Testimonials
DAVID LEHMANN
My name is David Lehmmann, I am a 53 year old Vigeron and Winemaker from the Barossa Valley in South Australia. From enjoying a healthy, physically robust, active lifestyle, my life changed dramatically in mid-2023, when I was diagnosed with acute interstitial lung disease caused by Scleroderma. The onset of the disease and the impact on my lungs were both rapid and profound. The downward trajectory of my decline in lung function was largely stabilised by November 2024 but unfortunately left me with irreversible damage the meant a double lung transplant was my only option going forward.
Living in Barrosa Valley in South Australia, I was accepted into the South Australian Lung Transplant Program, which is a nonsurgical satellite centre for The Alfred, based at the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH). This unique collaboration between Professor Mark Holmes back in Adelaide and the heads of the Alfred Transplant team here in Melbourne allowed me to be pre-operatively assessed and monitored for the 12 months after I was listed, without having to travel back and forth to Melbourne. During this time, I was closely monitored by the Alfred’s ‘extended’ Transplant team. This included the doctors, coordinators, physios and social workers who provided education, reassurance and, most importantly, information about accommodation options once you are released as an outpatient. During this post discharge ‘outpatient’ period, you would be in the post-transplant recovery phase; needing to come to the at least Alfred 3 times a week. Proximity is one of the most important factors to consider as if, as can so often happen, something goes awry, you may need to get to the ED in minutes.
Understandably, one of the burning ‘practical’ issues after being accepted for the Transplant Programme is where you and your carer will live during this period. Post discharge, your recovery is closely monitored for the 8-12 weeks after you leave the ward, and you are constantly back and forth to the Alfred. That there was affiliated & subsidised accommodation associated with the Alfred’s Transplant Programme a couple of minutes’ walk away, was a great relief to me. The location of The Alfred means that ‘self-sourcing’ medium stay accommodation is always going to be a very expensive exercise. It is potentially out of easy reach, financially for many, especially if as in my case you needed two-bedroom accommodation. Of course, it’s a given when you’re dying, you’re going to pay whatever it costs to get a new chance at life, but thankfully Rockmans Apartments give an affordable and incredibly liveable option a couple of minutes’ walk away from the Alfred.
So, the Preamble in many ways was a 12 month wait on ‘The List’… getting through my day to day relatively well… but really, just existing. To be honest, I’d started to wonder in those last few weeks, if I was going to live to see the transplant. I could feel (that after 12 or so months of relative stability) I was rapidly declining.
Then, like a surreal bolt from the sky, it was at 9pm on a Saturday night when I got that life changing phone call.
“Is that David? I have some great news, we have you booked on a 6am flight to Melbourne tomorrow morning, we have found a match”.
This kicked off the whirlwind of activity that anyone who has either undergone or had a family member receive a transplant, would be all too familiar with. The frantic final pack, current meds, oxygen, clothes etc all condensed down into the go bag, then the surreal drive to the airport in the wee small hours… medical clearances, oxygen on the plane, arriving in Melbourne, straight to emergency, up to ward… brief wait then confirmation, “it’s on” and before you know it you’re shivering in theatre as the anaesthetic takes hold… wondering if you’ll wake up…
Coming out the other side, the first thought was CRIKEY! I made it!!!
The well oiled & organised ‘machine’ of the Post transplant pathway kicks in and as a patient you are slotted into one of the world’s most successful programmes (in terms of outcomes) and transition seamlessly from ICU to Ward and then, barring complication, discharged from hospital as an outpatient to continue recovery. Once you transition into the ward, the Allied Health arm of the Lung Transplant Service makes contact to make sure. As I am a part of the interstate programme, and needing this Accommodation, the Allied Health Assistant had already secured me a booking with the Rockman Apartments that once I was discharged to Out Patient Status, I would be able to move into to with my sister Libby (who was my carer) and complete my recovery, close to The Alfred and in a fully appointed two bedroom apartment.
The beauty of the Rockman apartments, apart from proximity to the Alfred, is the range of accommodation available. For my sister and me, having a two-bedroom apartment was necessary, but for the situation where carer and recovering transplant patient . & depending on how ambulant you are, there are ground floor apartments, and for those of us with a little more gas in the post-transplant tank, second and third floor apartments accessed via stairs.
The apartments themselves become a home away from home. They are comfortable, we’ll appointed and contain everything you need for the 8-12 weeks that you’ll be staying (depending on how you fare – of course). It cannot be understated how life changing, impacting and big of a deal getting an organ transplant is. As you deal with the enormity of the pain management, wobbly ride with the drug regime, rehabilitation education etc, I can say without reservation that the last thing you want to be dealing with is managing short stay accommodation on top of this. Robert Rockman, and the Rockmans Apartments completely remove this one worry (and believe me it is a big deal) from the complex barn dance of Post Transplant. Both my sister Libby and I have been completely comfortable here in our apartment. It’s completely secure, from the fully ‘gated. Entrance, electronically secured doors for access into the building and the robust doors on each room. When you are first sent to the apartments from the hospital, you are weak, vulnerable and because of the pain management drugs potentially confused and feeling understandably insecure, which is immediately dispelled here at the Rockmans Apartments. Nutrition and rest are the other side of the post-transplant equation, when you’re not at hospital, in the gym or out walking to build your cardiovascular health. The apartments are completely appointed with wonderful cooking facilities, a European laundry washer/dryer and are located in a quiet back street 450 meters away from the main entrance to the Alfred Hospital. For me, it has been the perfect no fuss solution to this portion of my post-transplant rehabilitation period. As I write this endorsement (and I use this word in the strongest way possible) on the eve of heading back to my home in South Australia, I can honestly say that staying here has been an absolute pleasure. Robert has personally made it his mission to ensure that anything we required for the apartment was supplied, repaired and replaced in a very quick, cheerful and generous way.
Thank you
David Lehmann
Barossa Valley, South Australia