Despite Health Issues, Edgerton Continues to Serve

Menifee City Council member Wallace Edgerton is recovering from Jan. 22 stomach surgery related to the rejection of his transplanted lung, but he continues to fulfill his duties to the best of his ability.

Edgerton, 81, will once again participate in the Feb. 18 council meeting via telephone from his Menifee home. He has participated in this way for the last few council meetings since requiring further treatments for his lung condition and the eventual surgery.

"Mayor (Scott) Mann urged me to leave things alone and just get better, but I'm not going to do that," Edgerton said about his decision to remain active in council matters. "I have duties to perform. I'm still getting calls from constituents, many of them wishing me well."

In May 2011, Edgerton became the oldest person to receive a lung transplant. Recently his body has begun rejecting the lung, resulting in a twice weekly treatment called Photopheresis, in which his blood cells are treated with radiation to avoid weakening the transplanted lung.

In addition, Edgerton said, the decision was made to perform surgery to reshape the bottom of the esophagus to minimize gastrointestinal reflux that could further damage the lung.

"I'm feeling better today," Edgerton said Saturday by phone from his home, where he has been resting the last two weeks following the surgery. "A second lung transplant is not out of the question, but I would rather try the treatment first. If I have another transplant, I will be back where I started."

Edgerton served many years on the Long Beach City Council before moving to Menifee, where he served as the city's first mayor. City staff provides him with all the materials he needs at home to be prepared for votes in which he participates by phone.