In early December 1999, I became seriously ill and was hospitalised just after returning from Japan where I attended the funeral of my Japanese parents.

At first everyone, including my doctors and family thought I was suffering from severe bronchial pneumonia due to the stress of my parents passing away. However, after various CT scans and a biopsy operation, I was diagnosed with LAM (lymphangioleiomyomatosis) in January 2000. At that time the only treatment I received was an anti-estrogen injection each week for the next 12 months. During the 11 years since diagnosis, I have been in and out of hospital every 2-3 years, but more recently 2-3 times a year. I am now being assessed for the lung transplant list.

Born on 04 September 1948 in Tokyo, Japan, I met and married my Canadian husband there. We moved from Japan to Singapore where we lived for seven years, and our daughter, Monica, was born. We then moved to Australia and brought Monica up on the Gold Coast, where my husband and I continue to live. Monica is now 31 years old, married and recently gave birth to a gorgeous baby boy, Teddy.

I have always been slim, fit, and quite active - a keen tennis player, joined yoga classes, conducted my own business fulltime until recently, despite suffering throughout from LAM. Thinking back I always felt some breathlessness, but now it is much harder to catch my breath. I am now using oxygen at home 10-12 hours daily. Sadly I have not been able to fly on an airplane to see more of the world since I was diagnosed. But I have been painting my own borderless world in watercolour and oils on canvas.

Because we LAM patients don't know how many years, months, or days we can live, I have been pushing myself to do more and more and always challenging my limits. I am so grateful to continue enjoying my life almost like normal with great support from my doctors, my family and my friends.

Every day opens a brand new page - I breathe out negative air and breathe in fresh happiness and bright hope.