Dottie A. Lessard-O'Connor; who underwent a double lung transplant in 1994, is a certified fitness trainer and a multiple medal winner at the 1998, 1999, and 2000 U.S. Transplant Games. By any standard, she is an exceptionally strong and fit athlete. For someone with cystic fibrosis, she is positively remarkable. Once given little hope by her doctors of surviving, much less having a normal existence, Dottie is living an extraordinary life today. She is married, training for a triathlon, writing a book, and operating Dottie)-Dream, a nonprofit organization that provides exercise equipment to children three to eighteen years old with cystic fibrosis who are awaiting or who have already received a lung transplant. Dottie lives with her husband, John O'Conno1; in Bradford, Massachusetts. From her story, you can see that exercise and proper nutrition constitute powerfull medicine.

I was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when I was still a baby, but I stayed fairly healthy until my teens. I had some shortness of breath when I tried to run, but all in all, I was able to lead a normal life. Even though I couldn't do what most other kids could do, I always considered myself a tomboy. Things changed when I was fifteen. I noticed I couldn't ride my bike as fast as before, and I started having coughing fits that left me short of breath. Soon I had my first "cleanout"-1 had to go to the hospital to have the mucus cleaned out of my lungs. From then on, I spent most of my school vacations in the hospital having a cleanout. Despite these treatments, I could tell things were getting worse. I started to measure the distance between one classroom and another. My close friends knew I had CF, but I never wanted to be pitied or treated differently from others. I tried to hide it as much as I could. I'd take a lot of trips to the bathroom-that's where I had my coughing fits.

After graduation, everybody was going off to college, and I wanted to do so as well. I went to a two-year college for an associate's degree in fashion merchandising and design. That way I could still live at home. It was hard. I needed physical therapy every day to clear my chest. I couldn't do much exercise, but in 1986, when a boyfriend of mine said girls couldn't do it, I began lifting weights. His comment made me angry, so my dad gave me some hand weights, and I started with them. From the minute I picked up a weight I loved it; I wouldn't be as short of breath as I would with other exercise, and I felt I was doing something good for myself.

I graduated from college, but I wasn't healthy enough to get a job. I spent a lot of time at home, trying not to let myself get any sicker. Nevertheless, by 1992, I was going into the hospital every few months for a cleanout. I would be in for two weeks, then home for a couple of months, then in again. I felt I was just existing and not living. I couldn't go out wid1 friends. If I went to the mall with my mother, I'd sit on a bench with old ladies while she shopped. It was depressing for a girl my age, and particularly difficult for one who always wanted to be healthy and athletic.

My future looked bleak. I was put on a list for a double lung transplant in May 1992. I'm five-foot-four and weighed only 101 pounds, and the doctors warned me that if I lost any more weight, I'd need a feeding tube. I then started reading everything I could on fitness and nutrition. I tried weight-gain drinks, but none of them helped. They all tasted bad, and they felt heavy in my stomach. When I had coughing fits, the drinks would come right back up. One day I opened a fitness magazine and came across an article about Dr. Connelly and the protein drink he had invented. What he said in the article about the importance of nutrition and the right protein made so much sense to me. A lot of doctors don't pay attention to nutrition, they focus on the illness. But if your nutrition is off, so is everything else. I started drinking Dr. Connelly's protein formula, and within three months I went from a frail 101 pounds to a healthy 115. And I didn't gain fat, I gained muscle. In 1994, before my transplant surgery, the doctors who did the medical workup thought they were looking at the wrong CT scan. They said I had an incredible amount of muscle mass for someone with my condition.

When I had the transplant surgery, the doctors knew I was sick, but they did not realize what bad shape my lungs were in; my muscles had adapted. I did not need oxygen before my transplant, while many people in my situation do. I think my lungs adapted to what little I could give them because my body was in good condition. When the doctors opened me up, my lungs were a lot worse than my overall condition had led them to believe. I died twice on the table. I had to be on a heart-lung machine, and the surgery took twelve hours. I remember my surgeon coming in after the operation. "Thank you for saving my life," I told him. And he said, "Well, I didn't save your life, you did-by keeping yourself in shape." I never forget that. I really did fight hard, working out and paying attention to nutrition, but I don't think I would be here today without Dr. Connelly.

In 1998, a few years after my transplant, I participated in the U .5. Transplant Games. I had no idea what to expect. I'm proud to say that I came in fourth in the 100 meters and won a silver medal in the long jump. I couldn't run so much as a block before, and here I was competing! The next year, I won a gold medal in the long jump, a silver in the 100 meters, and a bronze in the softball throw. In 2000, I won a gold medal for both the 100 and the 200 meters.

I don't take anything for granted. I continue to care for myself and drink my protein shakes. I look forward to a long, full life. My husband and I want to buy a house and start a family. All of these things would have seemed impossible ten years ago, when I wasn't even sure whether , I would survive surgery. Toda-y, I can see myself living to be eighty, l watching my grandchildren play on the front lawn. I am passionate-about fitness and nutrition-I would not be here without them.