For most of his life, Timothy Gruhn was on the move. Whether it was traveling for work, spending quality time with family or everything else in between, he tried to be active.
“I used to work two, three jobs at a time, I was never one to just sit around,” he said.
In 2016, he was forced to slow down. He had the flu and respiratory congestion. He went to his general practitioner, who took X-rays.
“He immediately referred me to a pulmonologist and my lungs were so bad, [I] had big holes in my lungs and that was the reason I was having trouble breathing,” he said. “It was all caused by my years of smoking.”
Gruhn said he stopped smoking and had to adjust his expectations.
“What I used to do, I couldn’t do anymore and I had to keep downplaying how far I could walk, how far I could run, how far I could do anything,” he said.
Over the years, inhalers and oxygen weren’t enough. Gruhn had to be put on the transplant list.
“December 6 of 2023 is when I was actually voted and put on the list and then on January 6, 30 days later, they called and told me they had lungs available for me, to get to this hospital,” he said.
Medical Director of University Hospitals' Lung Transplant Program, Silpa Kilaru, MD, leads his care team.
“A lot of transplant is not just the physical, it’s also the mental and being able to get through a really tough situation,” she said. “Tim always had a very positive attitude, he was always very upbeat, he wanted to do everything we had told him to do and I think that served him well, particularly after transplant because he was able to do all the things he needed to.”
Just months later, Gruhn participated in his first 5K race.
“Between February and May 18, when the actual race was, I’d walk every day, started out walking a mile and then two miles and then three miles and then five miles,” he said.
“I was walking five miles without stopping, you just don’t know how that feels after walking 50 feet and having go stop.”
His family was by his side as he walked across the finish line. They were also there during the illness and continued recovery.
Gruhn also recognizes there’s another family that experienced loss.
“I don’t want them to think that they made the wrong choice by giving me these lungs, I want to show them that they made a good choice by giving me these lungs and I’m not going to prove them wrong,” he said.
Gruhn exercises and walks frequently. He’s also ready to travel across the country.
