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# One Patient, One Year After a Double Lung Transplant
- URL: https://drcraigcanapari.com/so-happy-to-read-this-one-patient-one-year-after-a-double-lung-transplant/
- Published: 2014-11-07T21:07:42.000Z
- Updated: 2014-11-07T21:07:42.000Z
- Description: This brings a smile to my face, and a tear to my eye. A former patient writes about her experience, one year after a double lung transplantation.
- Author: Craig Canapari MD
- Tags: Patient Voices, #canapari-gmail-com, cystic fibrosis, lung transplant, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-02-27 17:07

A little over a year ago, I had a [guest post from a former patient of mine](https://drcraigcanapari.com/2013/09/12/inhale-exhale-repeat-waiting-for-a-lung-transplant-with-cystic-fibrosis/) with end-stage cystic fibrosis lung disease. Renu Linberg wrote movingly:

> I’m trying to get comfortable with being uncomfortable, with the stressful days, with the breathless, can’t-get-off-the-couch days. I am learning to sit through those moments, and acknowledge the anxiety, or fear, or stress. For once those emotions get acknowledged, they seem to have less of a hold on my mind, as though that’s all they wanted in the first place. However, as my body has slowed down, my ability to cope has changed. Where I was once able to go for a swim or a hike, I can now only walk very slowly with a lot of oxygen pumping into my nose

About one year ago, she received a double lung transplant. And now s[he has written about this for an online magazine called ](http://hellogiggles.com/born-with-cystic-fibrosis?ref=drcraigcanapari.com)*[Hello Giggles](http://hellogiggles.com/born-with-cystic-fibrosis?ref=drcraigcanapari.com).* She describes waiting in the hospital immediately before her transplant:

> With that signature, essentially, I was saying, “Permission to perform a double lung transplant, granted. Proceed forth with the utmost caution and delicacy, as I am rather fond of living, despite my own lungs inability to keep doing so.”

  
Fortunately, the surgery was a success, and things have gone well for Renu:

> I am almost one year post transplant. I can now take the stairs again, and walk up hills. I have returned my supplemental oxygen and no longer have an IV pole as a dance partner. I can laugh and sing without wheezing and stopping to catch my breath. I am finally embracing my slightly different life, and realizing that while it may be an odd life, and wildly unpredictable, the best ones always are.

Honestly, this brought a smile to my face, and (I confess) a tear to my eye. Renu is a success story, and there are many others like her. However, not everyone is so lucky, because there is a shortage of organ donors. [According to Organdonor.gov](http://organdonor.gov/index.html?ref=drcraigcanapari.com), almost 120,000 people are waiting for organ transplantation, and eight die every day. One donor can save eight lives. If you aren’t already registered, [please do so](http://donatelife.net/register-now/?ref=drcraigcanapari.com).