Columns

In many ways, I feel unqualified to write for a publication about cystic fibrosis. I was lucky enough to be born only as a CF carrier, while my younger brother, Brad, drew the short straw in the Punnett square game. Besides, my day-to-day life is no longer affected…

I have thin privilege. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: This is significant because only those who benefit from the system can help break the system — and it needs to be broken. “I saw a comment on Instagram where someone pointed out how sexist the concept…

It’s been a long time coming for me to write directly about my life with cystic fibrosis in a body that gives me no choice but to balance illness with society’s definition of a normal life. I am here, in part, to be honest, and to find connection within that…

Most cystic fibrosis (CF) patients are admitted to the hospital for “tuneups,” which are hospital stays meant for IV antibiotics and additional treatments. CF patients are known for having frequent respiratory infections, and tuneups are done either proactively or reactively, based on a patient’s needs. Some patients have more…

What you read here is a lie. I don’t always know what life looks like from the outside in, but I know that most of us can never tell what’s really going on in someone else’s. Even when we share a lot online. Even when we write a…

Prior to my double-lung transplant three years ago, becoming deathly sick allotted me time to slow down. I shifted my perspective to what I could do during this time. I focused my energy on what I could learn because I knew this season of opportunity wouldn’t last forever. The…

A funny female pediatrician named Dr. C diagnosed me at age 5. After years of Mom begging doctors to pay closer attention to my symptoms, she stumbled upon Dr. C’s existence when my regular pediatrician wasn’t available. After listening to my mother for a mere 20 minutes, Dr.

I didn’t write my column last week. It’s the first time I’ve missed a column in months. If I have a surgery or a conflict, I write ahead of time, because one of the best (and most challenging) things about working for a company run by sick people is…

“Everybody’s gross.” It’s a motto that I live by, as well as the opening number of my original musical comedy about a girl with cystic fibrosis, “Fall Risk.” Cystic fibrosis (CF) patients have an unfortunate amount of mucus that overwhelms our entire bodies. This leads to excessive…

Note: This column was updated Aug. 2, 2022, to reflect the column’s new name, “Lung, Scrappy, and Hungry.”  I was busy in June 2019. I had been evaluated for a double-lung transplant earlier that March at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) after a drastic decline in…