Nothing compares to a personal, first-hand account from one of our lung recipients. We thank our real-life storytellers for their willingness to share their experiences and tell their stories of courage, joy and gratitude. 20 Year Lung Transplant Survivor Colleen Adamson On July 3, 1998, at the age of 29, Colleen Adamson became Inova’s first Cystic Fibrosis patient to receive a double lung transplant, giving her a new lease on life. In July 2018, Colleen reunited with her original care team at Inova to celebrate her miraculous 20-year anniversary.

I am one of the worst golfers in the world, but have always enjoyed the game. My PCP told me that for golf to count as exercise, I would have to use a pull cart. So I did, but found over several years that it was harder to walk the long, uphill fairways. I attributed it to being in poor condition, so I joined a gym. I did pretty well at first but soon found that after each exercise I walked to the water cooler, supposedly for a drink, but actually to catch my breath. In December 2008, I realized that I was probably sick.

My lung transplant journey started back in the early 1980s when I began to notice an inability to breathe normally, and it was taking me longer to recover from shortness of breath. I was within two years of retirement from the Navy when I learned I was the second member of my family to be diagnosed with Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (A1AD) and that I had lost about 75 percent of my lung function. I was given about five years to live. Alpha-1 is a genetic disease of the liver and lungs, identified in 1963 by a doctor in Sweden.

In 2001, I was diagnosed with usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) at a leading hospital on the East Coast. When I asked about a lung transplant they told me I was too old and that I had three years to live. I retired and sold my house in Maryland and moved to Pennsylvania so my wife could be close to her relatives. While visiting a doctor at a local clinic I noticed a sign on a window that read "Pulmonary Rehabilitation." A couple of weeks later I asked my new family doctor what was it all about.

Delivered by Bruce to his church group on Donor Sabbath Day My name is Bruce Vibbert, and I received a new left lung in April 2014. Do you know about idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF)? Did you know that about 40,000 people a year succumb to IPF, about the same number as breast cancer? IPF is a disease with an unknown cause that affects the ability of the lungs to absorb oxygen. There is no cure. Today a lung transplant is the only option. But there is hope on the horizon, and one day a cure will be found.

I will never forget the date of my bilateral lung transplant: July 3, 1998. I have come a very long way since then. I was barely able to walk when I had my transplant because I had been virtually bedridden for six months on a ventilator. In that time, I had not really talked or eaten (orally) or walked. I couldn't even walk across the room without getting completely out of breath. I barely recognize that person now, because now I can walk all over the place without becoming short of breath. You'd never know to look at me just how far I have come. People look at me and see a healthy woman.

(Photo, left) Lung transplant recipient David Chesterfield with transplant coordinators, Meg Fregoso, NP, and Kara Germano, NP.In April 2011, I was having breathing issues and was directed by my primary care physician to see Dr. Dicicco, a pulmonologist at Inova Fair Oaks Hospital. After a year of testing I was told I had idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). I had been on oxygen 24/7 and he recommended that I enroll in the pulmonary rehab program at Inova Fairfax Hospital and try to qualify for a lung transplant. I began rehab in July 2012 and was surprised how much of my strength I had lost.