Episode 58: Jackie Bessette – Embrace the Mess and Find the Beautiful

Today’s guest is a warrior, sister, mother, wife, Cystic Fibrosis advocate, community builder, and a courageous inspiration to so many.  Jackie Bessette shares her beautiful and messy journey of being the spouse to someone with Cystic Fibrosis. In this episode, she walks through what it’s like to go through two double lung transplants, birthing her baby with her husband on FaceTime and not in the hospital room, what it’s like to “live with the disease” and be faced with challenging discussions around mortality, and how to make lots of plan Bs with grace, humor, and faith.  Jackie is vulnerable, real, hilarious, brave, and should be teaching a course on marriage.  She is light in this world and will inspire you with her courage and how she tackles life! What we talked about: 2:30- Introduction to how Kristin and Jackie met 4:30- How Jackie met her husband 8:10- What Cystic Fibrosis is, her husband’s journey with Cystic Fibrosis and how it has impacted her life 19:30- The lung transplant process as her husband had two lung transplants 25:40- The strains on a relationship when going through a transplant 38:00- Different stages in his recovery from the lung transplant, their decision to get pregnant, and the journey of going through a second lung transplant 1:01:10- End of podcast questions   Show Notes: Have A Little Faith in We If Only You Know by Jamie Ivey Cystic Fibrosis Foundation O’Connell Superdance Follow The Illuminate Podcast Illuminate on Instagram Illuminate on Twitter Illuminate on Facebook