By Carly Ritz
The Times
Published: March 13, 2008

Perky survivor of risky 7-hour transplant op

Alice Vosloo has a lot in common with other 24-year-olds: she is a Grey’s Anatomy fan, reads avidly and is regularly online and connected. The difference is that she is recovering from a seven-hour double lung transplant operation just over a month ago.

Alice was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when she was two but the disease did not become unmanageable until she turned 21. Cystic fibrosis is an hereditary disease that affects the digestive system and the lungs.

Because of an accumulation of mucus, Alice’s lungs became a hotbed of infection and her lung function plummeted to 20percent.

She said: “Walking up one flight of stairs at sea level was too hard.”

Her life changed dramatically. She was forced to give up studying for an honours degree in accounting because she was too ill to attend lectures.

“I couldn’t go out with my friends either.”

She had to endure physiotherapy three times a week, nebulisation and doses of antibiotics.

She was increasingly housebound as she became ever more dependant on her oxygen machine.

Alone at home, she researched her condition online and followed the blogs of other cystic fibrosis sufferers.

Inspired by a blog by a sufferer in the UK (http://www.pinkandsmiley.blogspot.com), Alice started her own blog.

She said: “The blog created a sense of community. I didn’t feel so alone.”

Through research and interaction with other bloggers, she learned a lot about lung transplants.

Rene Vosloo, her mother, said doctors in South Africa are reluctant to refer patients for lung transplants because the operation is risky. But Alice was determined to have the surgery.

After a visit to Paul Williams, transplant physician at Milpark Hospital, in Johannesburg, Alice was put on a waiting list for new lungs in May.

Williams said there is a risk of the body rejecting the new lungs, but if the operation is successful the patient can live a long and happy life.

On January 21, at 11.30pm, Alice received the call she’d been longing for — her lungs were waiting.

She and her mother flew from Port Elizabeth to Johannesburg the next day, and at 4.30pm the same day Alice was on the operating table.

She had gained a following through her blog. Her younger sister filed updates on the progress of the transplant operation.

Rene said the support and prayers of the online community were overwhelming.

She looked at her daughter and said: “It’s nothing but a miracle. Her hands used to be blue and her face grey. I used to be able to identify Alice in a shopping centre by her cough. ”

Alice said : “I never had normal lung function in my life before.”

Her blog has been nominated for an award.

“The nomination will create awareness about cystic fibrosis and donating organs.”

Read Alice’s blog at http://livinglifebreathlessly.blogspot.com

BLOG EXTRACT: Last night a year ago I was rushed to hospital in an ambulance at about 2.30am because I was finding it so hard to breathe. It was the closest I’d ever come to dying, at least that’s how it felt anyway! When they loaded me in the ambulance my O2 sats were 36%! Luckily in the end I survived after some IVs etc, just lost some serious weight.