PHOENIX — All Aaron Carroll wants for Father’s Day is time with his family.
“I get to spend time with my boys. I need to be here with her (wife) and that’s enough for me,” said an emotional Carroll.
Carrol was born with cystic fibrosis and has battled health issues his entire life.
Every year in the United States hundreds of people are diagnosed each year with cystic fibrosis.
It is a genetic condition that can affect different parts of the body and can lead to respiratory failure.
In 2017 the disease caused Carroll’s lungs to fail.
“Pretty miserable. I was on oxygen, six liters of oxygen. I was on CPAP every night. I was struggling so much to breathe,” said Carroll.
Doctors at St. Joseph’s Norton Thoracic Institute put Carroll on the transplant list and within a month he received the call.
“We got the call at 5 a.m. and we knew immediately what it was. We rushed down here, and we were excited,” said Carroll.
He underwent a double lung transplant. The procedure allowed him to no longer be bedridden and now able to play with his oldest son.
“Like teach my oldest how to ride a bike. Which was a big day for me,” said an emotional Carroll.
“It’s what makes the medical team, nurses, doctors and all of us work relentlessly to achieve this,” said Dr. Rajat Walia, a pulmonologist and the medical director of the lung transplant program at St. Joseph’s Norton Thoracic Institute.
Dr. Walia is one of Carroll’s doctors. He said the treatment of cystic fibrosis has dramatically improved over the past decade.
“When I started my career the average lifespan of an adult cystic fibrosis patient in this country was in their early 30s. Now we see adult patients go easily into their mid-50s,” said Dr. Walia.
Dr. Walia credits better medications and treatments for the advancement of cystic fibrosis care over the past decade. The need for lung transplants has even declined.
It’s been six years since the transplant and Carroll will still need lifelong care and monitoring. He appreciates each day he has with his family.
“Saw somebody talking recently and they said, ‘if you can find something to be grateful for you can keep going,' and that’s kind of what I do,” said Carroll.
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