My Introduction

Hi, I'm John.  I'm a husband, dad, grandfather, Texan, and bilateral lung transplant recipient.

I had a progressive lung disease called Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF).  At the time, there was no treatment, the disease would "progress" until your lungs no longer could provide oxygen for your body.  I had to use supplemental oxygen 24 hours a day just to function.  The only opportunity for me to survive was a lung transplant.  I visited with the Transplant Team in early 2014, and they agreed that it was time for me to pursue a lung transplant.  There was one small little issue standing between me and the transplant list.  I was to heavy to be placed on the list, I needed to lose a good chunk of fat before I could be considered for the procedure.

Attempting to get on "The List" was my trigger to find a way to lose weight and get into better shape.  That's when I found Mark's Daily Apple and the Primal Blueprint.  To make a long story short, I lost enough weight to be considered for a transplant by October of 2014, was placed on the list in November, and received a set of lungs on January 1st, 2015.

My post-transplant recovery has been pretty amazing.  The transplant team is very impressed with my progress.  I swing kettlebells, climb rock walls, and am enjoying life. I do my best to honor and celebrate my donor family, they are my heroes.

There have been a couple bumps in the road.  I had an acute rejection episode last year, and I was very recently hospitalized due to a bacterial infection, but all in all I am doing great.

I have been wanting to start this blog for awhile, but never could get the first word down.  This recent stay in the hospital convinced me that it is time to start writing.  My experiences with IPF, a bilateral lung transplant, using exercise to recover from major surgery, and eating for health might be interesting to some, and helpful to others.

So here I am, at your service.

Let me know what you are interested in reading, ask any questions you may have, and let us do this!