Patricia Meadows from Calgary, Alberta, lives with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (PF) with an underlying undetermined auto-immune disease. Prior to her diagnosis, Patricia was an active adventurer. She loved to hike and can lay claim to having summited Mount Kilimanjaro. With PF, she now has difficulty climbing up many flights of stairs and can no longer hike like she used to with a backpack.
Patricia shares her experience with diagnosis and the joy, support, and friendship she has found with the CPFF Calgary support group.
“I tend not to do things in groups,” says Patricia, “but this really caught me. The people were so wonderful and so supportive. I’m not sure I would be here if it weren’t for them because it was a huge amount of emotional support but also a lot of information that I didn’t know about because I’d never even heard of pulmonary fibrosis until I was diagnosed.”
We celebrate Patricia for her courage and thank her for sharing her pulmonary fibrosis journey. If you or someone you love is experiencing breathing difficulties talk to your doctor.