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Transplant survivor gives thanks for life by Cindy Abole Public Relations Pediatric accounting’s Theresa Merkal has a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving holiday. The bright-eyed, 29-year-old is a survivor of the greatest odds.   Theresa Merkal As millions of American families gather around their Thanksgiving table this holiday weekend, they’ll be giving thanks for many blessings. But Merkal’s gratitude can be literally measured in breaths.   A double-lung transplant survivor since 2003, Merkal is a life-long sufferer of cystic fibrosis (CF), a disease that affect tens of thousands of U.S. children and adults that can lead to life-threatening lung infections and other breathing and digestive complications.      Merkal’s life journey has already been filled with a bevy of positive, inspiring moments mixed  with a little adversity. A few years ago, her CF was so severe that she had difficulty walking, functioning and breathing. She was placed on a lung transplant waiting list by MUSC pulmonologist Patrick Flume, M.D. She and her former husband were living in North Carolina at the time she finally matched for transplant at Duke University Medical Center.      In less than three weeks, Merkal will celebrate her two-year anniversary as a double-lung transplant survivor. She credits Duke’s Lung Transplant Center team for helping her through the entire transplant process from evaluation to post-transplant surgery and recovery.   Now single, Merkal relies on the continuing support of families and friends, several of them CF and transplant patients who she’s met within the last several years. Needing a fresh start, she chose to resettle in Charleston last March. She was able to resume her previous job and duties working in the Department of Pediatrics reconciling business office accounts and balancing department revenues and expenses.     “Theresa is a remarkable person and co-worker,” said David Roof, director of business operations, Department of Pediatrics. “Theresa brings a dedicated, tenacious and conscientious work ethic to her job and just about everything she does. Her ability to evaluate tasks on a broad scale and prioritize work is an asset to her efficiency and abilities to organize activities. Our department wouldn’t be the same without Theresa.”      Since her transplant, Merkal has enjoyed overall good health. She’s more mindful to follow good health habits such as washing her hands, not biting her nails and not sharing food at restaurant buffets. She also takes less medication. Following her transplant, she took as many as 40 pills throughout a 24-hour day, mostly steroids, immunosuppressant and drugs. Today, she takes about 20 medications per day.       Merkal happily returned to the medical care of Flume and other specialists who make up both MUSC’s Adult and Pediatric CF Center staff, which includes multidisciplinary teams of physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, dieticians, social workers and genetic counselors for  both adult and pediatric CF patients.   “Cystic fibrosis is a complicated chronic disease that can be more challenging to an individual who becomes a transplant patient,” said Flume. “It’s important that health care practitioners talk often and communicate openly with their patients in an effort to form strong, supportive bonds as they continue to treat patients and help them manage challenges throughout the course of the disease.”   Most importantly, Merkal is able to accomplish things that she once considered a struggle, like brushing her hair, brushing her teeth or walking up a flight of stairs. Today, she does all these things with less effort. Last spring, she participated in MUSC Wellness Center’s Boot Camp program, which challenged her body’s overall fitness and stamina. Her next challenge is to try horseback riding, an activity she’s tried and admired since she was a little girl.   “If I could share one thing that I’ve learned throughout my life and experiences, I’d tell people to find something that inspires them: a change, idea or plan and just do it,” Merkal said, flashing a smile. “Life’s too precious to waste time and worry about the details all of the time. If you wait too long, they eventually become excuses for not getting things done.” Friday, Nov. 25, 2005 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to petersnd@musc.edu or catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Community Press at 849-1778.