Dr. Vicky Gerovasili

There are times when we do need to get involved during the operation to do our more physicianly things, like perform a bronchoscopy, which is a camera test to look at the airways.

And then there is also the aspect of getting involved in the assessment and the optimization of the donor organ.

That happened before the theatre, the actual operation, but it's part of that same night.

Yes.

So one of the most beautiful but equally challenging things of looking after a lung transplant recipient is that you become almost like a part of their family.

We know these people really, really well.

We know their families, their wishes.

But fundamentally, we're taking someone who we also have to have end of life conversations with because a lung transplant doesn't always happen for everyone.

watch them be reborn through transplantation, be with them or look after them for what can be years and hopefully sometimes decades.

But then we close the circle and we look after them until the end of their life again.

And that can be very emotionally stressful from a physician perspective, but it's also very rewarding because we are becoming part of their life and their family.

I sign off patients and I'm sure Dr. Budev does the same to go scuba diving, travel the world.

I literally do.

I absolutely do.

And that's fantastic to see.

And then I get emails with photos from Dubai doing windsurfing and from Greece doing scuba diving.

I'm really not making this up.

These are true things that have happened to me.

So these practices can differ between different countries and they are defined by the donation and laws.

In the UK, we cannot directly contact the family of the deceased.