Columns

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 yes; not only did he believe there’d be a cure, he believed we’d both live to…

‘You’re Wonderful’: How Society Labels CF Patients

“Is one a crusader or ruthless invader?/ It’s all in which label is able to persist.” That’s one of my favorite lines from “Wonderful,” a lesser-known song in the Broadway smash “Wicked.” I was recently reminded of this song when one of my best friends, a fellow cystic fibrosis…

Stories Form My Identity, and I Crave My Truest Identity

There’s a person I really like. (I’m her boyfriend, it’s nice.) And when I really like someone, I drop my defenses. We were discussing the building blocks of our identity, and I realized mine mostly derive from cystic fibrosis, deafness, and lung transplant. I wondered what it would look like…

I’m Grateful for the Rare Gift of Empathy

Living with cystic fibrosis and undergoing a double-lung transplant have had profound effects on my character. I’ve been graced with the ability to dig deep amid pain and suffering and find golden nuggets of wisdom. The rarest attribute I’ve developed on my health journey has been a deep level…

‘Strangers Like Me’: An Open Letter to the CF Community

Movie musicals are the hottest trend in the musical theater community right now. “Dear Evan Hansen” and “Tick, Tick… Boom!” are just two of the adaptations, and it’s rumored that “Tarzan” is the next show to move from stage back to the big screen. Fans of the 1999 animated Disney…

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 about blooming; in fact, my mom’s daffodils are blooming right now. But with the vernal equinox…

‘Her Voice’: How Cystic Fibrosis Affects Vocals

“Her Voice” from Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” is one of the most beautiful songs. In the Broadway show it was sung by Sean Palmer as Prince Eric, and his voice hits me right in the hormones: “And her voice It’s sweet as angels sighing And her voice…

The Importance of Celebrating National Donor Day

I didn’t know how impactful organ donation was until it personally affected my life. I first learned the details of it through my evaluation for a double lung transplant. Since that surgery four years ago, I’ve frequently witnessed the impact the process has on both the recipient and the donors’…

Sometimes It’s Best Just to Listen

I guess I would say I am a problem solver by nature. When it comes to my loved ones, I am more so. I am protective, perhaps overly so! When I hear loved ones complain about a problem in their lives, a little voice inside my head says, “You need…