Lung transplant recipients and their caregivers may experience many different types of losses over the course of their lifetimes. Prior to transplant, recipients may lose parts of their self-identification, physical health or independence, or access to activities they once enjoyed or defined themselves by. They may lose our standard role within our friend or family group, and many lose friends within the transplant community to rejection, infection, or other causes. Caregivers experience losses as well, such as the type of relationship they imagined, opportunities for professional advancement, free time for hobbies or personal growth, or health changes due to the rigors of caretaking responsibilities.
How can we incorporate and process all of these losses while still feeling grateful for our second chance at life? A discussion will be led by Rebecca Hobbs-Lawrence, the coordinator of the Pathways Program for families who have an advanced serious illness, who has been working at the Dougy Center for more than twenty years.
In addition, Lavetta Smith, a bilateral lung transplant recipient who has just achieved her first lungaversary will speak. Lavetta is a passionate advocate for discussing the emotional aspects of the lung transplant process and was recently featured in a Washington Post documentary about the power of support groups.