Columns

What is cystic fibrosis (CF)? I get asked this question on the regular. My automatic response is: Please don’t search it online. No, really. Just don’t. I equate searching CF online to looking up your symptoms when you’re sick: Both typically result in death. (That’s dark humor.) But truly,…

Note: This column describes the author’s own experiences with steroid injections. Not everyone will have the same response to treatment. Consult your doctor before starting or stopping a therapy. Going in for injections is not that hot. (Photo by Bailey Anne Vincent) “Why do I do this every time?”…

“I want to have a baby girl with pink hair and a baby boy when I’m a mommy,” my daughter, Claire, boldly announced as I was cooking dinner the other night. She’s a lot like other 5-year-olds, dreaming of her baby dolls coming to life — except she has…

There’s a video buried deep in my phone’s memory from seven years ago. It shows me driving on the Blue Ridge Parkway in the summer, the leaves full and making a canopy of shade over the road. The moonroof on my Honda, the car I still drive today,…

During my three-year hiatus from my column, I endured the following: A cervical spine disk replacement, a sacroiliac (SI) joint fusion, a hip fracture, a second SI joint fusion (repair of the faulty first), a lower leg nerve decompression surgery, a surgery to replace a disk in my…

They say that the older you get, the faster time passes. At 53 years old, I completely agree. As I look back at the columns I’ve written in the past, I can’t believe we’re approaching the holiday season again. Don’t get me wrong — I’m thankful for it.

Since my double-lung transplant seven years ago, I’ve struggled with breathlessness during exercise. I was used to this symptom while living with cystic fibrosis (CF) lungs, but I didn’t expect to deal with it post-transplant. It’s been frustrating that I can’t use my healthy lungs in the capacity that…

My name is Bailey Anne Vincent, and I am still alive. Hi. It’s me. I’m the problem. (Courtesy of John LaBarbera Photography) Three years ago, I was a long-running columnist here at Cystic Fibrosis News Today, writing about what I like to call “anyone who isn’t genetically…

A pod of pelicans flies over my head, then out over the ocean waves, where they skim the surface of the water. One in the middle of the mass pumps its wings, and the formation follows suit like a ripple effect in both directions. I’m struck by the gracefulness it…

Many of the thoughts that cross my mind daily are specific to cystic fibrosis (CF). Recently, I’ve recognized that they’re not things that most people, including my family and healthy peers, have to think about. I’m not upset that the following topics are frequently on my mind. It’s just…