A Kelowna woman is losing her battle against autoimmune hepatitis.
Lyndsay Richholt was diagnosed with the disease 18 years ago and was told she would need a liver transplant one day. At the time, it was explained to her that, given her young age and that it isn’t self-inflicted liver disease from alcohol, she would “skyrocket” to the top of the priority waitlist.
Last March, she was told she had six months to live and now, she’s “entering end-stage liver failure,” said Kelowna-Centre MLA Kristina Loewen on Tuesday, Jan. 20.
Richholt was scheduled to receive a new liver on Dec. 10 but her donor suffered an incident, delaying the process.
“The suffering Lyndsay is enduring is just horrific,” said Loewen in a press release. “Her family tells us she’s experiencing acute pain, swelling, cramps and nausea into the wee hours of the morning. Her husband and his mother are now caring for her day and night.”
In early November, Loewen called on B.C. Premier David Eby and the NDP Government are calling for immediate reform within BC Transplant, as Richholt has been on the waitlist for over a year. Loewen echoed the same statement on Tuesday, saying the healthcare system is “refusing to communicate” with the Richholt family.
“She is a fighter, but I am afraid that she is giving up hope,” said Loewen.
The MLA did, however, add that Richholt’s donor has fully recovered from the December incident and can go ahead with the surgery.
“Lindsay’s live donor has now recovered from the accident. This transplant can happen now,” said Loewen. “No matter how exhausted Lyndsay has become, I do not want her to give up. For her sake, for the sake of her teenage son who needs her. This is an urgent matter of life and death.”
Back in November, Richholt told Black Press Media she was “forgotten about” on the waitlist.
“They’re supposed to do a follow-up review every three to four months,” said Richholt. “They forgot about me. I didn’t get a review for eight months, which they said was a communication error.”
BC Transplant calculates a MELD score (Model for End-Stage Liver Disease) based on a patient’s serum creatinine, bilirubin, International Normalized Ratio, and, in newer versions, sodium levels. It is reportedly continuously being refined. However, Richholt said her score in November was wrong, while Loewen called for an “immediate review” of the system.
Jeremy Deutsch with Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) said to Black Press back in November that people with “higher MELD scores are usually placed higher on the list and as such people with higher MELD scores are more likely to die sooner than people with lower MELD scores.”
However, he added that the score isn’t the only tool used to assess waiting patients.
“Lyndsay has been a model of patient, advocacy, and optimism,” said Loewen in November. “Yet, she has been repeatedly failed by communication breakdowns, administrative errors, and a system that seems to have forgotten the human being it serves.”
– With files from Lily Taylor