Shirley Brill

By this time, I needed oxygen 24/7 – at home, in my classroom, during worship service at church, the grocery store…everywhere. Eventually, I started going through E tanks so quickly that I had concentrators in my home and classroom. The joys of a long life wasdiminishingbutafterextensive testing I was diagnosed with Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, or fibrosing alveolitis, is a rare, progressive illness of the respiratory system, characterized by the thickening and stiffening of lung tissue, associated with the formation of scar tissue. There is nocureforIPF,alungtransplantis mybestbetfortreatment.Actually thereisnochoicebutliveordie.

The routine visits to my pulmonologist was the beginning toextensiveevaluations,numerous inhalers and increases to my oxygenlevel.Becausetherewasno improvement to my condition, he suggested that I needed a lung transplant. Ha! Surely you are mistaken and I embraced the mindsetofdenial.Asecondopinion would certainly help my case and we would find a solution to stabilizingmybreathingandthings would be back to normal. Of course, I ended up with the same resultsandastimehadpassed,the situation worsened and I was referred to a transplant facility in my city. At first I was I had Interstitial Lung Disease and would qualify for lung transplant evaluation.