Have you seen the T-shirt or sign that reads “Keep Calm and Carry On” (KCCO)? You might be surprised to learn the story behind this phrase. Created in 1939, it was part of a three-poster series intended to boost morale during World War II. Ironically, the Keep Calm…
Make Every Breath Count
— Samuel Kirton
Sam Kirton started his column in November 2021 and writes from his home at Lake Anna, Virginia, where he lives with his wife Susan. His diagnosis at age 59 with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in January 2017 began a journey of awareness and advocacy. Sam was listed for a lung transplant on March 19, 2021 and received a bilateral lung transplant on July 10, 2021. This was quite the change from his career as a special agent for the Office of Special Investigations and as a corporate security executive. Sam plans to share his journey so you, too, can make every breath count. You can follow Sam’s thoughts on LinkedIn.
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I’ve been writing recently about the four pillars of the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation’s (PFF) new five-year strategic plan introduced last year, called “The PFF Is ME.” In December, I explained the first pillar, Accelerate Research. The second pillar, Expand Access to Expert Care, is a concern for…
We’re not all the same. When I share details about my journey with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), I don’t want to give the impression that I’m setting a standard. My goal in writing this column is to share my experiences, which may or may not be similar to others.
Grief is a universally understood emotion. How that emotion is individually expressed is unique. When I was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), I was 59 years old. I’d experienced loss by then, both family and friends. I cannot bundle grief. In my own unique style, I grieve…
How big is the internet? I could just say that it’s big, but I want to provide some facts to shed additional light on the topic. According to Health IT, the internet is anticipated to reach 175 zettabytes in size in 2025. In my world, I deal in gigabytes on…
Rapidly spreading wildfires have taken over the news headlines from the Los Angeles area, as I write this column. Dry weather and the Santa Ana winds joined forces to create an inferno there. Wildfires are just one emergency that the pulmonary fibrosis (PF) community must be prepared to…
Do you make resolutions for the new year? A revealing joke on the subject has been around for years. In it, an entrepreneur opens and stocks a gym on New Year’s Day to support those who’ve made resolutions to exercise. After the first two weeks, though, the gym equipment is…
The holidays have arrived, which reminds of those passenger-side mirrors that read, “Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.” It wasn’t too long ago that the holidays seemed far away, yet here they are. After I was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in 2017, my health…
Good grief! When I hear this two-word phrase, I often associate it with the cartoon character Charlie Brown. Otherwise, the words “good” and “grief” seldom seem to belong together. What do you do with grief amid the holiday season? If you’ve been reading my columns for some time,…
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…
Families will gather this week to celebrate Thanksgiving here in the U.S. But how do you safely navigate a large family gathering when colds, the flu, and COVID-19 are all circulating? When I was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in 2017, a lot changed in my world.
Do you know what a hack is? It’s a way of doing something more simply, efficiently, or effectively. Throughout my journey living with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), I’ve found a number of hacks that make my life easier. When I was diagnosed with IPF in January 2017, I…
Watching the U.S. elections last week was an exercise in mental health awareness, as is any activity in which the outcome is greeted with mixed reactions and emotions. The refrain from Carly Simon’s 1971 song “Anticipation” came to mind as I was laying out this column: “Anticipation, anticipation/ Is…
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