At the Bedside: Living with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is not a death sentence in the eyes of Houghton Hutcheson

Last year, Houghton Hutcheson, now 79, started experiencing shortness of breath on a trip to Colorado. When he returned, he scheduled a visit with his primary care physician, Eric Thomas, MD, MPH,  professor in the Department of Internal Medicine and Griff T. Ross Professor in Humanities and Technology in Health Care at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston. Imaging on Hutcheson’s lungs showed scarring, so Thomas suggested he see a pulmonologist.

Just a week later, Hutcheson saw Rodeo Abrencillo, MD, vice chief of research and associate professor in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine at McGovern Medical School, who diagnosed him with an incurable disease: idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

“When I found out it was pulmonary fibrosis at first, it didn’t mean anything to me, because I’d never heard of it before,” Hutcheson said. “He was very direct and very upfront, he didn’t mince words, and he didn’t sugarcoat anything. He told me that no medication has been found yet that will cure the disease and stop the scarring in my lungs.”

Read the full story »

 

---