I think it has been about 9 years since I got that early morning phone call from my aunt that she had successfully had her double lung transplant.
And she is still celebrating each day.
That is why Breath from Salt was so poignant to me.
Although the book is about Cystic Fibrosis, which is not the disease that could have killed my aunt, the book does mention Bronchiectasis and explains in pretty good detail about the disease I’ve never heard of until my aunt.
But I had heard of Cystic Fibrosis. My good friend in school had it, and is thriving today. Unfortunately, years ago when so many families suffered, it wasn’t known at all. This book walks you through the discovery and shares many stories of families. Gets a bit scientific at times and goes very deep into CF.
This book solves the mystery of medical research, where a genetic disease that affected thousands of children before it was discovered what it was, the love of the families who suffered, and the love of the doctors and researchers and fought and continue to fight today to cure this disease or at least make it possible to live with.
Here’s my official review:
A poignant account of Cystic Fibrosis and stories of what people encountered and research made to discover this disease and get us where we are today. I especially loved the stories of real people. It hit home with me because my aunt had a double lung transplant because of bronchiectasis, which is mentioned in the book and I had never heard of until my aunt’s issues. One of my friends in school had Cystic Fibrosis and is now very successful in her life, but I unfortunately didn’t know much about it and things like that weren’t really talked about back then. Deeply touching and moving story about this disease for anyone who is interested in learning new things even if you don’t personally know someone affected. I learned a lot about research, science, and even medical organizations as well as stories about real people and real families. Highly recommended. Great writing. I couldn’t put it down.
