An Oklahoma City woman is thankful for a second chance at life after defying a grim diagnosis and undergoing a lifesaving double lung transplant in Phoenix.
Debbie Frick was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in 2019. The chronic lung disease causes progressive scarring of the lungs, making it increasingly difficult to breathe. Her condition worsened after a respiratory illness, and she eventually relied on supplemental oxygen. Even her voice faded.
“I was down to just barely a whisper,” Frick said. “And when I would begin to try to talk to you, it was a whisper and then I would look over to my husband, John, and he would finish what I was trying to say because I couldn’t.”
By 2022, at age 73, her prognosis was bleak. A doctor in Oklahoma told her she was too old to qualify for a lung transplant and gave her just three years to live. But Frick refused to accept that fate.
“When you get that diagnosis, you should get a second opinion,” Frick said. “And so, we did.”
The second opinion eventually led her to Norton Thoracic Institute at Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix.
“Every person who walks in here gets a fair chance,” said Dr. Ashwini Arjuna, MD, a pulmonologist at the institute. “She was in the older spectrum of our recipients, but she went through the evaluation and was deemed fit. She was transplanted within a week of being on the list.”
In February, Frick received a double lung transplant, which Dr. Arjuna jokingly called “some sexy lungs.”
Her recovery since then has been filled with milestones. With her husband, John, by her side, Frick danced with her 2-year-old granddaughter, zipped down the sidewalk on a scooter, and rediscovered her ability to speak, something she admits she took for granted.
“I remember that first breath,” she said. “That breath was actually the first words I could say. I could speak to my husband. I could say ‘hello,’ I could say ‘I love you.’ And he continues to remind me that I haven’t stopped talking since.”
Inside her Oklahoma City kitchen sits her “grateful jar,” filled with cards sent from friends and family around the world. They include prayers, encouragement, and reminders that she was never alone.
“My dearest Debbie,” one card reads. Another arrived from Ireland, wishing her well.
“God may have had his hands all over, and certainly he did orchestrate this, but he provided a huge community of people that came around and would not let me forget how much they cared, prayed, and loved me,” said Frick.
Frick also expressed deep gratitude for her donor and their family.
“I get to see these people, I get to tell them ‘I love you’ because that’s what it means to get a second chance at life, that I would not have except for a donor that I will never meet this side of heaven that said ‘yes’ on their driver’s license, they checked the box, got the heart, not knowing if they were going to give life to someone else,” she said.
Now home in Oklahoma, Frick says she plans to cherish every day and wants her story to encourage others who are facing lung disease and to inspire more people to register as organ donors.
“There’s just not enough words that can explain the gratitude I have for, certainly, my family, for the amazing doctors, the ability for them to find a donor that was just perfect for me,” she said. “I’m grateful for the second chance at being able to come into these holiday seasons and be able to spend it with family and friends.”
