Artlady1919, 70

Swimming is my passion I didn't care when I found out that there was no such thing as Santa Clause, or the Easter Bunny. It was the fact that I would never grow gills like the guy on the Twilight Zone episode no matter how much I wished that crushed me. I am a water baby, a fish, a crab, actually. I've swum in the Sandy river, the american river, the trinity, stanislaus, russian, feather, yuba, scotts river. Lake barryessa, tahoe, clear lake, almanor.
Unfortunately that all stopped in 2005 when I was hit with pulmonary fibrosis and a restrictive lung disease. All of the sudden I could not walk more than 10 feet. I became confused and befuddled, short of breath. Incredibly fatigued. I would forget lyrics I had been performing for 15 years. Could not sing a 45 minute set. It was horrible. After a bronchoscopy that suggested lung fibrosis I had open lung surgery. They took out a section of my right lower lobe that had major fibrosis and a sample of my mesothelial tissue. As a young adult I had been a quartz glass fuser and blower in the semi conductor industry. Lots of toxins. And I had worked in old schools, lived in military housing. Lived in a house with sprayed asbestos ceilings. I am now on oxygen 24/7. 4 to 6 ltrs. And have limited mobility. It's been quiet a transition. From an active worker, performer, swimmer, 10 speeder, hiker, dancer to someone who is not. I pretty much lost everything. Including family. They thought I was dying so they stole pretty much every thing they could get their hands on. I now know more about the medical industry than I ever wanted to know. The medical industry in this country leaves much to be desired. You have to be a very squeaky wheel. There are a LOT of biases. If you belong to any of the groups that get marginalized - poor, single, overweight..etc, and you get sick in this country you gotta hard road ahead of you. BUT you can do it. It's hard to do when you aren't feeling good, but it is possible. You got this,