Mary’s Story

My name is Mary Valenzuela and I am 62-years-old and have been married to my wonderful husband, Robert, for 40 years. I am also the mother of two sons and a daughter and the proud grandma of two beautiful and lovable granddaughters (they mean the world to me). I have worked in the health care field for nearly 40 years — first as a CNA for Hospice of St. John and then later at Centura Health where I found myself assisting the elderly. While I was getting paid to help these wonderful people, in reality they were as much a blessing to me as I was to them.

Two years ago I began having shortness of breath accompanied by a heavy feeling in my chest. I thought nothing of it until my husband and I went decided one day to go for a walk in the neighborhood and I couldn’t even make it around the block. I went to my doctor and after several tests I was diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) — an illness for which there is no known cause and no cure. My lungs have slowly lost their ability to transfer oxygen into my blood stream and as a result, I now also have Pulmonary Hypertension or “high blood pressure” in my heart. I have been told that my only chance at a healthy life is to have a heart and double lung transplant. As I await my transplant at Stanford University Medical Center, I am on oxygen 24-hours-a-day and undergo extensive testing on a regular basis.