“Fan’s Best Photo”
Join us July 26th for Trivia Night for the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation in memory of Frances Sabo, the mother of Abbeyand Alicia Sabo.
Doors open at 6pm. Trivia starts at 6:30pm. There will be 10 rounds of trivia with games in between rounds. You can bring your own beverages (alcohol is allowed) and food. There will be some pretty awesome raffle prizes! Tables (8 people per table) are $200 a piece. CLICK HERE to get your table. Email [email protected] to if you are interested in an individual ticket ($25). If you are unable to make it on the 26th, CLICK HERE TO DONATE ONLINE.
Please read Abbey’s story about her mom’s battle with Pulmonary Fibrosis and see why it is so important to raise money for this cause.
“Every winter my mother would get a cough that would come on in the fall and disappear just as easily in the spring like it had never been there.
However, one spring, the cough did not go away. For years, my mother went to doctor after doctor to try and find the cause of this cough and find some relief. So many different tests were run and every doctor had a new idea/theory, but never a cure. She always had this little “tickle” in the back of her throat as she would say. She was never a smoker and had grown up playing musical instruments with no difficulties.
I know the cough was never easy for my mother and I know emotionally it upset her. There were so many times in a closed elevator people would give her dirty looks as she coughed, thinking she was “sick” with a cold and she was getting them sick. So many times, when she would meet someone new, she worried what they would think of her cough. My mother loved to go to the movies and was so afraid of coughing through the entire movie that she had to stop one of her favorite past times.
In the fall of 2010 (after 2-3 years of seeing many physicians) my mother was diagnosed with Pulmonary Fibrosis by her family physician and by April 2011 she was put on daily oxygen. She was referred to Barnes – Wash U Hospital to see a pulmonary specialist. I remember going with my mother that day and the hours of testing and breathing tests she had to go through. A lung biopsy was scheduled for June of 2011 in Springfield, IL where she lived. This was a scary time for both of us and the lung biopsy did confirm Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. We were told that her life expectancy would be 3-10 years. The doctors informed us that some patients went beyond the ten years and some were sooner than the three years. However, they anticipated a long life for her.
She went to acupuncturists, she tried talking with a therapist, she wore a mask when gardening, she used antibacterial cleaner to avoid germs, she followed a strict diet to decrease inflammation in the body, and she would even go to Pulmonary Rehab three times a week. She tried anything and everything that people suggested.
By the end of 2012 my mother’s health was deteriorating and she could no longer work. At that point, my sister and I moved her to Des Moines, IA to be closer to my sister and to hopefully get her on the lung transplant list in Iowa City!
By March of 2013 after extensive testing she was officially listed on the Iowa Lung Transplant list. During this time she wanted to be as healthy as she could so she did a program called WHOLE 30, which eliminates dairy, grains, liquor, sugar, beans, and soy from your diet to help reduce inflammation in the body. This Whole 30 turned into a life change and something she was super strict about what she put into her body. She wanted to make sure that if any lung became available, she would be healthy enough to receive the lung. During this time, she was on 100% full oxygen and we found out her PRA number was extremely high which would limit her ability to find a lung match. Most people are at 5-10 and the average for acceptance with a transplant is 50. However, my mother was at 93. This was going to make finding a lung more difficult. However, when one would come, it would be just for her!
By early fall 2013 she was getting weaker and the lung from Iowa was not coming yet. Therefore, they suggested she be dual listed in another city close by to increase her chances. With me living in St. Louis and having the strict rules with the transplant list, we chose St. Louis and in October 2013 she was accepted!
The last family photo of Abbey, Fran, & Alicia.
My mother celebrated her 61st birthday with her best girlfriends on November 12th. The next evening she was short of breath and felt weak and tired. That night on the highest level of oxygen, she called for an ambulance because she could not get her breath. We spent the next 4 nights in the hospital in Des Moines praying for her to get better. During this time talking was extremely limited as she was on a bi-pap machine which was making her lungs work for her. On the fourth day in the hospital, we finally discussed a hospice option as there was no improvement. We decided to have a little “girl’s night” in the hospital and ordered in her favorite gluten free pizza and watched movies on the television and told stories. Little did we know that would be our last meal together as a family. That evening as my sister and I laid by her bed, we received a phone call at 1am telling us that they had a potential lung match in Iowa City. It felt like a miracle was happening. However, at this point she was so weak, they had to take her via helicopter and fear of intubation was high.
We packed up everything and made the trip to Iowa City. That morning, November 18th, while they tested for a lung match proved to be the toughest six hours of her life. While fully intubated yet no sedation they probed, poked, sampled, measured, and did everything to confirm a lung match. However, after six hours, we were informed that it was not a match. At that point, she was too weak from the trip to Iowa City, being intubated, and the testing that she passed shortly after. She lived an amazing life and was a courageous woman. One of her favorite inspirational quotes was, “She designed a life she loved,” and that is exactly what she did. She lived a life full of love and happiness. She made her life matter and didn’t stop fighting.”
Each year more than 50,000 people are diagnosed with Pulmonary Fibrosis and to date there is NO CURE. Researchers are still trying to find the root cause of this disease that kills 40,000 people each year. What is Pulmonary Fibrosis? It is the scaring of tissue in the lungs that builds up in the walls of the air sacs of the lungs. This eventually makes it hard for oxygen to get into your blood making you short of breath.
Imagine spending each day out of breath. What about being winded from getting out of bed in the morning or chewing your food? So often we take these things for granted. However, breathing is something most people do every day and don’t even think twice about it. At Complete Fitness Results we focus on the breath and know how important proper breathing is in functioning and achieving your goals.
Please help the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation carry out their mission to help find a cure for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), advocate for the pulmonary fibrosis community, promote disease awareness, and provide a compassionate environment for patients and their families.
Tables (8 people per table) are $200 a piece. CLICK HERE to get your table. Email [email protected] to if you are interested in an individual ticket ($25).
If you are unable to make it on the 26th, CLICK HERE TO DONATE ONLINE.