BOBÌåÓý

After eight years and one long-awaited wedding to his best friend, Charlie Welborn will celebrate Valentine’s Day feeling like an extremely lucky man.

Now 76, Welborn has been receiving expert care at BOBÌåÓý since 2017 as part of a dedicated effort to manage his pulmonary fibrosis â€� a progressive condition with no known cause or cure.

Over seven-and-a-half years, his treatment included a respiratory therapy technique called oscillatory positive expiratory pressure, or OPEP, which uses a handheld device that vibrates his chest to clear his lungs. The treatment slows the condition and its pneumonia-like symptoms: chills, fever and breathing issues. There is no cure.

In 2024, his health declined, and he had to use an oxygen tank around the clock. His condition grew worse in October. By December, he needed a lung transplant.

Throughout a year that would test even the strongest person, Charlie’s long-time girlfriend, Dianne Welborn, was there. For all the clinic visits, for the lung transplant in December, and for every post-procedure treatment.

The couple met in 1997 when Dianne began working for Charlie’s company, and they now live in Lake Wales. They started dating in 2013 and had wanted to wed for years, but Charlie’s health issues kept sidelining their plans.

After 12 years together, they decided to marry in October 2024 because Charlie’s health seemed to be declining, and his Medicare out-of-pocket cost decreased, giving them a little more financial security.

Initially, they had hoped for a wedding with all the bells, whistles, family and friends. They called their pastor to get things rolling, but knowing that Charlie’s time might be short, he advised that a church wedding might take longer.

With his condition worsening, Charlie and Dianne didn’t know how much time they would have, so they opted for a simple courthouse wedding. They were married within a week.

In December, Welborn’s name was added to the transplant list, on the same day they found a lung for him. The craziest thing: just one day later he walked into the hospital and received his lung.

“It was like, wow, what a blessing,� she said. “Truly a blessing in such a short amount of time.�

After the transplant, Charlie felt weaker, as one does after intense surgery. However, he also felt strong because “I had my family, friends and Dianne by my side.�

He still has a lot of physical and emotional work ahead for his recovery.

Charlie left the hospital in early January, almost a month after his surgery, but had to return to the clinic because of an infection caused by his body rejecting a medication. He is under supervision in Gainesville until April. Dianne logs a lot of time and miles on the road between Gainesville and Lake Wales, and she visits Charlie every Thursday through Sunday.

Charlie and Dianne say they are tremendously grateful for the lung and the wedding.

“Be prepared for the ups and downs because you just never know,� Dianne said.

“Have a support team and work hard,� Charlie chimed in.

Within two months, they had gotten “double blessings,� Dianne said. They said they feel closer to one another and are excited for the future.

The couple is planning a big, joyful wedding reception at their church. When they’re not thinking about wedding plans, they enjoy other things they’ve long waited for the freedom to do, like introducing each other to shows they grew up watching or traveling to visit their kids who live out of state.

“Now, we plan to live,� Charlie said.