My fight began just after birth, as I was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis on September 24, 1993. I was hospitalized with malnutrition and a lung infection at the age of 3 months; it took the doctors 5 weeks to make the diagnosis.
As an adolescent my disease was not too severe; I was active and always eager to do things, like skateboarding, riding motorcycles, etc. I was hospitalized a few times through my younger years for Pseudomonas pneumonia, which is a common infection related to CF. All the doctor visits and hospitalizations never really frightened me back then, it was just routine and known as a “tune up.”
As I got older, I became more aware of the limitations and challenges of everyday things that were not difficult before my early 20s. Around 5 years ago, when I was 23 years old, I started having more and more complications due to chronic lung infection. I started to notice that walking just from the car to the house was unmanageable.
I was hospitalized in 2019 for pneumonia and was put on a bi-pap machine for the first time to help with Co2 retention. My doctor at the time told my family that they should come visit as soon as possible. I did bounce back within a few weeks, with the help of my family and the hospital staff. I was released on home oxygen and bi-pap.
It was manageable for a while, but I was always tethered to an oxygen machine or tank, which also affected me mentally. Gradually I started to feel like I was losing my battle with CF. I moved to Vegas to be with my mother and father, where hospitalizations became more frequent. My breathing was very labored and shallow. I could hardly come off of the bi-pap machine to eat.
On March 16, I was admitted into Cedars-Sinai for respiratory failure, where I was later moved to ICU and intubated and put on ECMO. Since I had already been evaluated for lung transplantation with Cedars, I was placed on the lung transplant waiting list as critical on Friday, March 18. Then Tuesday, March 22, I got an organ offer! Then the next afternoon, I was on the operating table ready for my whole life to change! The surgery was about 8 hours and it was a success!
I was released from the hospital on Monday, April 11, and am home now, healing and feeling like a whole new man. I am very grateful to everyone who has helped support me through this fight and especially to my donor. I am only getting stronger by the day and that is because cystic fibrosis has made me a warrior!
I have partnered with COTA for assistance with transplant-related expenses. Please consider donating to COTA in my honor. Thank you for your support!
The Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA) helps children who need a life-saving transplant by providing fundraising assistance and family support. COTA also works with individuals of any age with a single-gene disorder such as Polycystic Kidney Disease, Cystic Fibrosis or Sickle Cell Disease. COTA is the nation’s only fundraising organization solely dedicated to raising life-saving dollars in honor of transplant-needy families. 100% of each contribution made to COTA in honor of our patients helps meet transplant-related expenses. COTA’s services are free of charge and gifts to COTA are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.