Tune into this week’s episode of Money, I’m Home as Lynne is joined by Paul DeWyse to discuss his miraculous experience as a lung transplant recipient.

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0:00:00.0 Lynne Jarman-Johnson (LJJ): Money, I’m home. Welcome in, I’m Lynne Jarman-Johnson with Consumers Credit Union. From finance to fitness, we have it all. And today we have a very special broadcast. It is one that is five years in the making. Paul, I just cannot tell you how glad I am to be talking to you today.

0:00:24.8 Paul DeWyse (PD): Well, thank you. I can’t tell you how glad I am to be here to talk to you today. It’s amazing. Yeah.

0:00:29.1 LJJ: So, five years ago, literally yesterday, correct?

0:00:34.0 PD: Exactly.

0:00:34.0 LJJ: What’s the date? February…

0:00:35.4 PD: February 7th. Yeah.

0:00:36.7 LJJ: Wow. Tell us a little bit about what’s going on, what happened.

0:00:39.7 PD: What happened on that day? Well, I was here at the CUES Conference in Detroit, Michigan at the MGM Grand Hotel. And having a good time with all my friends. I had been on a lung transplant waiting list for about three months and I got the call, the call at midnight on February 7th while I was up in my room getting ready to go to bed. And U of M Hospital said, we have lungs for you. Oh, I get a little emotional. I’m sorry.

0:01:07.0 LJJ: It’s just amazing, Paul!

0:01:08.7 PD: It is. I mean, and so I got the call and they said, we have lungs. We have the lungs that fit your blood type and the size and it’s a perfect match. And we need you here in two hours.

0:01:21.3 LJJ: And here you are in Detroit at a conference.

0:01:24.1 PD: Yeah.

0:01:24.8 LJJ: So, what goes through your mind and are you calling your family?

0:01:29.0 PD: Oh, yeah. And they had already contacted my wife because they couldn’t get ahold of me.

0:01:32.7 LJJ: Wow.

0:01:33.0 PD: The lung transplant team, had already contacted her so she knew what was going on. She was trying to contact me, but I was out and about having fun with my friends, [laughter] so anyway, yes. So, they contacted me. I was shaken and crazy because I already went through this experience once in December of that same year, they called me in and I went in and I did not get lungs. They had them, but the lungs had pneumonia in them. And I was there for 18 hours, prepped and ready to go for a lung transplant again, another emotional thing. But so that one didn’t work. But this one after I found out, a friend of mine took me to my wife in Livonia and she drove me directly to a U of M hospital. And then all my daughters came and then we started the process and it took about 12 hours. And then I got my new lungs. Amazing!

0:02:27.6 LJJ: The last podcast we did, was three years ago.

0:02:31.6 PD: Okay, yeah.

0:02:32.5 LJJ: And this was literally when COVID was coming and you actually, I think you were one of the first people that I had learned that had COVID in Michigan and you had a double lung transplant.

0:02:46.8 PD: Yes. Yes. I was one of the first diagnosed with COVID in Michigan and the first at U of M hospital. And I did very well. I was in the hospital for two weeks because they were… Because I was a lung transplant. And they were very nervous. I was not only their first COVID person, but I had a double lung transplant too. So, they were very, very careful with me. And so, I was in there for two weeks. But they told me that my lungs not only saved… The new lungs, not only saved my life when I got my transplant, but it saved my life through COVID.

0:03:17.9 LJJ: Wow. It is the most beautiful story of life.

0:03:21.4 PD: Yeah. It is. I am so blessed and so fortunate. I just, I can’t even tell you. I mean, every day I have to pinch myself and sometimes I’m like walking up steps. I’m hiking up a mountain, I’m doing something and I just have to say, I can’t believe I’m doing this because you didn’t know me before…

0:03:37.3 LJJ: I didn’t, yeah.

0:03:39.1 PD: I was on oxygen 24/7. I could barely walk from here to that pillar over there. And it was just so rough for me for many years. I was diagnosed 20 years ago, but the last five years before my transplant were really bad. So, it’s a whole new life. I live every day just to its fullest just because I can now.

0:04:01.2 LJJ: Right, right.

0:04:01.9 PD: I mean, it’s pretty cool.

0:04:03.4 LJJ: Now, Paul, you’re with Alloya. Tell us a little bit about your company and also then what happened. To me, what is fascinating about all this is it’s not just family, it’s colleagues. It’s people who literally, I mean, we all prayed for you every day.

0:04:19.3 PD: Yeah. And that is so cool. That’s a great thing about the credit union industry for sure, is all the friends. I’ve been at Alloya now for 24 years over those years. You know, I’ve been in sales most of it, most of the time. So yeah, I know a lot of credit union folks and I have a lot of good friends in the industry. And yeah, they were amazing. I got so many cards and so many people praying for me. And I know that that had a huge bearing on my successful transplant, because not everyone has a successful transplant either. In fact, I’m very lucky to be here today because 50% of people that have a lung transplant die within the first five years.

0:04:56.4 LJJ: 50%.

0:04:58.0 PD: 50%. So, I made it to that five-year period. And yes!

0:05:04.4 LJJ: It is amazing.

0:05:05.3 PD: It is amazing. But Alloya, my company has been amazing for me. So, after my lung transplant, of course I had to go on disability for several months, and Alloya was right by my side, they took very good care of me and they kept my job open for me. So, I was able to work right up until transplant day. And then I was on disability to get myself back to normal, which took many months. And then I was able to go right back to work in my same position. And here I am today at the same conference I was at before my lung transplant. So, so cool. So cool!

0:05:38.2 LJJ: You know, when you look at, you had mentioned like hiking and you had mentioned all the things that you’re doing now. What is it differently that you… Are there types of medications that you still have to take every day?

0:05:51.0 PD: Oh yes, yes. So, I’m on all kinds of immune compromised drugs. So, my body will, for the rest of my life, try to fight off my lungs. So, they have me on immune compromised drugs, two major ones that keep my immune system really low. So, I’m very susceptible to any kind of virus, any kind of bacteria. I mean, anything, I have to be so careful because I mean, I could get pneumonia tomorrow and it could just take me out. That’s why it’s a very complex, lung transplant is very complex because, everyone thinks, “Oh, you’re healed you got new lungs!” I’m healed for today. But I mean, because of the situation and the way it is, I could not be here tomorrow because if I get sick and go down, that’s just what happens.

0:06:40.1 LJJ: Well, obviously you have a special purpose in this life, obviously.

0:06:44.9 PD: There you go.

0:06:45.8 LJJ: And part of it for me meeting you, is I want to say the word hope.

0:06:52.5 PD: Yeah. That’s cool. Yeah. And I like to think that I do give other people hope. So, I have become a mentor at U of M Hospital for other lung transplant people.

0:07:05.3 LJJ: You know that is probably hard too, isn’t it?

0:07:08.1 PD: Oh, it is. The first two people that I mentored never made it out of the hospital, so it’s very hard. But at the same time, it’s very rewarding and it really, for other people to see what I was, what I am today, the total different lifestyle, like you said. I mean, I play racquetball, I work out every day. I hike, I ride, I do spin class.

0:07:31.5 LJJ: Have you played pickleball? That’s the question.

0:07:33.2 PD: I love pickleball, that’s one of my… Yes. Pickleball, I love pickleball. You want to play?

0:07:37.6 LJJ: Yeah!

0:07:38.2 PD: I love pickleball. Yeah. So, I think I do give a lot of hope, and that’s why I did several interviews and things for TV and that was why, just to give other people hope and inspiration. It’s like, there’s a lot when you’re down and out there’s always a bright side somewhere along the way. And for me, I’m just blessed that my donor’s name was JJ. I’m blessed that JJ was the donor and thank you Jesus.

0:08:09.3 LJJ: Yes. Thank you, JJ. Thank you, God.

0:08:11.5 PD: Yeah and thank you, JJ. Yeah.

0:08:13.1 LJJ: Paul DeWyse, your story is one that truly inspires so many people and cannot thank you enough for joining us again.

0:08:23.7 PD: Thank you. Thank you.

0:08:24.8 LJJ: And look forward to the next one.

0:08:26.9 PD: That’s great. Thank you. It’s great to be here and I appreciate it. It’s very nice.

0:08:31.4 LJJ: Money, I’m home. Thanks so much for listening in. If you have a topic or if you’d like to know more about Paul’s story, hey listen, he is open for you to connect and communicate with. So just give us a call. Jake Esselink. Thank you so much for your production skills. I hope everybody has a beautiful week, this week. It is becoming spring, ooh, close to summer in Michigan. I’m Lynne Jarman-Johnson with Consumers Credit Union.

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