Going for Gold

My childhood summers in the Pocono Mountains, PA would start with the Fourth of July and wind down with the swim championships in late August. Every year from age 6 to 16 I swam with the spirited Gold Key Lake Gators. We practiced every weekday morning in a chilly lake and if you complained too much you were sentenced to a lap around the perimeter or worse yet, a swim across the lake. Our community was smaller than others in the league so every kid was needed on deck. If you could make it across a 25 meter pool, you were put in a race. At my first swim meet at 6 yrs old, I was told to jump in and swim like a frog as fast as I could. I did, and to everyone's amazement, I won. That year I ended up in 5th place at the final championship and each year thereafter I would at least place and sometimes even take home the gold.

In high school, college and in my early 20's, I was no longer part of a team but swimming would always be my first choice of exercise. As I became older and my lung condition deteriorated, it became harder and harder to swim. However, it was still a shock when I jumped in a pool shortly after arriving in Miami and found it nearly impossible to swim. The pressure of the water made my lungs feel even smaller than usual and I could hardly breathe. Where I could once swim a race with ease, it was hard for me to keep my breath and simply stay afloat. On my best days, I would try to swim short laps across the pool. My stamina was so weak that I could only manage a few laps and it was a very sad realization when I had to give up on swimming laps all together. I still loved the water and enjoyed the ocean but I couldn't go in further than where I could stand. Coming out against the slightest pull from the waves would exhaust me to the point where I would collapse to catch my breath as soon as I hit the sand. During my final months in Miami before my transplant, it was no longer safe for me to even go in the water without having a friend nearby to help me walk out.

Post transplant one of my first to-dos was to hit the beach again. In June of last year I came back to Miami for a week to look for an apartment to re-start my life. It was only 4 months after surgery, and I still had a feeding tube in my stomach. I couldn't go in any deeper than my waist, but at least I could feel the water crash against my legs again. A few weeks later back in Durham, that last tube was removed and I was cleared to swim. I'll never forget that first lap I swam in our condo's small pool. Although my body was still incredibly weak it was liberating to take a deep breath into my new lungs and submerge myself.

As soon as I learned of the transplant olympics, I knew I wanted to compete in the 50 and 100 meter breaststroke. It has been on my mind the entire year and in April I committed myself and began training. This time when I swam I felt like a kid again. I could breath well and push myself. I've been swimming about 3 times a week in pools all over Miami, one in NYC, and I even did an open water swim in the bay off Key Biscayne. I started my workouts swimming 600 meters (about 30 laps) and worked up to 90 laps or a little over a mile.
This weekend I will participate in the Transplant Games of America. The "transplant olympics", as they are nicknamed, take place every two years and are open to anyone who has had a life-saving transplant of any kind (lungs, heart, kidney, liver...) and living donors. Yes, you can be a living donor of a kidney, liver or a lobe of your lung. The events this year are taking place in Houston, TX over 4 days and, like the real Olympics, include an opening and closing ceremony.
Tomorrow as I swim my first race in almost 20 yrs, I will remember those wise words from my first meet: "jump in and swim like a frog as fast as you can". Of course I am grateful beyond words to simply participate, but I will be secretly hoping for a similar outcome and to bring home the gold.
As I swim I will be thinking of all the patients who are not well enough today to participate, of all the nurses, physicians, scientists who have made my life possible, the foundations who tirelessly fight our fight, my family and friends who support me each and everyday, and above all, someone whom I will never have the chance to thank in person yet gave me the greatest gift of all.
Become a donor today. http://donatelife.net

Thank you to Ekaterina Juskowski for the powerful and artistic photograph!!