Columns

Sometimes it seems as if everyone knows what they would do in your shoes, and they are happy to tell you so. “If I were you,” they might say, “I wouldn’t even bother with college. I’d just travel the world. College takes up too much…

Based on the stringent qualifications the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation uses to determine who has cystic fibrosis, approximately 70,000 people currently have CF worldwide. That includes 30,000-35,000 in the United States. In this broad population, many subpopulations fit neatly into the CFF’s qualifications. Others do not. As much as we…

Reader, I am tired. I don’t need to explain how that feels to those who have cystic fibrosis (CF), but for the benefit of others, I will. It’s a kind of tiredness that halves my normal walking pace. It leaves me reaching for words…

Our society places great emphasis on success through careers. Whenever we meet a stranger, one of the first questions we ask is, “What do you do?” I feel this pressure despite my awareness that my illness makes it difficult even to predict what the next few months might bring. The…

“Up, up, up!” my 1-year-old said to me the other day with both hands reaching to the sky. I was having a really bad day, and I was tired and achy from long coughing attacks and chronic pain. “Mommy can’t right now, buddy,” I said. The letdown on his face…

I have a productivity complex: I feel like if I’m not being productive, I’m wasting my time. And yet, whenever I accomplish something, I don’t bask in the enjoyment of accomplishing that thing. Instead, I’m worried about the next thing I need to accomplish. The to-do list of…

I am becoming a supermodel. OK, not really. But, perhaps I can pretend? I’m traveling to New York with my daughter to take part in a beauty campaign for a company I’m passionate about. The reason I love them is that they…

I’ve spent most of my life hearing that the cure for cystic fibrosis is just around the corner. Just wait a few more years, they keep saying, and it’s going to be right there. Then a few years passed, and a few more, and the cure seemed…

I’ve written recently about getting more feedback and input from the CF community for this column. I love sharing my journey with you, but I’m only one person. Through this column, it’s my ambition to start some big conversations on the impact the CF community is…

A dad at the church I attend came up to me and said his newborn daughter had been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. He looked tired; his motivation for telling me was mostly to ensure that the situation wouldn’t be a cross-infection problem (it isn’t yet, due to…