Michael Love's Transplant Story

Michael Love worked over twenty years as a pipe fitter. He’s also a “foodie,” serving his signature corned beef for friends by request. He considers himself a “softie” and a “people person” always prioritizing care for others in need. A life-long “car fanatic,” Michael remembers knowing every make and model on the road as a child.

One day, Michael found himself having some trouble breathing. As an ex-smoker, he thought it might just be part of some “healing process.” Yet, challenges with breathing persisted. Eventually, a lack of energy drove him to the Emergency Department at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital. The next day, Jeffrey Jennings, M.D., delivered his diagnosis of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, and without a lung transplant he’d live for only two more years. “That was a lot of information to process - I had never heard of a lung transplant.” Michael recalled. Michael continued to work and traveled extensively. “I discovered at the time that I also had allergies and sinus issues, so I blamed all my problems on that, unable to accept that I needed a lung transplant. Eventually, it just got too difficult to do anything… I couldn’t walk… The effort was just too great, and I was too short of breath.” Michael shares that his reality check came when the tanks of oxygen were delivered to his home, “They brought me 10 or 12 big tanks that had to be moved around on a cart. All I could do was pray – Lord help me get through this.” At that point, Michael completed his transplant evaluation and was placed on the waiting list for new lungs.

His transplant surgery was very successful, and within six months he was back to work. Not long after, he had double pneumonia and it damaged his lungs to the point a second transplant was required. This one was not as simple, but Michael continued through a variety of complications including post-anesthesia reactions and an esophageal infection. With the help of his Henry Ford team, Michael fully recovered and over time regained his strength and moved on to a “new normal.”

Home and retired from pipe fitting, he now mentors other lung transplant patients, and volunteers with Henry Ford’s Transplant Living Community, offering support and lifestyle education to patients and their families. Michael describes his style as “a little witty, a little sarcastic and a little comedic.” His goal is to “break the tension and get you to understand what’s going on without offending you… person to person, patient to patient. My heart goes out to anyone in that situation because I’ve been there… And if there’s anything I can do to help you, I’m gonna do it.”

Regarding Henry Ford, Michael says, “I love my transplant family. I love them because this is more than just a job to them, it’s a lifestyle.” Highlighting his transplant surgeon, Lisa Allenspach, M.D., and his pulmonologist, Lisa Stagner, M.D., he makes clear, “They’re as concerned about me as I am about myself.”