N.S. lung recipient says costs around transplant hammered retirement savings – CBC

Furnished apartment near the transplant hospital costs twice the N.S. allowance

Apr 16, 2025

A Nova Scotia woman recovering from a lung transplant says she had to take tens of thousands of dollars from her retirement fund in order to undergo the life-saving procedure because provincial medical allowances fall far short of her expenses.

Nan Clarke, who is originally from Charlottetown but retired in the Halifax area, was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in 2019. That’s a thickening of the lungs that causes them to stiffen up.

“We were told there was a possibility of dying early on. That was hard to take,” Clarke, 73, said in an interview.

Clarke’s only chance of survival was a transplant, but that meant temporarily moving to Toronto.

Lungs are the only organ that can’t be transplanted on the East Coast. Patients undergo their initial treatment and tests in Halifax, but must move and live within two hours of the University Health Network while they are on the transplant list and during a recovery period. Patients have no idea how long they’ll be there.

“You’re not just coming up for a few months,” said Clarke, who relocated to Toronto in July 2024 with her husband.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/ns-lung-recipient-cost-transplant-retirement-savings-1.7510687