Living Beyond — Jennifer Cogliano

First in a series. There is no cure for cystic fibrosis (CF). This is not a controversial statement. It is not debated in the medical literature or disputed in transplant centers. Everyone in this community knows it in their bones. I say that literally, as CF-related bone disease…

Five years ago, I got the call. If you’re in the cystic fibrosis (CF) community and have had a double-lung transplant, you know the weight of those words. You know how the terror and the relief collapse into a single moment after you hang up the phone. You…

When my daughter started elementary school, I wasn’t looking for help. I was just another mom on the sidelines of a soccer field, handing out snacks at birthday parties, and setting up carpool schedules. But in the routine of those early school years, something special grew — a community I…

At 54, I’ve lived with cystic fibrosis (CF) all my life. Five years ago, I survived a double-lung transplant. Along the way, I’ve managed CF-related diabetes (CFRD) and spent nearly two decades facing stage 3 chronic kidney disease. I’ve lost one kidney and rely on the remaining one. It…

Five and a half years ago, I woke up from a double-lung transplant breathing as I hadn’t been able to in decades. Not just the volume or ease of it, but the absence of the fight that I’d become used to with cystic fibrosis (CF). The lungs just worked.

Five and a half years ago, I received the gift of a lifetime: a double-lung transplant that gave me back my breath and, in many ways, my life. After decades of fighting cystic fibrosis (CF), I finally felt free. And then reality set in. Nobody tells you that a…

February has always been a complicated month for me. The holidays are over, spring feels impossibly far away, and here in the Northeast, the gray skies and frigid temperatures seem to stretch on endlessly. And with cold and flu season raging, this time of year presents its own unique challenges…

I never thought I’d make it to menopause. When I was growing up with cystic fibrosis (CF), living beyond young adulthood felt ambitious. Living to my mid-50s? That was science fiction. Yet here I am, facing hot flashes, brain fog, and sleepless nights — symptoms my CF care team…

As I write this, a large snowstorm is rolling over several states, and the forecast here is for accumulating snow in that relentless way that shuts down everything and has people rushing to the grocery stores to stock up. I am reminded of another storm, 30 years ago — the…

Because of my cystic fibrosis (CF) and double-lung transplant, I receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). When I got my statement last month, my stomach dropped. With the cost-of-living adjustment, my monthly benefit had increased slightly. Sounds like good news, right? However, that increase pushed me just over…

Every January, society seems to insist that we reinvent ourselves. The new year calls for a new you, new goals, fresh starts, and clean slates. The message is always the same: You’re not enough as you are, and your goals aren’t ambitious enough. While sitting on my meditation cushion this…