Make Every Breath Count
— Samuel Kirton

Storytelling is a learning tool as old as time. History is made up of eyewitness accounts and recollections of a certain time or place, often augmented by official records. I’ve seen discussions recently on social media and in the Pulmonary Fibrosis News Forums asking for people to describe the…

The need for naps tends to evolve throughout one’s lifetime. When my kids were babies, it was good to let their young bodies rest midday, giving their parents a break and helping them gradually adjust to longer days. As they got older, they outgrew the need for naps. I had…

Are you familiar with the phrase “one size fits all?” When you see it, how do you react? For me, unless it’s on a baseball cap with an adjustable strap, I’m skeptical. But I’m not always a skeptic. When I was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in…

Someone out there holds the key piece of evidence needed to advance research toward a better therapy, treatment, or cure for interstitial lung diseases, including pulmonary fibrosis (PF). Since my diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) nearly 10 years ago, I have met some of the smartest people…

Are you familiar with the website Healthgrades? The site allows patients to search for medical professionals and lets them rate their experience with a specific provider. The ratings, or grades, range from 1 to 5 stars. You can read about other patients’ experiences before making an appointment. When I…

Note: This column describes the author’s own experiences with Ozempic (semaglutide). Not everyone will have the same response to treatment. Consult your doctor before starting or stopping a therapy. As a person diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) who received a bilateral lung transplant in July 2021,…

A 24-hour news cycle, a lack of civil discourse, people who believe their needs are a priority, and the stress of a chronic, progressive disease with no cure: These things, and many more, contribute to the noise that fills my every waking hour. When I was diagnosed with…

Have you ever woken up in a strange mood and, before your feet hit the floor, found yourself wondering what caused it? I recently experienced that; I was feeling melancholy, and the Dean Lewis song “How Do I Say Goodbye” came to mind. Someone I knew recently passed…

“How can I help you?” When was the last time you heard those five simple words? My next question may be even harder to answer: When was the last time you asked someone how you could help them? When I was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in January…

A single decision, likely made in a split second by someone I’d never met, saved my life. On the morning of July 9, 2021, I received a call that donor lungs were available for me, and my future went from impossible to possible. When I was diagnosed on Jan.

No one would voluntarily join the pulmonary fibrosis (PF) community. After all, who would want to be a part of the rare disease world? When I was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in January 2017, the idea of a disease-specific community seemed elusive. Most people I knew…