In February 1992 Todd and Coby Gent went to UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, so Coby could be evaluated for, and hopefully have, a double-lung transplant. Transplants were a new way to prolong the lives of cystic fibrosis patients, and this major surgery was Coby’s only hope for living beyond his twelve years.

Todd, Coby’s dad, kept a journal from day one of the Gent family’s journey from borrowed lungs to new life. The journals include other patients from all over the country awaiting transplants. Coby, at twelve, was the youngest among others in their twenties, thirties, and forties. Tricia and Casey, Todd’s wife and daughter, respectively, remained in their hometown of Wylie, Texas, and traveled back and forth to North Carolina during the transplant process.

Todd Gent had not read these journals since he wrote them in 1992, but his daughter brought them out in order to publish them by the thirtieth anniversary of Coby’s double-lung transplant. The journals prove that Coby made it count.