Burnout, Bumps, and Bruises: Learning to Accept My Chronic Illnesses
I’m just going to come right out and say it: I don’t want to write about being chronically ill this week. Specifically, I don’t want to be chronically ill this week. I know…
Advocacy and Abnormality
— Kristin Entler
Kristin Entler was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at 6 months old, and first came out as LGBT+ several years after her diabetes diagnosis at 12 years old. She currently serves as poetry editor for NELLE, as access coordinator for Open Mouth Literary Center, and lives with her service-dog, Azzie, whose name is short for the Greek god of medicine. Entler can be found on most social media platforms @findmycure. She hopes her column “Advocacy and Abnormality” is a space for inclusion and solidarity for anyone living in a body that is often seen or treated as different.
Featured Post
The constant risk-benefit analysis that accompanies life with CF
I was lucky to grow up with a lake in my backyard. On quiet mornings, the water would lap a steady drumbeat against the seawall. Yet despite being raised next to a body of…
Read more
Getting a Port Taught Me the Importance of Autonomy
At my pediatric pulmonologist’s office, an anatomical diagram of lungs in the silhouette of a child, complete with labeled cross-sections of bronchi and cilia, hung on the back of each clinic room’s door alongside…
Using the Past to Choose Hope for the Future
About 10 years ago, I interviewed my pulmonologist for a speech class I was taking. I asked him if he thought there’d ever be a cure for cystic fibrosis. He responded with an emphatic…
Coping Tips for the Tail End of a COVID-19 Winter
It doesn’t snow much here in my home state of Alabama. It’ll just get cold enough to shock the system with wildly fluctuating temperatures. It gets warm in February, and the flowers will think…
Person-first Language Doesn’t Always Matter
“Do people with cystic fibrosis really call themselves ‘CFers’?” a friend once asked. “Some do, some don’t.” I told her about the shorthand terms I’ve seen used in the community, such as…
It’s Not Inevitable That Everyone Will Get COVID-19
Every time I tune into the local or national news, I see another story claiming that everyone will either get or be exposed to COVID-19. And over the holiday break,…
Making Plans Amid an Uncertain Future
With the new year looming around the corner, and my school semester crawling to a close, I want to set my sights on all the things I’d like to do next year…
It’s Hard to Get Into the Spirit of the Holidays
This week, the university I both attend and teach at returns from Thanksgiving break, and I’m coming to terms with the realization that I’m afraid of the coming holiday season. This isn’t a new…
The Pros and Cons of Disclosing My Disability
I don’t remember why I said what I said to the little girl I had just met on the playground. “I have something called cystic fibrosis.” Maybe I was coughing or short of breath.
My Disabilities Grant Me Accommodations, but Give Me Guilt
While the world could be more accommodating to people with disabilities, I’ll admit I feel guilty that I’m allowed to register for my college classes 48 hours before my nondisabled peers. This priority…
I’m Learning to Accept My Body’s Sleep Cycle
“Do all my friends hate me? Or do I just need to get some sleep?” Stand-up comedian John Mulaney’s punchline cuts through the hum of nearby tree frogs. The light from the TV casts…
Returning to the Clinic Means Lung Test Anxiety Again
Through the sliding glass doors and down the stairs of the medical plaza, the midday news played — muted, but with captions running — on the TV mounted across from the reception desk. The…
Your CF Community
Visit the Cystic Fibrosis News Today forums to connect with others in the CF community.
