LAM Patient Stories

Some women with LAM have had to change their lifestyle, career, goals and overall approach to life since being diagnosed with LAM. Amazingly, most of them maintain a positive outlook. To celebrate the lives of women living with LAM, these pages have some inspiring testimonials, which chronicle some of the common challenges faced by patients, as well as the personal strength required to cope with the disease.

LAM Patient Privacy
LAM patient privacy and confidentiality are a high priority at The LAM Foundation. Many women with LAM who register with the Foundation wish to be in touch with other patients, but we do not share any information without your written permission. Once you register with The LAM Foundation, we will send you a consent form asking your preference for sharing contact information with other women with LAM or with physicians. You may give consent to share email only, telephone only or address only. You may also choose to share with just LAM patients or just physicians. These permissions may be changed at any time.

For questions regarding LAM Patient Privacy or to receive a new contact permissions form, please contact our Patient Services Office.

Share Your Story
Sharing your personal journey with LAM will provide inspiration to others and help to raise awareness of this uncommon disease.

In Their Words
Stories from Patients with LAM

Life on my Own Terms - Beryl Gatzke, Canada
I have LAM and I'm lucky. It's given me a new appreciation for life and a better understanding of all those with a chronic disease. Read more

My LAM and Me - Gillian Turner, England
How many times have you heard it said that if you have good health then that is the most important thing in life? Before I was ill I often heard it, and although I didn't really agree, I didn't argue. Read more

Getting to Know Me - Eva Rosenblatt, Germany
What's the most important change in my life? I am getting to know myself better, and learning to accept myself the way I am. For years I chastised myself for being lazy. But it wasn't laziness that was sending me to the sofa after a 50 hour work week, it was LAMiness. Read more

From the Other Side of the Stethoscope - Brenda Nutt, Arkansas
"What you have is so rare I've never heard of it," the doctor said. "There is no cure, and there is no treatment." I had taken him a copy of the information from The LAM Foundation Web site with the definitions on the back page and he sat there and read it in front of me. (Then he sent me a bill). Read more

Unexpected Returns - Catherine Reuther, California
Being diagnosed with LAM definitely changed my life. Changing my career was hard because I loved the job I had for twenty years as a field engineer working on Xerox equipment. But now that I am nearing the possibility of lung transplant, the extra money is important. Read more

Little Things Mean a Lot -- Tish Davey, New York
The experience of having a double lung transplant is incredibly difficult to put into words. I feel that I have lived a miracle. I am tempted to pinch myself to make certain that I am not dreaming and that this is the new me. Not surprisingly, it has been the "little things" that have brought me the most joy since my transplant. Read more

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