Columns

“Intense.” That was the word our friend used to describe our daughter’s daily cystic fibrosis (CF) care routine. We were on the last day of a weeklong group vacation, spending every waking moment together. Prior to this trip, the only people who were familiar with the intricacies of our…

“Want to go for a ride in the car?” I ask my Australian shepherd and poodle mix, Azzie. It’s been a few months since I last trimmed his fur, so it’s grown out to the length that makes him look like a fuzzy Muppet. He wags his tail and pants…

My lung health has been on my mind my whole life. I’m constantly assessing potential environmental risks, my breathing, and what I can do to improve my lungs. Living with cystic fibrosis (CF) taught me to think about every breath. Five years of life after my double-lung transplant…

I want a tattoo, and my desire began with a scar. I touched on this subject in my column “Learning to Embrace My Poor Unfortunate Holes.” I wrote about my scars, the story behind each of them, and how I’ve grown to love them. However, I want to dive…

I don’t know about you, but I constantly sweat the small stuff. It’s probably not healthy and makes me come across as a control freak. If left in my hands, I do my best to be punctual. I get irritated, with physical effects, if I’m late. Sometimes, when life puts…

My two best friends love to wake me up every day around 6 a.m. They’re hungry and a little thirsty from a good night’s sleep. They’ll hang around in the kitchen and wait for me to give them their breakfast, and when they’re done, they both have to go to…

Recently, I found myself unintentionally listening in on a phone conversation between two family members. They were talking about a sudden death, an emotional subject. But the tone of their conversation was rigid, with information relayed in brisk staccato. They were talking, but I wondered, were they connecting? Did this…

Knowing my life expectancy due to cystic fibrosis (CF) used to play tricks on my mind. Who am I kidding? It still does sometimes. For the first several years of my life, CF was known as a childhood disease because many people didn’t live into adulthood. With…

I’m always nervous about diving back into work after being out of commission. In this case, I’m referring to the monthlong hiatus I took from writing this column. I was hesitant to pause my writing for Cystic Fibrosis News Today. What if I disappoint my editors or my audience? Even…

This past March, I found myself in Baltimore to get my nose swabbed. “Isn’t that a little out of the way for a COVID-19 test? You’re from New Jersey. Baltimore is hours away!” Well, I can assure you that it wasn’t a COVID-19 test, nor a regular nose swab. In…