Kelowna mother waiting for liver transplant worries time is running out

A B.C. mother has been on an emotional rollercoaster as she awaits a life-saving organ transplant—and her future remains uncertain.

Lyndsay Richholt needs a walker to get around, and has been largely bedridden while she waits for a liver transplant.

Ten months ago her doctor said she had six months to live without a new liver.

“They were quite concerned that I was going to die while on the waitlist,” Richholt said Thursday.

The 42-year-old Kelowna, B.C., mother has an autoimmune disease. She says BC Transplant’s scoring system—called MELD—failed to properly factor the impact of her underlying disease.

“They’ve also confirmed though that my MELD score is incorrect, so MELD score does not calculate correctly for autoimmune diseases,” said Richholt. “Our complications and symptoms just don’t fit into that paradigm.”

Richholt ultimately resorted to soliciting living donors online. She got more than 50 responses.

BC Transplant originally told her she couldn’t accept one from a non-relative. It has since reversed course on that, and done testing on two potential donors.

“That testing has been going on for about six months. BC Transplant had originally told me testing takes about three months,” said Richholt.

BC Transplant told CTV that testing takes a minimum of three months, and the process remains confidential—including whether a donor changes their mind. Richold’s frustration has been amplified by what she calls poor communication by BC Transplant that’s left her feeling in the dark when—or if—she will actually have her transplant.

“I’m very nervous that something will happen and i won’t make it,” she said.

Richholt’s MLA in Kelowna, Kristina Loewen, has recently been advocating for her, in hopes she can expedite a transplant.

“The dropped balls are really obvious, and I just feel for her plight,” said Loewen.

In a statement, Vancouver Coastal Health said the MELD score is “not the only tool used to assess patients who are waiting for transplant,” and that the transplant program “frequently reassesses patients based on clinical updates.”

Richholt’s said that’s not her experience, and not much comfort to her as she clings to hope after being told two weeks ago she’d get a surgery date by yesterday.

She still has no word on that, and worries about a failing liver and weak immune system as B.C. enters flu season.

“Those are complications that could kill me, and that’s absolutely terrifying for me and my family right now,” Richholt said.