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Mental health struggles often co-occur with chronic illnesses. This was true for me while living with cystic fibrosis, and still is, four years after my double-lung transplant. I’ve struggled with anxiety and depression my whole life, and in recent years, I’ve dealt with post-traumatic stress. Awareness is helpful,…

My biggest fear as a child was being a burden to friends and family due to my cystic fibrosis (CF). I spent my life avoiding this label by being overly cooperative and tolerant. In short, I was the kid you didn’t have to worry about. Ironically, everyone should…

The Broadway musical “Newsies” chronicles the true story of the New York newsboys’ strike of 1899. In the song “Watch What Happens,” Katherine, a journalist, scans through a selection of newsworthy headlines. The lyrics open with, “Write what you know,” a piece of advice all writers have been given.

My mom has always said that “in adversity there is blessing.” For Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month I wanted to share the golden nuggets of wisdom I’ve been blessed to learn while living with cystic fibrosis (CF). Even though it’s been four years since I had a double-lung…

The song “When I Grow Up” helps open the second act of “Matilda the Musical.” The show, which ran on Broadway, is based on the book by Roald Dahl and includes a handful of dark plot devices that the 1996 fantasy-comedy film version does not. The children of Miss…

I’m beginning to rethink the sources of my fatigue. Yes, sickness and physical activity are still real sources of exhaustion, but I’m realizing I’ve neglected a deeper flavor of struggle.   Many of us sick folk are familiar with the “spoon theory.” The analogy goes…

“Welcome to the Renaissance” is the opening number of a musical comedy I discovered in 2019 called “Something Rotten!” The show follows the Bottom brothers through the development of a new play and addresses the plagiarism that some historians believe Shakespeare was guilty of. The musical, set in 1595,…

The world demands my constant attention. Everything that comes across my news feed is presented as an emergency. The pressure to know the latest and greatest is at an all-time high. That doesn’t help my stress levels, though. It only adds to the growing list of issues I already have…

Burnout. Everyone knows the feeling, especially patients and their advocates. My burnout stems from the ongoing pandemic and the harsh contrast between government mandates and doctor advice. It stems from the quantity and quality of advocacy that I choose to post on social media every day, an activity…

A few weeks ago, I started writing about the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director’s ableist comment, in which she claimed that masks are the “scarlet letter” of the pandemic. But something about burnout or writer’s block kept me from getting the words in by my…