Kadi Hodges doesn’t seem to take the simple things in life for granted. She just wants to be like other teens and be able to run, swim and say a blessing without struggling for breath.

Now that she’s had a double lung transplant, her wishes may come true.

Kadi is the 17-year-old daughter of Dennis and Connie Hodges and the sister of Teryn, 18, and D.J., 6, all of Bryan County. Kadi was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis when she was 6 months old.

She is currently undergoing intense physical therapy at Duke University Hospital’s pulmonary rehabilitation facility in Durham, N.C.

"She has 23 sessions to do before she can go home," said Connie Hodges. "It’s four hours of physical therapy a day. And you have to go for the full four hours. If you don’t, it doesn’t count."

Hodges anticipates her daughter will come home the end of January or early February, 2010.

Kadi’s mother said her daughter finally received her new lungs on Dec. 9, after having been placed on an active organ recipient waiting list for two months.

"Kadi had six dry runs before she got her set of lungs," Hodges said. She explained the hospital would call and say the lungs were available for transplant and then prep Kadi for surgery.

"Then they would find the lungs wouldn’t work out; either they weren’t a good match or they were too large," Kadi’s mother said.

See more in Bryan County News.