Dear Oprah

Dear Oprah,

I just want you to know that you saved my life. I am sure that you get thousands and thousands of letters telling you the same thing. It's absolutely true in my case. Without you, without your platform, without your show, I wouldn't be here. I've always admired you and never realized how far your reach actually was until it affected my life. 

In 1997 I was given one year to live due to a terminal illness called sarcoidosis of the heart. My children were four and one, I had no idea how to deal with it. At the time, I had planned my funeral and was slipping slowly into a deep depression. One day, I mustered up the will to go and sit on the couch. I was watching your show with Karen Duffy (who also has sarcoidosis,) and that show gave me hope, the way she spoke and explained, gave me the will to live. It put a fire in my belly that began a fight that I can't even begin to explain to you. I eventually found a doctor through your show and the Karen Duffy Sarcoidosis Foundation, who saved my life. I'm now the longest-living documented patient in North America.

I'm not sure if you understand the magnitude of what a simple person has gotten from your show. I fought for the time to be a mother to my children and to be a grandmother. Thank you is not enough. You are a remarkable woman who touches so many lives, and for me, without the episode, I would not be here. I was diagnosed at 26, and in March 2020, I celebrated my 50th birthday. I have lived every day to the fullest, and although it may sound crazy, your show was the turning point for me. It was the point where I stopped planning to die and started living.

So from myself, my children, my family, everyone who has been a part of this journey, thank you.

Love and well wishes, 

Kelly Wilson