Life with Pulmonary Fibrosis and My Brave New World

When I was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis (PF), it came at the end of a long and frustrating process. PF is difficult to diagnose because its symptoms, breathlessness, cough, fatigue, are similar to many other conditions.

By the time I had an answer, I also had the blunt truth: PF is incurable and terminal.

Over the years, the disease took more and more from me. I needed oxygen every day, my cough became constant, and through the toll on the vocal chords I lost my voice for three years. Walking short distances was exhausting, and my world became smaller.

The only thing I refused to lose was my determination..my motto…Never Give Up, became the one thing I could control.

I held onto it through every stage, when the waiting list for a transplant seemed endless, when my health was slipping, and when everyday life became a battle.

Then, in 2018, I got the call I had been waiting for: a donor had given me the chance of a double lung transplant.

A transplant is not a cure. It is a second chance, a “Mulligan”, and one that comes with challenges. The early days were tough, recovery, medication side effects, a bout  of rejection. I call these challenges “speedbumps.” They slow you down, but they do not stop you if you keep going.

My motto helped me through PF, and it still helps me in what I call my Brave New World, life after transplant.

I held onto it through every stage, when the waiting list for a transplant seemed endless, when my health was slipping, and when everyday life became a battle.

Then, in 2018, I got the call I had been waiting for: a donor had given me the chance of a double lung transplant.

A transplant is not a cure. It is a second chance, a “Mulligan”, and one that comes with challenges. The early days were tough, recovery, medication side effects, a bout  of rejection. I call these challenges “speedbumps.” They slow you down, but they do not stop you if you keep going.

My motto helped me through PF, and it still helps me in what I call my Brave New World, life after transplant.

I held onto it through every stage, when the waiting list for a transplant seemed endless, when my health was slipping, and when everyday life became a battle.

Then, in 2018, I got the call I had been waiting for: a donor had given me the chance of a double lung transplant.

A transplant is not a cure. It is a second chance, a “Mulligan”, and one that comes with challenges. The early days were tough, recovery, medication side effects, a bout  of rejection. I call these challenges “speedbumps.” They slow you down, but they do not stop you if you keep going.

My motto helped me through PF, and it still helps me in what I call my Brave New World, life after transplant.