A Journey of Resilience and Recovery
A Peoria mom is on the path to recovery after undergoing a life-saving double lung transplant. After nearly two months without a voice, she has finally regained her ability to speak, marking a significant milestone in her journey.
41-year-old Ali Briskey received the transplant at the Norton Thoracic Institute at Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center last year. Her story is one of resilience, strength, and hope. “Our journey has been a rollercoaster, lots of ups and downs,” she shared.
Briskey was pregnant when the Scleroderma she had been living with progressed to interstitial lung disease. This autoimmune condition can cause the hardening of internal organs, leading to severe breathing difficulties. “My lungs were just failing, and then I had some heart complications as well,” she explained.
She spent 106 days hospitalized during this challenging period. After the birth of her youngest child, she continued to face health struggles, eventually being referred to Norton Thoracic Institute. After undergoing evaluation and being accepted as a transplant candidate, she was placed on the transplant list.
“In Ali’s case, she was so sick that her numbers were already on the higher side,” said Dr. Leena Pawar of St. Joseph’s Norton Thoracic Institute. “And I think she received this transplant really quickly, within a matter of a few days.”
The transplant was successful, but it came with its own set of challenges. “I was stripped of my voice completely,” Briskey said. “I was unable to speak for about 48 days. I was stripped of my ability to move and to walk and to just function in this world and I had to learn all of that over again.”
With the support of her husband, family, friends, and medical team, Briskey found the strength to persevere. “There was an incredible community of people reaching out, delivering things to us, caring for our children, all of the things that made it possible to get through that, both physically and emotionally,” her husband, Paul, said.
It has taken several months, but Briskey is slowly regaining her strength. She now enjoys spending time with her family and has even started singing again. “Through God and through our family, through our community, just being able to fall on them and let them lift me up is what got me through,” she said.
One of her mantras has been to remember how strong, brave, and loved she is. “For me, the biggest part of this journey was to be around for my family, but to watch these boys that we’ve created, watch them grow up and become incredible humans,” she said. “It’s the biggest gift that we’ve ever been given, besides our children, I think, is this new lease on life and I know nothing about them, but I am so grateful.”
Briskey’s journey continues. “I’ve done outpatient rehabilitation, and I will start PT here in a couple of weeks,” she said.
She hopes her story inspires others to believe that even in the worst of times, there is still hope. “You can move through this world with faith, with positivity, and you can do anything, even if it’s hard, with that right motivation,” she said.
