Author Archives: Mark Koziol

Self-isolation has become a form of survival for those with pulmonary fibrosis during the COVID-19 pandemic. I am a single-lung transplant recipient and have a compromised immune system. COVID-19 can devastate a perfectly healthy person, and someone with my current state of health is at even greater risk. The self-isolation…

This week, March 8-14, is National Pulmonary Rehab Week. As a pulmonary fibrosis and single-lung transplant patient, I vow to promote pulmonary rehab awareness on behalf of my fellow Pulmonary Fibrosis News Forum members and others who are suffering from a debilitating lung disease. I am currently participating in…

Recently, a topic in the Pulmonary Fibrosis News Forums called “fits of cough” caught my attention. Reflecting on the topic brought back vivid memories of my own experience with coughing attacks. Before my single-lung transplant, coughing spells sometimes lingered for up to 45 minutes. It always felt like…

Rare Disease Day takes place on Feb. 29. BioNews Services, the parent company of this website, has taken on this initiative in an all-out effort to bring awareness to rare diseases, of which over 6,000 have been identified. I often ask myself, “What will you do to bring…

After a lung transplant, a patient should not partake in some tasks or continue with certain behaviors. For example, I used to love to do yardwork, such as gardening and keeping my lawn in shape. But my transplant doctor recommended against it. I can’t do other activities as well, but…

At my last doctor’s appointment, my physician asked me how I felt. I replied, “Some days, I feel invincible.” She gave me the biggest smile and told me how happy she was that I was doing so well. While I get colds and sometimes contract a virus, when I…

I enjoy the holiday season, especially Christmas celebrations. As my siblings and other family members were born in Poland — I am the only one born in the U.S. — we follow a traditional Polish Christmas, holding most of the festivities on Christmas Eve, or Wigilia. Special foods are…

Thanksgiving is over, but my feeling of gratitude remains. As a single-lung transplant recipient, the holiday is a time for me to contemplate the tremendous gift given to me on Dec. 4, 2015. I have just passed my fourth “lungiversary.” As I look back at my experience, I find it…

In 2014, before I received an official diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, I attended the wedding of my niece, Stefania, in Breckenridge, Colorado. The town’s elevation is 9,600 feet. Although my lung function at the time was 62 percent, my doctor gave me the all-clear to attend, but she prescribed…

After my single-lung transplant in December 2015, I was invited to participate in a panel of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and lung transplant patients who had previously taken the anti-fibrotic medications Ofev (nintedanib) or Esbriet (pirfenidone). My pulmonologist had asked me to take part in a…