Her husband died after a lung transplant. Now she has to sell her home to pay the bills

Carolyn Ray · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 26, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 7 hours ago

The woman of a lung transplant recipient who died successful May says her family's effort to prevention her husband's beingness has cost her their household location successful Springhill, N.S.

Donald Goguen, a Canadian navy veteran, died successful May of complications from 2 lung transplants past year.

Not lone is Verbena Brenton-Goguen grieving her husband, but she's grappling with the fiscal fallout of living in Toronto for 15 months portion helium received treatment.

"I can't spend to unrecorded here," she said of their location successful Cumberland County. "I volition beryllium selling it. There's nary mode that I'm going to discontinue astatine 60. Absolutely nary way."

Brenton-Goguen is 1 of 3 Nova Scotian families who person spoken to CBC News astir the fiscal strain of accessing the life-saving surgery. While the process is covered by the province, each of their expenses are not. 

The families are making a renewed plea to the provincial authorities to boost backing to screen their accommodations.

Health Minister Michelle Thompson says she sympathizes with the families, but says the health-care strategy is stretched successful galore directions and the section has to marque pugnacious choices.

Lungs are the lone organ that can't beryllium transplanted successful Halifax. Patients from the Atlantic portion indispensable spell to Toronto erstwhile they're placed connected the transplant list, and indispensable hold for months until a lucifer is found.

Several provinces connection monthly allowances to assistance woody with the expenses, but the families accidental Nova Scotia's program, which provides $3,000 a month, falls acold abbreviated of the realities of surviving successful Toronto for an undetermined length of time.

Donald Goguen received attraction for 15 months. During that time, his woman said, they sold their car and ATV and took retired a loan. They were preparing to merchantability the location erstwhile helium died.

"If determination was immoderate accidental I could assistance prevention my husband's life, I would've fixed everything but it is thing present that I'm facing. So it's not conscionable the patient. It's the family," she said.

Brenton-Goguen said erstwhile she gave announcement that she was leaving her Toronto flat and going home, the state denied her allowance to assistance with the June rent because her hubby — the diligent — had died.

"It's truly a slap successful the face, it genuinely is," she said. "I bash each the things a bully idiosyncratic should effort to bash to enactment their state and, honestly, our state is not supporting america adequately by immoderate means."

Brenton-Goguen is present throwing her enactment down Nan and Dave Clarke, from Head of St. Margarets Bay adjacent Halifax, who sent the premier a measure for $34,981, the magnitude they had to wage retired of pouch for their accommodations portion waiting for Nan Clarke's transplant successful December. The assertion was denied.

"I deliberation it's abhorrent," said Nan Clarke. "I can't judge that they bash this to transplant patients oregon anybody that's facing a aesculapian occupation that has to leave."

The Clarkes argued they had nary prime but to travel up with the money, due to the fact that Nan would person died without the transplant. While they were financially capable to bash so, they interest immoderate radical who don't person the resources to spend specified steep costs retired of pouch volition simply opt for palliative care.

The wellness curate said situations similar this are the toughest portion of her job. Thompson wouldn't code the circumstantial fiscal challenges the families accidental they are facing.

"There are infinite requests connected finite resources, we cognize it's hard for families facing captious illness, I cognize that," she said. "There are a fig of programs that we connection and we proceed successful a publically funded strategy to bash the champion we tin to enactment patients who are accessing attraction some successful the state and extracurricular the province."

Thompson said the constituent of the out-of-province allowance is to assistance with expenses, not screen them entirely.

"We'll proceed to reappraisal that program, to perceive from people, we privation to beryllium responsive. But it isn't a outgo betterment programme and we besides privation to support the integrity of the full system, and I cognize that's difficult."

She said Nova Scotia is unsocial compared to different provinces due to the fact that it covers immoderate of the question expenses of the enactment idiosyncratic who indispensable spell with the patient.

"We volition proceed to speech to families and perceive from them directly, but again I reiterate it's not outgo recovery, it's outgo assistance."

The Clarkes and Brenton-Goguen say they'd invited the accidental to beryllium down with the curate oregon different politicians to stock their experience. 

"Don would person wanted changes to beryllium made arsenic well," said Brenton-Goguen. "He would person fought close beside Dave and Nan due to the fact that helium believed that, helium was a veteran.

"He besides believed that radical should each beryllium fixed the aforesaid rights, the aforesaid care, the aforesaid entree to aesculapian [care]. He would've fought close beside us. It's decidedly a origin we each judge in."