My Hardest Days as My Mom’s Caregiver
Two weeks after my mom, Holly’s, double-lung transplant, she was discharged from the hospital. Although she was weak, she was walking, talking, eating, and, best of all, breathing on her own. After three…
Courage to Care — Christie Patient
Christie Patient is a life-long explorer of the Wild West. She now resides in the Hawaiian Islands with her husband, Jonny and their two four-legged friends. Christie is a full-time freelancer, nature lover, and business owner. She took a break from work in 2019 to care for her mother, Holly before and after her double-lung transplant. Christie’s column documents the experience of her mother’s IPF progression, months-long hospitalization at UC San Francisco, and life-saving transplant. She hopes that her family’s transplant story can provide a unique perspective for other IPF patients and family members.
Featured Post
How to Keep Your Lungs Healthy During Wildfire Season
My friend Chase and I sat in my treehouse one sunny afternoon looking across the arid valley between my childhood home and the towering crest of the Sierra Nevada. We were 10. We noticed a plume of smoke rising…
Read more
Call It What You Will, Transplant Helped Mom Beat an Incurable Disease
The correct way to talk about lung transplantation in relation to pulmonary fibrosis is to call it a “treatment.” I learned this early in my caregiving journey through a combination of education from my mom’s…
The Transplant Caregiving Crash Course I Wish I’d Had
As I sat in my mom’s hospital room on the day of her long-awaited discharge, I felt like we were bringing home a very fragile adult baby. Her body had been through a series of assaults starting with…
Mourning the Deaths That Can’t Be Counted
There is a phenomenon in psychology known as “lost possible selves.” Possible selves are the heroes in our life story that we create within our inner narrative. They are made from goals and wants, fears and risks.
To the Brink and Back: How Caregiving Strengthened Our Relationship
A Yiddish proverb states, “When a father gives to his son, both laugh; when a son gives to his father, both cry.” This is true when giving gifts of time, energy, and love, as in…
6 People You Will Meet in an ICU Waiting Room
When I recall the times that loved ones were in the hospital for extended periods, I can still feel the energy of the waiting rooms. ICU waiting rooms have a particular hum about them, a palpable tension…
My Take on the Trach: It’s a Good Thing
Last week was Global Tracheostomy Tube Awareness Week. The mother of a child with complex health challenges started it. Her goals were to educate people and normalize her daughter’s trach. While Trach Week focuses on the use of a…
Dear Christie: A Letter to a New Caregiver
Dear Christie, It’s 10 p.m., Dec. 26th, 2018. You just got this crazy phone call from Mom. She told you that her disease — which you still don’t know the name…
Honoring One Year of ‘Courage to Care’
Last weekend, my column turned 1! There were only a few weeks in the past year that I did not write a post for Pulmonary Fibrosis News. This means that I have had about 50 opportunities to…
I’m Feeling Bad — and That’s Good
This past week, I felt things. Like, I really, finally felt things. They were real feelings, not forced, and came without judgment. It’s been longer than I want to admit since I have experienced any emotion without it…
Howling for Healthcare and Hospital Heros
Now more than ever, healthcare workers and hospital employees are being applauded for their work. Even in the best of times, working in healthcare is not easy. These days, our healthcare systems are stressed because of COVID-19,…
Organ Donation Creates a Living Legacy, but We All Leave a Mark
After writing last week about the loss of my friend, I realized that it was her birthday. That very day, she would have turned 30. I don’t believe in coincidences. I think things happen at…
Your PF Community
Visit the Pulmonary Fibrosis News forums to connect with others in the PF community.
