ST. LOUIS — After meeting through BJC's Lung Transplant mentoring program, two patients fell in love and are helping others battling the same disorder.
Carrie Gobble, now a 46-year-old with cystic fibrosis, recalls meeting her husband as she prepared for her transplant. Gary Gobble, now a 54-year-old with cystic fibrosis, became her mentor and their connection was immediate.
"We talked for two hours, I think, at least on the first phone conversation," Carrie said. "I just felt like I finally could relate to somebody and felt understood and less isolated that it was just for me, it was amazing."
Their mentorship quickly blossomed into a deep friendship and, with the approval of Carrie's transplant doctors, a romantic relationship just 12 days after her successful surgery. "I do recall the moment for me when I was like, oh my goodness. Like I just took a deep breath and I'm breathing on my own," she said.
Gary knows firsthand the power of second chances. "And I couldn't even blow out my candle. So I had my friends help me blow out my candle," he said of his 30th birthday, just days before his life-changing transplant in 2002. The moment he coughed and blew a straw wrapper off his hospital tray table post-surgery was a small miracle that marked the beginning of his new life.
Inspired by his experience, Gary became one of the first mentors in BJC's lung transplant mentoring program.
BJC social worker Rebecca Bathon said, "Myself, our surgeons, our physicians, our nurses really can't tell you what it's like to go through that. What it's like to wake up on the ventilator, what it's like to have that kind of pain, what it's like to take those first steps. And that's what patients want to know."
Carrie has spent her life facing the daunting reality of a shortened life expectancy, which she said has aged with her. "It was scary. I mean, you're 25 learning life expectancy is 25," she said.
To pay forward the support she received, Carrie also became a mentor. "The mentoring program is just such an amazing program," she said. "I would say 99% of our feedback is positive. Like, patients are just always so grateful that they had an opportunity to meet somebody. And that's just very rewarding."
Gary said, "It's wonderful to have the love of my life beside me. Somebody who understands, uh, what we're, what I've gone through, um, that we can relate to that, um, connect with that."
Married since 2005, Gary and Carrie's bond is unbreakable, forged by their shared experiences. "I am still grateful for waking up every morning and waking up with him," Carrie said.
Bathon said, "One of the things that has really driven me to do this work is that continuity is being able to see patients, succeed, go about life, and experience what everybody else their age is able to go through. And that's been very rewarding."
With over 2,100 transplants performed, the mentorship program offers hope to those battling debilitating lung diseases.
This program is "really a significant part of the process" Gary said. He believes the mentorship program is a breath of fresh air and impacts patients' ability to recover.
In Gary and Carrie's love story, we see the power of resilience, empathy, and the promise of second chances—a breath of hope for all those awaiting their miracles.
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