North Kentville woman kicks off 2021 with new lungs

It would be nearly impossible for Karen Spencer to count her blessings.

For starters, she'd have to track each and every breath.

The North Kentville woman underwent a lung transplant on Sept. 1, 2020.

“I can go out and walk and not have to worry about if I'm going to run out of oxygen, so that's a pretty big step,” she said in a recent interview.

“Thank God for the donor family.”

Spencer, 54, temporarily relocated to Toronto for six months — three months of waiting for word that the surgery could proceed and three months of recovery.

Leading up to the transplant, her lung function was rapidly deteriorating to the point that life as she knew it was no longer possible.

“I could walk with a walker, but I'd have to stop every few minutes,” she said.

Spencer was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2015, but surgeons were able to remove the cancer. It was the latter diagnosis, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, that put her name on the list for a double lung transplant.

Her mind was often racing a mile a minute in the months leading up to her surgery. On top of hoping that she'd be matched with suitable lungs in time, she had to be extremely vigilant to ensure the COVID-19 virus and related travel restrictions did not interfere with the lifepreserving transplant.

“It was nerve-racking. My anxiety was through the roof,” she said.

Spencer joined a lung transplant group chat to find comfort in the company of others experiencing similar circumstances.

“They kept reassuring me that everything was going to be alright,” she said.

Her twin sister, Koren Davidson,

Annapolis Valley resident Karen Spencer underwent a double lung transplant at Toronto General Hospital on Sept. 1, 2020.

flew to Toronto with her to remain by her side throughout it all.

“If it wasn't for her, I think I would have chickened out. She kept encouraging me every day,” said Spencer.

Davidson remembers the days spent waiting by the phone, waiting for the bittersweet news that lungs were available.

“We made the best of it,” she said.

They were both laying down the moment that call came.

“It was even better than winning the lotto.”

Difficult days would follow the surgery, days that even now stand out in Davidson's mind more than Spencer's. Tears flowed freely the moment she first saw her twin sister in intensive care.

“I was happy to be by her side because I've been by her side since we were born … but it was very heart-wrenching at times.”

But Davidson did not lose sight of why she was there.

“Sometimes I think I know her more than I know myself. She's tougher than she gives herself credit for,” she said.

Davidson reminded herself her sister finds strength in her positivity. They've always been total opposites — night and day. And it's always worked for them.

“I'm still pushing her,” she said, noting Spencer is back to building strength and walking at the gym.

“I'm very proud of her. I don't know if I could ever go through something like that. The wait was unbearable.”

Spencer has nothing but praise for the medical professionals who helped her along the way, including the doctors involved in the diagnosis in Nova Scotia, and the renowned lung transplant program team at Toronto General Hospital.

Karen Spencer, left, joins hands with her twin sister, Koren Davidson. Davidson was Spencer’s caregiver leading up to, and following, a double lung transplant in September 2020.

“It was fine after it was all done,” she said.

“If I had to have it done again, I would do it.”

Spencer was thrilled to ring in 2021 at home in Kings County. She missed her husband, sons, dogs and her home. And her dogs made no bones about letting her know that she was missed when she walked through the door.

“It was like 20 pounds lifted off of my shoulders,” she said.

“Toronto was too busy for me. I'm not a city person.”

She's adjusting to her new normal with gratitude. She enjoys going to the gym multiple days a week, and she hopes to have her sister take her for a walk around the trails at Kentville Miner's Marsh when she's ready.

“I can do things,” she said. “I just have to do it slower.”

Spencer dreams of returning to the workforce when she is stronger. She was completing a work placement at Valley Regional Hospital when she fell ill, and she plans to return to NSCC Kingstec to complete her medical office administration course requirements.

In the meantime, she'll be taking nothing for granted.

“I learned to live one day at a time and live it to the fullest.”