While settling in for a recent clinic appointment, a nurse reviewed my record and praised me for the breadth of my health history, noting how impressive I was for everything I had survived. This response isn’t uncommon when people learn that I had a heart and lung transplant. My nurse was…
Blooming Hope — Anna Jeter
Anna L. Jeter is an artist and writer living in Excelsior, Minnesota, with her parents and her sweet mini goldendoodle, Luna. Anna was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension in 1999 at the age of 4. After a 19-year fight, she received a lifesaving heart-lung transplant in 2018. After enduring many complications, Anna was finally discharged home in April 2019. Now, living with a tracheostomy, and dependent on oxygen, she celebrates the time gifted to her by her donor, never taking the joys of everyday life for granted. Anna’s art and writing is centered on grief, survival, and the hope that continues to bloom amidst these circumstances.
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The last time my mom and I flew together was nearly seven years ago, when I took a medical flight home from Stanford Hospital in California to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. That journey happened midway through my eight-month recovery from a heart and lung transplant in 2018. We both…
Pulmonary hypertension (PH) patients often face a similar issue: wondering where the nearest bathroom is. Since many people with PH take diuretics as a maintenance treatment for heart failure, that means they have to pee. A lot. This can be a funny, frustrating, or sometimes awkward aspect of the…
A week or two before I had a heart and lung transplant seven years ago, my mom and I had lunch with a friend who was a pulmonary hypertension survivor and had received a transplant two years earlier. She shared with us what there was to look forward to…
When you live with a chronic and complex illness, complications and side effects from the medications to treat it are always lurking around the corner — even in the most stable of times. The more dramatic setbacks of living with pulmonary hypertension (PH) have included things like getting sick…
My mom was quick to share her dream with me from the night before when I came downstairs for breakfast on a recent morning. In the dream, I was still living with pulmonary hypertension (PH), and we were sitting with a group of our close PH friends. Everyone seemed…
Pulmonary Hypertension News recently shared a graphic on Instagram illustrating the various symptoms of the disease. Next to the outline of a body are the words “Cough and hoarseness,” with a line pointing to the throat area. This depiction pleased me, because hoarseness was my first indicator of disease…
In my 19 years of living with pulmonary hypertension (PH), winters were always the hardest season. Because of the increased spread of communicable diseases and the harsh weather here in Minnesota, it was rare for me to make it through the season without some decline in health. Since my…
Like many parents in the 1990s, my mom and dad opted to have my siblings and me regularly vaccinated according to the recommended schedule. I’m not sure they thought twice about it. This was common practice among most families we knew in the Midwest and was eventually required at the…
Whether you’re 5 or 15, back-to-school season can involve all sorts of overwhelming factors when living with pulmonary hypertension (PH) or another complex illness. Along with shopping for school supplies and planning an outfit for school pictures, PH warriors also have to worry about medication management, energy allowance, and…
My first doctor for pulmonary hypertension (PH) introduced the general concept of organ transplant to my parents and me at the same time as my diagnosis. As we learned about a life with PH, she also explained that transplant was the single lifesaving option I’d likely need once I…
While talking with some friends recently, we ended up discussing our college majors. My mom had encouraged me to study literature, writing, or something similar, but after a lifetime of being closely tied to the healthcare system with my pulmonary hypertension, I was determined to pursue a career in…
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