Saskatoon woman waiting on kidney gets gift of hope

A Saskatoon woman who feared the surge of COVID -19 cases had derailed her kidney transplant once again has hope.

Jessica Bailey said there are signs her surgery will move forward after it was thrown into limbo last month.

“I didn't get a timeline or anything, but they did give me news that it wasn't halted completely, which is hopeful, obviously,” she said.

“Now at least I have something to look forward to. I don't know when, but I know it's going to happen now.”

Saskatchewan suspended its organ donation program and thousands of elective surgeries last month to reroute resources to critical care for mostly unvaccinated patients sick with COVID-19. There were a record 75 people with COVID-19 in intensive care on Monday; were it not for surge planning, virtually every single ICU bed in the province would be occupied by a COVID-19 patient.

At the same time, Bailey stopped hearing from staff about an upcoming transplant she needs after years of illness. Her donor, Jason Anderson, got a call from his coordinator in Saskatchewan reporting that the department was shutting down.

However, a new coordinator contacted Bailey on Friday, saying a surgical team would now look at her case with hopes of moving forward. If not, Bailey said there was an outside chance she could be referred to B.C., where Anderson lives.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority said out-of-province deceased donations and living donor transplants might still be considered in “rare cases.”

SHA spokeswoman Amanda Purcell said Thursday that it would depend on the health-care system's ability to provide care amid other factors.

“This is a high risk procedure, which means it is imperative that the conditions be as safe and ideal as possible, and the impact of COVID -19 has created additional complications and is drawing on needed resources for such a procedure,” Purcell wrote.

Anderson, who will have to quarantine for two weeks in Saskatchewan if the surgery goes ahead, said he is hopeful but wary. He had yet to hear from his coordinator on Monday “I'm apprehensive, we'll say, because the carrot has been dangled before,” he said.

Bailey's sister Melanie said an “outpouring ” of friends, who had not been vaccinated before, changed their minds upon hearing Jessica's story.

The family has launched an online fundraising campaign to cover costs for Anderson's travel and quarantine from Vancouver as well as post-surgery expenses.