What is your earliest memory of the holidays? Whether you celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, or another occasion, do you have memories of these holidays from your youth? How do they differ from more recent years? My earliest memories of Christmas are associated with gifts, such as acoustic and electric guitars,…
Columns
There are moments in life when love challenges us to rise in unexpected ways, testing our resilience and adaptability while revealing the quiet strengths we didn’t know we had. I am currently experiencing one of those moments. As I prepare for a lung transplant and navigate the unpredictable journey of…
Hello! My name is Kylene Henderson, and I’m excited to be writing a new column for Pulmonary Fibrosis News called “Life Beyond Limits.” In it, I hope to share some of the challenges our family has faced and the lessons we’ve learned since my husband Donnie’s pulmonary fibrosis diagnosis…
I was sound asleep at 3 a.m. on Nov. 25 when I heard my mother call my name. It didn’t sound like she was in distress; it was more like she needed help reaching something on a shelf in the next room. After I awoke, I had some trouble processing…
I conduct research for each of my columns primarily because I want a broader perspective on a topic. Recently, I discussed what should be packed in a “go bag” for a transplant patient receiving the call that donor lungs are available. When I typed “transplant go bag” into a Google…
I remember how exciting it was as kids when Mom served us alphabet soup, seeing all those little letters we were trying to learn. My late husband, Steve, and I felt like we were looking at a bowl of that soup when we started researching idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF)…
Does it seem like time accelerated during November? I’m not sure if it’s because the hours of sunlight are decreasing or because all manner of holiday decorations have suddenly appeared. I recently contributed to the latter by joining staff and volunteers at the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) headquarters…
As my husband Donnie’s diagnosis of pulmonary fibrosis (PF) slowly unfolded, I found myself oscillating between anger, sorrow, and disbelief. At the time his symptoms appeared, he was only in his 30s. He had an extremely labor-intensive job, walked over 10,000 steps a day, and was incredibly active. He…
The Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation (PFF) Summit 2025 began for me with a nonstop flight from Washington, D.C., to Chicago during the longest government shutdown in the history of the U.S. I was resolved to be in Chicago for the summit, so I had backup plans that included taking the…
Each year, at the 11th minute of the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month, a calendar alarm sounds on my phone. It recalls the signing of the armistice that marked the end of World War I in 1918. Originally known as Armistice Day, the…
