On New Year’s Day, my daughters and I created vision boards for 2026. If you haven’t made one before, a vision board is a collage of images, quotes, and art that captures your goals and intentions for the year. We spent about an hour cutting pictures from old magazines and…
Columns
If you’re a regular reader of my column, you’ve likely heard me say before that transplant patients commit to a lifetime of medical surveillance. I was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) on the last day of January in 2017. Until then, I didn’t see my primary care…
Over the holidays, for the first time in a long while, my home was full of voices, laughter, movement, and the comfort of family. I hosted the gathering, something I hadn’t been able to do in years. For someone like me living with pulmonary fibrosis, hosting a holiday party…
When I was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in the early days of 2017, it seemed like my world moved in slow motion. Just a few months earlier, as my diagnostic journey began in the fall of 2016, my doctors sensed something was wrong, but no one could…
I had the opportunity to get away for a couple of days recently and went to the shore. As I looked out at the vastness of the ocean in the late afternoon sunlight, it occurred to me that this is what pulmonary fibrosis (PF) researchers face every day —…
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,…
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…
