Well, I didn't expect to be here, but here I am. The hard truth is that I have Bronchiectasis and Oblerative Bronchiolitis and need a double lung transplant.
I still don't have the answers I've been searching for and maybe one day I'll have the insight to share, but if you are worried "will this happen to me?" fortunately probably not.
5 years ago I was a healthy 26-year-old, galavanting around New York City, living off entry-level paychecks and PBRs. My health unexpectedly started to deteriorate and thus began my journey. My symptoms got worse, infections popped up every few months, and the most frustrating part was there were no answers from professionals as to why was this happening to me. Please take it from me, you do not want to be a medical mystery. After losing 60 lbs, and becoming a shell of a person, I barely maintained my job out of sheer terror of our US healthcare system, the COVID pandemic hit us as a collective. (Shoutout to the people who met me from 2017-2019, I was a true walking Zombie)
It might have been a blessing in disguise for me that I finally didn't have to commute to work, I would try and suppress my coughs on Zoom and I could lay in bed for days at a time. My partner Brian had the foresight to see I would not survive being trapped in our tiny 1BD, 4-flight walk-up Brooklyn apartment, so we fled. After finding the right care team, and experiencing pockets of joy over the last 3 years, we have found stability and a community we love. I started to gain more energy, exercise, and recognize myself again. We just hit our 2-year mark in Austin, Texas this past March and I have no regrets, but the one problem I could no longer run from was my lung condition.
It's not fair. I am angry. I am scared. But the most important feeling is I want to live. I want to play tennis, travel the world, and see my friends and loved ones grow. I do not want to be a sob story. I want to do everything life has robbed me of over the last 5 years and do it bigger and better than ever. The only path forward now is a lung transplant.
I plan to use this site for updates on the journey. So far it is a rollercoaster moving fast and if you want to check in on me, I'll be here. Feel free to keep me in your prayers, send good energy and vibes, manifest for my health, and sleep with healing crystals, whatever you want I will take it all.
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