly the same spot, if the pneumonia cleared.

He was taking antibiotics and on the mend when he was dealt another blow Jan. 5. He called his wife at work to tell her he thought the right side of his face was sagging. She hurried home and called 911. He had suffered a mild stroke. But by the next day, the right side of Jim's face was back to normal and he was feeling much better. Just three days after the stroke, he was back on the list. Lisa believes he was able to bounce back so quickly because he had lost 80 pounds to prepare for the transplant and had been walking two to three miles a day.

The Bairs will discuss with doctors today the possibility of relocating soon to Seattle, something they'll have to do eventually. Once Jim has the transplant and leaves the hospital, he needs to be nearby for up to three months.

Friends and family continue to raise money for the Bairs, who had to sell their Keizer home when they became a one-income family. Jim has been unable to work since May 2006, and Lisa is a hair stylist. They have insurance, but it doesn't cover all medical expenses.

Source:www.statesmanjournal.com