My mother was diagnosed with Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) and at the time given 5 years to live, she lasted 7 years with the last two years she decided to stop taking any medication. At the time I was caught up in the fact she was so sick (the last 12 months) that unbeknown to me I was showing symptoms of ILD myself. It creeps up on you over a slow period. Two months after she passed, I was diagnosed with ILD, and things went downhill rather quickly. I woke up one day after five weeks in Intensive care unable to move. I spent five months in hospital
three of which I was pushing for a lung transplant. I was assessed and given a lung transplant and sit here four years after the transplant. It is not for everyone I must warn as the medication you take is terrible and as one of my specialists stated, "it is a palliative procedure". Statistics say 50% of recipients survive 5 years, after 10 years 87% don't make it. But I know of many cases that are in their 15th year and one case where he is in his 30th year. I can say one thing it has taught me to value things that are normally taken for granted and appreciate the little things you would normally take for granted.