This holiday season, I’m honoring the gift of time
A columnist prepares to celebrate his fourth Christmas with new lungs
Welcome to December. Wait, what? How is it December? Time seemed to move in slow motion during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and now it’s already the end of 2024.
In 1974, the Rolling Stones released “Time Waits for No One.” One line sums it up: “Time waits for no one, and it won’t wait for me.”
Being diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) on the morning of Jan. 31, 2017, certainly wasn’t a square on my bingo card. When my path to diagnosis began in the fall of 2016, my wife, Susan, and I had a vacation planned over the holidays. I didn’t yet know I had IPF, and my primary care physician cleared me to travel.
Susan and I left on Christmas and spent the next nine days at Julia Child’s home just outside of Grasse, France. As I love to cook, this visit was a dream come true. I had no idea what the future held.
A gift I can never repay
It was on the morning of my diagnosis when my perception of time seemed to shift. I was working full time as a senior executive in the corporate world. That afternoon I went back to work briefly to talk with my boss, the company president. Less than eight months later, I left the workforce — first on short-term disability, and then on long-term. My frenzied work life stopped in September 2017.
After this, time seemed to move even slower, and it continued to slow until my bilateral lung transplant in July 2021. Going from hectic work weeks to days bounded by medical appointments was a significant shift.
Once I received my lung transplant, it was like watching a film that had been playing in slow motion return to its normal speed. The worsening of my IPF and the pre-transplant tests had been truly chaotic. As the spring of 2021 arrived, my care team expressed the urgency of a transplant. My survival until Christmas of that year seemed unlikely.
Now, almost three years and five months after my transplant, some sense of normalcy has returned. The result is that time seems to go by faster. Uncertainty has slowly given way to what I’d imagined my future would look like.
My donor gave me a gift that allowed me to live, and it’s hard for me to believe that I’ll soon celebrate my fourth Christmas with my new lungs. Several weeks ago, on Nov. 20, I joined other transplant recipients and donor families to decorate the National Tree of Life at the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS).
Anyone can join the virtual National Tree of Life ceremony hosted by UNOS and Donate Life America at 6:30 p.m. ET on Dec. 16.
Bernadette Jay, the community affairs and ambassador liaison at UNOS, told me:
“The Tree of Life ceremony will recognize the gift of organ, eye, and tissue donation, pay tribute to donors and their families, and celebrate the lives of recipients across the country. This annual event is a moment of solace for donor families who are grieving, and for all who may experience a greater sense of loss during the holidays, while commemorating the lives saved in 2024 by incredible donors.”
As life has moved from slow motion back to its proper speed, I can never forget the gift of life so generously shared with me. Christmas for me has long been a celebration of the joy of giving. It’s not lost on me that I received a gift I can never repay. Living my life beyond slow motion and celebrating my donor’s legacy is how I can make every breath count.
Note: Pulmonary Fibrosis News is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Pulmonary Fibrosis News or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to pulmonary fibrosis.
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