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Showing posts with the label double-lung transplant

The saving of an orphan from obscurity

  The house is strangely quiet now . My 12-year-0ld great grandson went home yesterday, and I miss him already. OBSCURITY (Definition): The state of being unknown, inconspicuous or unimportant Photo of Carson by Linda Lane Carson Thomas Lane will turn 13 years of age next month. His biological father abandoned him at birth, and his mom, Courtney, died - a victim of cystic fibrosis - at the age of 25 - when Carson was only seven years old. In the end, my granddaughter - being kept alive on a ventilator - chose the day her life would end . Two major hospitals had apparently determined that she was not "important' enough to receive a double-lung transplant. Please pardon me for my cynicism and lasting anger. Courtney chose my daughter, Lisa , (in turn supported by her husband, Jim ) as Carson's legal guardian and her then-boyfriend, Josh , as his surrogate dad. At the time of this writing, my great grandson still lives with Joshua Farrell and his mom, Heather. Prior...

Deep survival: "When you stop moving, your body shuts down!"

The quote is mine.  "When you stop moving, your body shuts down." --- Tom Lane I gave that advice to my older brother when I mnoticed he had put a stop to most activities. He reiterated my advice on a few occasions but didn't follow it. He died in his sleep at the age of 64. My grand daughter, Courtney, was born with a fatal disease, Cystic Fibrosis. I was told by one of my clients, also afflicted with the dreaded disease, that girls often don't take the medications or do the other procedures to remain alive longer. Courtney followed that path somewhat - fighting back from near-death a couple of times - but not being proactive. In other words, she would go into "deep survival" mode when facing death, but wouldn't always take proactive measures to help herself. I transmitted my quote to Courtney. She remembered it but didn't follow it. Courtney died at the age of 25, nine months after publication of the article. She had been refused a double-lung tran...