Monday Profile: Alanna Ambrosio

Alanna Ambrosio is not your average 20-year-old. On the surface it may seem so; she graduated from Whitman High School in 2010, and now lives in South Huntington with her parents, sister and two cats named Bridget and Anya. However, Ambrosio is one of only about 30 people per year who has undergone a very rare double lung transplant. Now two years after her surgery, she is thriving. Ambrosio told her story to Patch recently, in her own words:

Growing Up in Huntington

I have always lived in Huntington, the house we live in now was my dad’s house almost all his life. I found out I had Cystic Fibrosis when I was about 6 months old, and ever since then I was sick. In first grade I was in the hospital for one month, and got out the day before Christmas. I was always in and out of the hospital, and on IV meds. South Huntington [school district] was very good about it, they always gave me a tutor, gave me extra help, and when I was absent my junior and senior year of high school, I couldn’t really breathe and was on oxygen 24/7, so they actually gave me my own personal tutors from Whitman to tutor me at home for the whole two years.

Getting the Transplant

I had the transplant at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital on Nov. 23, 2009. From the day I got the call to go to the hospital, I was under anesthesia for about four weeks, and don’t remember that — it was like a dream. The lungs came from a 10-year-old year old girl, and that little girl is my hero. I was in the hospital for three and a half months afterwards. I couldn’t walk well for about a year, so had physical therapy. It was tough, but I graduated on time with my class, and now I am doing amazing — I go to Zumba five days a week and in November I’m getting certified to be a Zumba instructor in Syosset.

Post-Transplant Life

Before having my transplant, I couldn’t do anything, I never wanted to leave the house, I could never keep up with my friends, I couldn’t breathe and I was always coughing. Since I had the transplant, it’s a thousand times better. I can run around, I can do everything — sometimes I’m ahead of my friends, my family ... it’s a second chance on life. It’s just a whole new world. You don’t have to spend an hour and a half in the mornings and evenings with nebulizers or anything, I just take my pills at night, and that’s it.

On Huntington

I like living here because I’m close to the village and Heckscher Park, but also because I’m close to Walt Whitman Mall, I’m just one minute away, and I love shopping! For fun, I like to hang out with my friends, we usually go out to dinner to Huntington Village, and walk around, stuff like that. My favorite place to eat in the village is Munday’s.

Summer Fun

This summer I went out to Montauk, and then I worked at the YMCA camp in the mornings where I taught the three-year-olds, I had 27 of them! I also worked at Wolfie’s in Northport. I love working there, because I get to socialize with so many people, and I have an amazing boss!

Plans for the Future

I haven’t really decided yet — I keep going back and forth on going to school to be a nurse, but that means you’ll be in the medical field around sick people and that’s not always good when you’ve just had a transplant. I love little kids and would like to teach preschool, but also have to be careful there.

What People Should Know About CF

I would tell people that it’s not contagious, and just because someone is sick a lot, it doesn’t mean it changes who you are. I had a low immune system, people didn’t always understand that, besides my close friends. But since my transplant, I don’t have to tell people anything, because you wouldn’t even know. If I needed another transplant, 10 or 15 years from now, I would do it in a heartbeat, I wouldn’t even think about it.