Inspiring… Meet @travisflores ?

A photo posted by CFnewstoday (@cfnewstoday) on Feb 7, 2017 at 5:04pm PST

Instagram has become a great platform for sharing inspirational stories of personal courage and bravery. Travis Flores is a perfect example of this. The 26-year-old shares stories about his journey with cystic fibrosis and just last week, penned an open letter to the surgeon who performed his double lung transplant operation.

Debunking five common myths about lung transplants.

In addition, Travis wrote a poignant post about the scar on his chest, a scar that represents the new life he is now able to live thanks to an organ donor. He shares that right now, his new lungs are only functioning at 50 percent due to multiple infections and organ rejection. However, he’s positive and optimistic that the new anti-rejection medication he hopes to start soon will work and that he’ll be able to regain his health. Follow Travis on Instagram here, and follow Cystic Fibrosis News Today on Instagram here.

Learn more about cystic fibrosis and lung transplants.

Health Update. I look down at my scar often and feel grateful. My donor will forever be with me and my scar continues to represent every hardship, as well as every milestone of this path that I’m on. I am so grateful. Several weeks ago, I met @lukefontana, an incredible photographer who captured – for the first time – photos of my pain, struggle, and triumph through a single scar across my chest. He made me feel comfortable, welcomed, and NORMAL in a situation where I’ve been made to feel less-than in so many other circumstances. My scar is a source of remembrance for my life-long journey with Cystic Fibrosis and for my organ donor, but it has also been shamed by those who don’t understand what it represents. Luke impacted my life because of how he viewed me through his lens. We laughed together, and cried together. It was brave of him to take on such a challenge because I felt so vulnerable going into it. When you leave a session with Luke, you have a renewed perception of yourself and the world. Everything is more vibrant and beautiful. I am so grateful. I have always had the easy job in all of this, truly. I fight the disease, but you witness the pain and suffering from a distance. I want you to know how much I love you, how much your support has meant and continues to mean to me. Every battle that has been won, has been because of your support. I am so grateful. At this point, due to multiple infections, viruses, and complications with rejection, I have lost 50% of my lung function in a matter of a couple of months. I was supposed to start a different medication to combat the chronic rejection, because the other treatment wasn’t working as well as it had originally. However, there have been some developments recently and I will not be able to start the new medication at this time. I have faith that I can get through my current situation and be able to complete all possible anti-rejection therapies to save my beautiful lungs. I am so grateful. I have fought hard for nearly 26 years. I may be tired, but I'll live each day fully. Be grateful for breath, heart, mind, body, & soul. We live on ? #GodBlessMyDonor I AM SO #GRATEFUL

A photo posted by Travis Flores (@travisflores) on Feb 7, 2017 at 2:19pm PST

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