Trumpet Triumph: Chicago Symphony Orchestra worker's inspiring comeback

CHICAGO - The music almost stopped completely for a Chicago Symphony Orchestra employee. 

He was diagnosed with a lung condition that made playing his beloved trumpet impossible. 

However, a double lung transplant now has him singing a different tune. 

He was literally blowing away his doctor with this one, playing a tune for family and friends right from his hospital bed. 

That was the moment 64-year-old Dan Spees knew he was on the road to recovery.  

The first time he lifted his beloved trumpet to his lips in four months. 

"I am so pleased to have this option back because I thought it was gone," said Spees.

In 2018, the Lakewood native was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, or scarring of the lungs, caused by a rare immune disorder. 

"The force that is needed to play the trumpet is actually quite a lot, and it's surprising he was able to play the trumpet so soon, and honestly I'm not sure that I would have recommended him trying as early as he did to be completely frank," said Dr. Catherine Myers, Northwestern Medicine pulmonologist.

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As a Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association employee, music was in Spees' blood, and it soon became part of his therapy after a double lung transplant. 

"This is requiring the patient to really take those deep breaths in and the forceful exhales out through the mouth which is reintroducing the breathing pattern that we want our lung transplant patients in particular to utilize," said Brittany Hatlestad, Northwestern Medicine occupational therapist.

After a rendition of Joy to the World and a standing ovation, Spees hugged his wife and texted his band director to expect him back in the first chair by January. 

"I didn't realize how hard it was for me to breathe until it’s not. So, it’s total, total change. I feel 15 to 20 years younger," said Spees.

Spees says he's still a long way from where he wants to be, but now, he knows he's going to make it.