John Hanson

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John had a lung transplant on December 17th, 2020. Before the transplant, his quality of life was rapidly deteriorating due to a degenerative lung disease; he became dependent on oxygen and was increasingly fatigued. Throughout his illness, John has been in good spirts. He is optimistic about the future and always cracking jokes. His condition progressed to the point of needing a lung transplant and shortly after being approved as eligible for a transplant, he got THE call. There is a match! He had to be at the hospital that same night and had the transplant the next day. The procedure went smoothly! Once awake, alert, and off of the ventilator, he was already taking his lungs for a test drive and singing. He is grateful to be in hands of an excellent medical team at the University of Minnesota. For months leading up the the transplant, it was John’s wish to have new lungs by his birthday (December 23rd). He got his wish and had “the best birthday of his life” in the ICU where his doctors and nurses decorated his room and each sang him happy birthday through the day. While positive attitude has not wavered, he has experienced some setbacks in his recovery. There is still a long and uncertain road ahead of John, and we are hopeful for minimal setbacks in his recovery.