31 Days of CF: Morgan’s Story

by Luisa Palazola | June 7, 2019

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Day 28 of 31 Days of CF ⁣⁣ Topic: Transplant ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ This is Morgan’s Story ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ Hello, hello CF buddies! My name is Morgan Cheney and I am 29 years old, 3 years post double lung transplant and feeling great (some kidney and diabetes issues). I went my first 26 years of life never attempting to communicate, meet, or even acknowledge other people with CF. I might sound like a total snob, let me tell you why: I had never really wanted to admit to myself that I am sick, that I have an incurable and life altering disease, that will treat me unkindly, beat me down when I’m finally feeling strong, take away my ability to have children, and wickedly taunt my family on a daily basis. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ I didn’t want to know or see what they were going through. “I’m going to be fine, I won’t ever need a transplant and I’ll live to be at least 80.” Seeing what kind of treatments, hospital stays, pain, or ailments that someone else with CF was going through would have shattered my unrealistic reality. But, in the spring of 2016 while I was student teaching a 4th grade classroom, I became extremely sick. I had a constant nagging, exhausting cough that I had been fighting with for a while. I wasn’t on oxygen and I was completely mobil so, when this mystery illness hit me, it hit HARD.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ It turns out that I had gotten pneumonia and my lungs decided they didn’t want any part of it. I had gone to the ER in New Mexico, was immediately put on oxygen, put in a medically induced coma and flown to St. Joseph’s in Phoenix where I received my transplant about 6 days later. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ Since then, I have become an advocate for organ donation and I love interacting with other people with Cystic Fibrosis! The CF community is phenomenal and I have learned that being able to compare notes and have someone to talk to who can relate to what I’m going through is a very positive and comforting feeling. However, we are NOT all the same. One thing that I have clenched on to, is that just like in other aspects of life, it is paramount that we do not compare ourselves to one another. As we all know, life is short. Live YOUR life in the best way you possibly ever could, showing love and support along the way. ⁣⁣

A post shared by CFNewsToday (@cfnewstoday) on May 28, 2019 at 9:55am PDT

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About the Author

Luisa Palazola Luisa Palazola is a 25-year-old with CF living in Memphis, Tennessee. She injects her perspective as a Hispanic woman and her love for life and stories in all her interactions. In her downtime, she's learning Portuguese and is an avid coffee lover.