Brad Dell,  —

When I first met my lung transplant surgeon, she remarked that cystic fibrosis patients have a great post-transplant life expectancy because we tend to be best prepared for it. We know how to shovel pills by the handful into our mouths two to three times a day.

Military hospitals handled most of my cystic fibrosis (CF) care. Many members of the military worship pain (“Get some! Rub some dirt in it, hooah!”), and assume you do, too. CFers inevitably encounter intense pain throughout the treatment of their disease.

Kathleen belaying Brad as he climbs. Not quite near the top yet. (Courtesy of Kathleen Sheffer) There are times I feel especially mortal. Such as when I’m feet from the top of a rock climbing wall, and I realize I’m relying on a single rope…

James and Charles Dunlop had already done plenty for the cystic fibrosis community as the founders of Ambry Genetics. Their diagnostics company was the first to do a full CF gene analysis that looked at the entire CFTR gene in 2001, which includes about 1,300 known mutations. The brothers…

Second in a two-part series about the role of anger in a CFer’s life. Last week, I wrote about a lifetime of anger because of cystic fibrosis. The fury boiled over during an episode of ICU psychosis and septic shock. I finally…

Dr. Gwen A. Huitt is an infectious disease doctor at National Jewish Health with a special interest in mycobacteria, bronchiectasis, and cystic fibrosis. Here, she talks to us about the hidden dangers of a major medical issue she feels doesn’t receive the attention it needs in the CF community…

Hanging from the wall of Vertex Pharmaceutical’s Boston office is a massive set of sculpted lungs — pink and red, branching out with wide airways. The sculpture (made of foam, corrugated plastic, and glitter) is titled “I Want More Air!” As creators of game-changing CF drugs Kalydeco and…

First in a two-part series about the role of anger in a CFer’s life. Life as a child with cystic fibrosis was grueling. I had frightening surgeries, hours of treatments each day, a cluster of never-ending infections ravaging my lungs and digestive system, and…

Cystic fibrosis care has seen such rapid advances that the average CF patient has likely seen a dramatic evolution in treatment strategies in their lifetime. Here are some of the biggest milestones that shaped modern-day CF treatments. (Dates are when these therapies and ideas were adopted. Many are no longer…

Emily Lyons hasn’t stopped thinking about her sister Julia since she passed away from cystic fibrosis in 2011 — and she doesn’t want to. So, she created JWLS, a timepiece company with a set of lungs as its logo. Emily donates a portion of proceeds from watch sales…