Receiving a transplant is more than the gift of life; it’s the gift of a rich life. Living with a transplant is not easy. Though I have fully functioning lungs, they are quite stressful to maintain. My transplant was the single most transformative event in my…
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“Why am I so tired?” I ask myself at 10 in the morning, just a few short hours after waking up. I wish that I could say this was due to lack of sleep the night before, or from overexerting myself in the early hours of the morning.
It didn’t get old. I was still very much amused the third time I deposited a stack of postcards emblazoned with an illustration of the heart pulled from my chest seven months prior. Last February, I mailed 75 graphic Valentine’s Day cards to friends…
Think back to what it was like riding a carousel when you were young. I’m sure you raced for the best horse, and you wanted to be the first one buckled. When the carousel started, it may have been moving more slowly…
Days We counted time in days after my surgery. The first few were a blur. “How many days was I asleep?” I wondered. I was lucky. Thursday night, I went into the operating room. Friday night, I got off the ventilator. (Courtesy of Kathleen Sheffer)…
Brad and I met because he commented on my blog, wherefore I visited his blog and read this piece in which he laments not connecting with a deaf classmate before he lost his own hearing.
“I’m fine.” Even though I know it’s a lie, sometimes it’s easiest for me to give this response when people ask, “How are you?” Why am I so accustomed to saying this even when I feel far from it? The reality is…
The paper crinkled beneath me as I sat on the edge of the exam room table while waiting for my pulmonary doctor. I was at the hospital for my quarterly appointment to do a few tests and check my health status. I felt…
My beginner’s driving permit expired this summer. Even though it is no longer valid, I still carry it around with me in my wallet. It serves as a sort of memento, a sacred artifact to remind me that I am 29 and still can’t drive. I…
“It’s all in your head.” I wish medical professionals knew just how damaging this comment is to someone with a chronic medical condition. These words can make those of us with chronic illness question our judgment of symptoms. It leaves us feeling angry and forces us…
Trusting myself enough to know when something is “off” with my body has been one of the hardest things about managing a chronic illness. Paying attention to how our bodies feel is physically and mentally exhausting. While figuring out our new normal, we…
Life expectancy is on my mind. Maybe it is because we are in the new year. Maybe it is my impending doctor’s appointments and tests that will update me on the progress I’ve made in my PHight with pulmonary hypertension (PH). Maybe it is because life is fragile…
