Less than two days after The Item published a story last month detailing Dan Barnes’ wait for a double lung transplant, the Saugus resident and his family received a life-changing message.
“That Monday morning, he got the call around 6:30 saying ‘it’s go time,’” said Dani Rogers, Dan Barnes’ eldest daughter. “He went to the hospital right away and we didn’t find out until around 2 o’clock that the lungs had been approved and he would actually be able to have the surgery.”
For Barnes, who was first diagnosed in 2014 with pulmonary hypertension — a type of high blood pressure that affects the heart and arteries in the lungs — a transplant had become his last chance at survival. The Item story reported on July 19 he had finally been placed on the transplant list.
Since his diagnosis, the 36-year employee of General Electric and married father of four had been relying on an oxygen tank to keep up with day-to-day tasks, but even still, his family said the condition continued to severely impact his quality of life.
Used to being active, Barnes previously enjoyed traveling, grilling, gardening, and spending time with his four adult children and now-17-month-old grandson before his illness made most activities nearly impossible.
“He says he’s on a leash now, but he tries to make the best of it,” Rogers said before her father’s surgery last month. “Anything he does, you have to be mindful of. He’s got this long cord at home, and then he does have a portable one, but when he goes out, he only has one hand because he has to carry this little machine with him everywhere.”
Barnes had only been on the waiting list for six days when he was told to pack up and prepare for surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, where coronavirus restrictions meant very few family members were allowed inside the building when Barnes was taken into the operating room for the six-hour procedure.
“It was tough,” Rogers said. “During normal times, my mom or one of my siblings would have been at the hospital, so I feel like we would have been updated more because we were there, but because nobody was allowed to be there, we were just sitting, waiting for them to call us to give us any kind of news.
“It’s not like you can just ask a nurse how it’s going. We just had to sit and wait and hope for the best.”
Thankfully, the surgery was a success, Rogers said, adding that with the exception of a few minor setbacks in the month since the surgery, her father feels better than he has in years. And best of all: he’s now oxygen tank-free.
“There’s no oxygen needed any more and he has his appetite back,” Rogers said. “Each mealtime, he’s been eating two meals. Before, he couldn’t even eat half a sub because it was so much work for him and … now he’s eating six meals a day.”
With the surgery over, the family is now focusing on fundraising efforts — made more difficult by the COVID-19 pandemic — to help ease some of the financial burden. Double-lung transplants can cost more than $1 million, and although insurance will cover much of it, the Barnes still need to pay about $40,000 out of pocket.
However, Rogers and Barnes said they’ve both been overwhelmed by the support they’ve already received from the Saugus community and beyond.
In a statement provided by his daughter, Barnes thanked his family and those who had already donated to his fundraising page online, saying he looks forward to going back to his old life.
“Thank you to all the people who generously gave to help me, whether monetary or spiritually, it’s all greatly appreciated,” he said. “I’m going to buy the biggest steak I can find and grill, which I haven’t been able to do for six years! I can’t wait!”
Grateful for the second chance at life, Barnes also thanked hospital staff for their hard work and continuous support, and expressed his empathy for another family currently experiencing the loss of their loved one.
“Thank you to the MGH transplant team of doctors, nurses, and all support staff, who are second to none,” he said. “With all the joy my family and I are experiencing, it also means there is a family grieving the loss of a loved one. One th(at) can not be forgotten.”
Those interested in donating to the Barnes’ fundraiser to help offset surgery costs can do so by visiting Dan’s page at give.transplants.org, or by contacting Dani Rogers directly at (781) 244-0980 or emailing her at [email protected].