Every day is a bonus for Alison Conklin

Alison Conklin was just 42 when her doctor told her she had six months to live unless she got a heart transplant. 

She decided to undergo the surgery, and the only item she brought to the hospital was her camera.

After surviving a heart transplant, Conklin realized there wasn’t a space that showed the hopeful, honest side of life after a major diagnosis. In an effort to change that narrative, she created Bonus Days Magazine, a publication dedicated to telling real people’s stories about life and navigating illness. 

Conklin was born in Pittsburgh and moved to the Lehigh Valley when she was around 10 years old.

She said at 13, she was diagnosed with the same heart condition her mom had: hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. 

“I was playing floor hockey, and I passed out in the middle of it,” Conklin said. “The school called my mom, and she picked me up and took me to the cardiologist, and I was diagnosed with HCM. Basically, what he said was ‘You have the same heart as your mom.’” 

According to the American Heart Association, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a chronic and often inherited type of heart disease that causes the walls of the heart chamber to become thicker than normal, reducing the amount of blood taken in and pumped out to the body.

Conklin said her life changed at the moment of her diagnosis, as she was suddenly put on medications, had a team of specialists, went through medical testing and had to wear a heart monitor. 

Five months later, Conklin said she was in the kitchen with her mother when she suddenly collapsed and died at the age of 42. She said she tried to give her mom CPR, called her dad at work and called 911, but her mother had suffered sudden cardiac death from her condition. 

“She was 42 when she passed, and I had just been diagnosed with the same thing that I literally watched her die from, and I always just assumed I was going to die at 42,” she said. 

Conklin said it felt her entire childhood ended that summer. 

Along with grieving the loss of her mother, she said she found it hard to relate to anyone her age because of her heart condition, which made her feel isolated. While her peers worried about homework and relationships, she said she was worried about staying alive. 

“I tried not to make it my personality, but I was pulled from sports,” Conklin said. “I wasn’t allowed to be involved in anything. Suddenly, within a day, I can’t do anything that I really love to do anymore.”

She said as she continued to live with the condition, she went through surgeries, including multiple ablations and catheterizations. She said she even had a defibrillator, which saved her life a few times. 

She also had open heart surgery in 2018 to shave down her septum. She said besides her family, she didn’t feel like she had a community during that time. 

Growing up, her chemist parents did photography as a hobby. Conklin said they would transform their bathrooms into dark rooms to develop film and look at negatives. 

She said she was creating her mother’s memorial wall when her dad gave her a box of negatives and prints he had accumulated over their relationship — many of which Conklin had never seen before. 

“I just really fell in love with how powerful photography was,” Conklin said. “I think it was that idea that I was never going to see my mom again, but I had this — her history and these images, and I fell in love with all of it.” 

The box was full of black and white candids of her mother, and she said it was touching to see the details the camera picked up of her crinkling eyes as she was mid-laugh. 

She said her dad also passed down her mom’s old camera and taught her how to develop film. 

Conklin said she joined the yearbook at her high school in 10th grade and shot her friends’ senior photos. By the time she was 18, she started her own business, and now, she’s been a professional photographer for over two decades. 

However, in July of 2022, at the same age her mother was when she passed away, Conklin was told she needed a heart transplant. She said the transplant process isn’t straightforward, as she had to be evaluated and placed on a waiting list. 

She said the process was further complicated, as she needed a donor with the same blood type and an organ that fit her chest cavity. 

In October 2022, her condition worsened, and she was officially put on the waitlist. By October 18 of that year, she received her new heart. 

Throughout this time in her life, she said she used photos to express what her words couldn’t. 

Conklin said she spent most of her time doom-scrolling on social media while in the hospital, wondering if she would ever be able to travel or live a normal life again. 

“I was just looking at everyone else’s highlight reel, watching them live their life,” she said. “And I’m stuck within these four walls thinking, ‘Am I going to be able to leave this hospital?’” 

After staring at countless magazines in waiting rooms, Conklin said she was inspired to create her own. She said she wanted to facilitate a creative space where patients in situations like hers could feel hopeful by showing people they can still have a beautiful life. 

She said she made it happen by loving photography, working closely with Lehigh Valley Style magazine and using her prior experience of working with national magazines. 

“You can step away from your phone for a second and find people that have experiences like yours and scars that look like yours and understand what it means to be an eternal patient,” Conklin said. “I mean, there’s a real gift in that, and clearly I’m not the only person craving it.”

The print magazines are available on the Bonus Days website, and Conklin said many hospitals and researchers have been buying copies in bulk. 

She said Penn Medical, the University of Pennsylvania and New York University are among some of the large medical organizations to buy copies of the third issue. She also got her first big advertisement from a pharmaceutical company for the fourth issue and said the magazine is slowly but surely growing. 

Conklin said she reached out to Taylor Van Kooten, a graphic designer and former colleague from Lehigh Valley Style magazine, to help with her new business venture. She also recruited Shelbi Stoneback to serve as a copy editor. 

Van Kooten said when Conklin approached her about the print magazine, she didn’t even need to hear all the details. 

“I said yes immediately,” Van Kooten said. “I love working with Alison. She’s incredible. And also celebrating her journey and all of the transplant recipient stories that we feature, being able to be part of that in any capacity was a complete and total yes for me.”

She said she hopes to have these print magazines in hospitals and transplant units across the world, and have people hold them and read them while they’re waiting for hours in the hospital. 

She also said she wants the magazine to feel like a lifestyle magazine and not sterile, like a medical journal. 

“I know everyone says print is dying, but I really think there’s still such a place for a real print magazine that you can touch and feel and hold and page through,” Van Kooten said. 

Throughout this journey, Van Kooten said she has gained a new appreciation for life and has found the stories to be inspiring.

The first issue of Bonus Days Magazine highlighted Caroline Laubach. At 21 years old, Laubach is pursuing a degree in nutrition at Cedar Crest College and lives in the Macungie area.

After surviving a heart transplant, Laubach said she began posting on her Instagram to raise awareness about organ donation, cancer and living with a disability. She said she was able to connect with Conklin through an old photography teacher. 

Since it was the magazine’s first issue, Laubach said Conklin didn’t have much to show her, but she promised her it wasn’t a scam and said she wanted to highlight people who have chronic illnesses and transplant patients. 

Laubach said Conklin told her about the idea of having the magazine available in hospital waiting rooms and transplant offices so patients could read about people who have gone through similar procedures. With no magazine quite like it, Laubach said she loved the idea and agreed to the photo shoot

“This magazine kind of gives you a window into that life that you can have after transplant — it’s beautiful, forgiving and hard sometimes but worth it in every way,” she said.