In plays and movies, actors have to learn to emotionally identify with their roles, but Cheryl Olson can skip a few steps.
Olson, who has had two heart transplants, is starring in an upcoming play staged by Battlefords Community Players about a woman who has a heart transplant and meets the donor鈥檚 family.
The play is called The Tin Woman and is written by American actor and playwright Sean Grennan.
Cheryl Olson was 31 in 1999. She and husband Darren had two young children. Olson contracted a virus that began as a head cold, and she became seriously ill while visiting family in the United States.
Olson was in the hospital for a couple of weeks. Doctors speculated she might have had leukemia or a heart tumour. Specialists found a blood clot, along with other blood clots in her liver and legs. Olson said 鈥渢he virus was pretty intense and did a lot of crazy things,鈥� and she developed triple pneumonia in both lungs.
Specialists later realized 鈥渟omething was going on with my heart,鈥� Olson said.
They told Darren Cheryl 鈥渨as in heart failure,鈥� and that few people in her condition survived.
Eventually, she went to Edmonton to be assessed for a heart transplant. At the time she was still very ill.
鈥淔or one week I was what you鈥檇 call conscious, and then the second week that I was there I was on life support,鈥� Olson said, adding she was on life support Monday, and got the heart Saturday morning.
At one point, Olson said, she had been on life support for 133 hours, 鈥渁 tremendously long time,鈥� and 鈥渄octors felt I had probably less than 24 hours left to be viable.鈥�
The heart came from a 21-year-old named Adam. Olson met his mother and sister about a year later.
Olson had Adam鈥檚 former heart for nine years, but started having trouble after the eighth year. Olson said she had chronic rejection. There are different forms of rejection, including instances where the body attacks the organ, she said, and in her case, the transplanted organ鈥檚 tissue started to thicken.
鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing they can do to stop or reverse it,鈥� Olson said, adding she had an aggressive case. She had about a year to find another heart.
Olson was put on a waiting list, then got a call a week later for a procedure in Edmonton.
Olson said she鈥檚 had her current heart for about 10 years.
The Olsons鈥� children are grown now and they are empty-nesters.
In The Tim Woman, Joy鈥檚 experience with her heart transplant was different than Olson鈥檚.
The character in the play is single and doesn鈥檛 have a family. She 鈥渞econciled with herself the fact that she was dying,鈥� Olson said.
鈥淚 was in a totally different place from her because I have a husband and kids and I wanted to live no matter what,鈥� Olson said.
Olson said a moment in the play when she reads the donor family鈥檚 letter out loud arouses emotions.
鈥淛oy holds her emotions in check and isn鈥檛 a very touchy feely person, whereas I was an emotional mess when I met my donor families,鈥� Olson said.
鈥淭rying to say thank you to somebody for something like this is almost impossible because it鈥檚 just so inadequate to say thank you.鈥�
Performing one particular scene for the first time brought tears, and Olson has rehearsed since, although she said 鈥渙ne time you鈥檙e fine, and the next time it might choke you up a little bit.鈥�
鈥淚 just don鈥檛 know when it鈥檚 going to hit me.鈥�
Every once in a while, Olson said, she experiences survivor鈥檚 guilt and what she calls 鈥渓ife moments鈥� at the knowledge she gets to experience things her donor family doesn鈥檛.
Olson鈥檚 donor鈥檚 name was Lyndsey who was 16 when she was struck by a vehicle and died. The Olsons鈥� daughter has the same name, spelled differently, and she was 15 around the time Olson received a second heart transplant.
Olson said she maintains a relationship with the donor families, such as including some family members on Facebook. Olson said when she travels to beaches, she writes her donor鈥檚 name in the sand with a heart around it.
The play鈥檚 premise involves a heart recipient meeting the donor鈥檚 family, but Olson said events of the play are likely due to some creative liberties since families meeting is rare.
The medical community, Olson said, doesn鈥檛 share more than scant information between donor and recipient. An organization through which donors and recipients communicate sometimes black out information or make people rewrite letters.
When asked if transparency among recipient and donor families is a good thing, Olson said every situation is different. One reason the medical community doesn鈥檛 encourage meetings is that, if the donor family has financial problems, they might ask the recipient for money.
Darren, who is directing The Tim Woman, said his and Cheryl鈥檚 story has been about the positives of organ donation, but the play is a glimpse into the other side.
Cheryl said the three family members deal with the death of the donor and the recipient鈥檚 heart transplant in different ways. The donor鈥檚 sister is enthusiastic about meeting, while the donor鈥檚 father isn鈥檛, although Olson said everyone in the play undergoes a transformation.
The health care systems of Canada and the U.S. allow the play to resonate differently in the different countries. Olson said she鈥檚 lucky she lives in Canada, as the process might have bankrupted the family had they lived in the U.S. Medications afterward are also expensive.
Olson said she鈥檚 heard 鈥渇labbergasting鈥� stories on Facebook pages as people don鈥檛 take essential medication for days because they can鈥檛 obtain it.
Darren said it鈥檚 the first time he鈥檚 directed theatre, although he鈥檚 worked in the film industry and directed projects in corporate communications.
Directing his wife is 鈥渕ostly good,鈥� he said, although Darren said he鈥檇 sometimes prefer if certain conversations would take place between him and Cheryl alone rather than in front of the whole cast.
Darren and Cheryl encourage families to discuss intentions of organ donation to avoid having the conversation at a very difficult time. The two also support an opt-out organ donation policy, as opposed to an opt-in one.
The opt-out policy assumes one will have their organs donated when they are declared brain dead unless they take measures to not have their organs donated.
The current situation in Saskatchewan is opt-in, and people who want to donate their organs when they die put a red sticker on their health cards. Cheryl said, however, in many cases the family makes the final decision about organ donation in the event of a family member dying.
The Tin Woman runs at the Battlefords Community Playhouse on Feb. 26, 28 and March 1, 2, 8 and 9, with a matinee performance taking place on Saturday, March 9. Battlefords Community Playhouse phone number is 306-446-3133.
