Columns

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…

I have been in a huge rut for quite a while due to my health. I think people often have the perception that I’m always positive and happy. It’s probably because I often take a step back or hide when I’m not feeling so happy.

We all play different roles in our lives: We are friends, children, siblings, parents, cousins, employees, and more. In each of these roles, we assume the jargon of that role when we talk in those environments. In our workplaces, we may use the scientific, technical, or specific jargon…

I wish my life was a Cameron Crowe movie. If it were, then after I left my doctor’s appointment this morning, things would have gone differently. If my life was a movie, my nurse would have been a kindly but…