Kennewick woman gets new lungs

SEATTLE -- Finally, after four years of waiting and praying, Alicia Foss got her new lungs Wednesday.

The 27-year-old daughter of Jim and Diane Foss of Kennewick was in recovery Wednesday evening after five hours of surgery at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle.

"It's an incredible gift (the donor's) family has given to us," Diane Foss said earlier by telephone as she waited out the surgery with a half-dozen other family members at the hospital.

Despite having only 10 percent lung capacity, the 105-pound, 5-foot-tall Alicia was exceptionally fit to undergo the double-lung transplant.

"The fact that she is going into this strong and in a healthy state is a major advantage," her mother said minutes after Alicia went into surgery.

Alicia suffered lung damage while being treated for leukemia as a baby. The damage became serious in her teenage years and she was qualified for a lung transplant in 2006.

The family packed their suitcases and rehearsed on how to move quickly so Alicia could be placed on an air ambulance in Richland and be at the Seattle hospital within one hour of getting "the call."

And then they waited. Gradually, the excitement at the prospect of getting new lungs dimmed as days became weeks and months with no call.

Finally, the call came in the summer of 2007. But after she arrived at the hospital, her surgeon determined the donor lungs weren't suitable for her.

"It was a dry run," said Diane Foss.

The waiting started all over again.

"We got tired of living out of suitcases, so we unpacked them," Diane said.

But Alicia kept exercising so she would be physically fit when the big day came.

Then at 9:45 p.m. Tuesday, Alicia's phone rang. Seeing that the area code wasn't 206 (Seattle's), she answered nonchalantly.

It was the hospital's transplant coordinator calling from her home in a different area code.

Her mother, who had gone to bed for the night, recalled: "When (Alicia) heard the word 'lung' she began to cry. Then Jim came in and hollered 'We got the call!' "

They frantically grabbed and packed suitcases and called extended family with the news. "We had all been asking the Lord, 'When?' but we were totally unprepared," Jim said.

Well, not entirely.

Years earlier, Jim had written a request for people to offer prayers for Alicia when the lung transplant occurred. He planned to send it as a mass e-mail to family, friends and members of the Community Bible Church in Kennewick when the day finally came.

Alicia reminded her father of that draft e-mail before they left for Seattle.

"She asked me, 'Dad, can I send it?' " Jim said. "I said, 'Send it. Send it.' "

Word traveled fast.

Tiffany Zarate, a lifelong friend of Alicia's, was one of the first to be notified.

"I am thrilled. I could hardly sleep last night. I was saying a lot of prayers," she said.

Alicia had been on the lung transplant waiting list for nearly four years -- the longest of anyone, her father said.

"Our pulmonary physician can't believe it. She continued to go to Kennewick General Hospital once a week for physical therapy and never was bedridden. I just told him we have an awesome God," Jim Foss said from the hospital.

Alicia's father had his gall bladder removed in the Tri-Cities a week earlier, and he still had the staples from that surgery as he made the late-night drive early Wednesday to catch up with his daughter and wife in Seattle. He had them removed later that morning at the same hospital where Alicia was being prepped for surgery.

The surgery disrupted Alicia's schedule as a spokeswoman for Donate Life Today, a nonprofit group that encourages organ donations. She was supposed to do a presentation at Kennewick High School on Friday to encourage students to sign up as organ donors when they get their driver's licenses. And this is Organ Donor Month, her mother noted.

Alicia, who graduated from Kennewick High in 2001, is the 17th person to receive a lung transplant at the University of Washington Medical Center this year, said Susan Gregg-Hanson, hospital spokeswoman.

Diane Foss recalled Wednesday evening her words to her daughter just before she went into surgery.

"She wanted to hold my hand. I kissed her on the cheek. I said, 'I'll see you in a little while.' There have been a lot of tears today, but good tears," she said.

-- John Trumbo: 582-1529; jtrumbo@tricityherald.com