Health setback postpones double-lung transplant for SoCal man battling stage 4 cancer
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Deron Wells has been fighting for months to get a double-lung transplant and had to battle his health insurance company in a saga that went viral.
In Chicago this week for the treatment, Wells received encouraging news after just two days on the transplant list. The husband and father of three got the call that a donor has been found for his transplant.
"I was super thrilled," Wells' wife Janet Savarimuthu said. "I didn't know what to do. I told Deron. He was the first person I told. He cried when I told him that he's going to have the transplant."
But Wells suffered a health setback late Thursday night meant that meant doctors were unable to proceed with scheduled transplant, Savarimuthu said.
She said she was told that it will take at least two days for Wells' vital signs to stabilize, and then he will be put back on the transplant list to wait for another possible donor.
The 59-year-old Well has largely been sedated since he was flown from Los Angeles to Chicago to take part in a lung transplant clinical study at Northwestern Medicine for stage 4 lung cancer.
His determination was clear after winning his fight for insurance coverage. His story went viral.
His critical condition makes him a priority on the transplant list.
Before Thursday's setback, there was one person at the forefront of everyone's mind -- the original donor.
In an interview on Tuesday, Savarimuthu said: "I have to thank the donor and the donor's family so much for being so generous to give Deron a second chance at life."
The transplant surgery that Wells requires typically lasts between 8 and 10 hours.
A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help Wells with ongoing medical expenses.
