There was no symptom of a dog trainer. A scan of their lungs found a terminal disease

When Christopher Kennedy went to an X-ray before a regular surgery, he thought he would be inside and out. Then a technician saw scary in his lungs.

At that time 68 -year -old Kennedy had never noticed any warning signals. He was a retired Air Force technician who exercised regularly and trained his backyard and trained Bernis Mountain Dogs as medical animals in the hospital.

After several tests, a pulmonologist gave him a dangerous diagnosis: idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, or IPF. It is a type of lung disease, there is no known cause, where the scar tissue grows in the lungs and prevents oxygen from reaching the bloodstream, which in Johns Hopkins, the American lung Union and the pleuralist Dr. According to Panagis Galitsatos, which was not involved in Kennedy’s care. Galiyattos stated that the situation is progressive with “high mortality”.

First, Kennedy thought he could “beat” the disease. But as -as his lung work was insulted, he realized that “Baloni” was. Medications were not working to slow down progressive fibrosis, and they began to need oxygen in their daily lives. Even walking in the kitchen was giving it air. In 2024, Cleveland Clinic Pulmonologist Dr. Aman Pandey confirmed Kennedy’s worst fear: he had less than a year to live.

“We all wonder, as humans, how we are going,” said Kennedy. “And you never know. This is a great secret. Well, for the first time in my life, I was told ‘how you are going.”

“You come out of one of the two ways”

Pandey had an option for Kennedy: he could see if he was eligible for double-fila transplantation. At the age of 74, Kennedy, compared to most patients, was older than the operation, but he was otherwise a promising candidate, Pandey said. Lung implants are usually the final options to be introduced to IPF patients, Pandey said, and is usually therapeutic, although a small percentage of patients can see repetition.

Kennedy was initially resistant to this idea, as his younger brother died after the same process. But after being overwhelmed by Pandey, he agreed to undergo a test to see if he would be eligible. The doctors of the Cleveland Clinic “performed everything,” Kennedy said. Finally, he was approved as a candidate. They were registered in the national transplant list, and a pair of lungs suitable to be available.

As the months passed, Kennedy’s lung work continued to decline. He went from 10 to 10 using two liters of oxygen a day. He had a mild case of Kovid -19. He was lost over 40 pounds. In October 2025, he was hospitalized.

“(Jason) Turkovski, (a transplant pleuralologist at the Cleveland Clinic) said,” Well, we are going to accept you and you come out of one of the two ways: with a set of lungs, or we are going to take you out, “Kennedy recalled.”

“You are reminding every breath case”

Kennedy spent a month in the hospital. There were two false alarms, where it seemed that a pair of lungs could be available but eventually not. The third time was attraction, and on 15 November, Kennedy performed a double-fafe transplant.

“It was a relief. I was apprehensive, obviously, and worried. I could remember going to the operating room,” Kennedy said. “I can remember the hurry of activity, all people who were preparing me for surgery. The next thing you know, you are in your room.”

A few hours after the surgery, Kennedy’s lung capacity was already better that it was in months. He had several failures, including post-surgery infections and a stroke, but his “indomitable feeling” helped him to fix, the pleuralist Rachel Power said, who have been part of Kennedy’s post-transplant care team.

“I am very proud of him. He really kept a very good perspective of his recovery course,” said Powers. “He has such a good approach, and I think it is really important for some things that he had to remove after transplantation.”

For Kennedy, now 75, life is now becoming normal again. Tests suggest that its lung capacity is 98%. He is back to spend time with his wife, children and grandchildren. He is able to exercise at home and was able to walk his dog recently without losing his breath. He almost trained Canine, a Bernis Mountain Dog, named Fini, a hospital therapy dog.

Kennedy believed that Phani would be the last therapy dog he trained, and named him after retirement flights conducted by the members of the Air Force. But in a few weeks, he will get a new puppy. He is planning to name his Encore to celebrate his second opportunity. Training hospital therapy dogs have become even more meaningful after their medical journey, he said.

“There are many things that are different in my life. It gives you great perspective and proportion of life, which is important and what is not,” Kennedy said. “You breathe every breath, because, you know why you won’t?