Columns

Winter 2016-17: Sabrina Santos We called each other twins. Sabrina, like me, was a nerdy, faithful, coffee-loving journalist. She also had cystic fibrosis, Mycobacterium abscessus, deafness, and an urgent need for lung transplantation. Unlike me, she was fearless. Sabrina wielded titanic power. Her radiant eyes could shatter…

“So right now we live on borrowed time, I don’t know how long or what is to come in the next few months.” My sister Alyssa posted this sentence in a Facebook update when we learned that no options remained for her chronic rejection after a second lung transplant.

“Ahhh, so lucky! Enjoy your vacation.” Many people thought hospitalizations were times to sit around and cruise the internet; get treated like royalty and served wine. (Nah, I only got rubbing alcohol.) The response was rarely, “I hope you feel better,” or, “Let me know if I can…

This weekend, my son, wearing a tiny crown and old man suspenders, blew out the candle on his birthday cake. It was beyond adorable and tugged at my mama-heart in the saddest way. The blown-out candles marked the end of my first year as a parent. As I’ve written before,…

I come from the generation of “Netflix and chill,” except for me, it wasn’t a sexual innuendo. My college life consisted mostly of watching Netflix and chilling; sitting on the couch with my girlfriend at the time, and binge-watching TV shows. I was known for being a successful…

I hear others say “I have CF. CF doesn’t have me.” This may be an accurate statement for some, the small percentage of patients who are not limited by this disease. Those who climb mountain peaks, work 60 hours a week, and raise three children. They could say…

I’ve been in sticky situations with dude doctors. With many male doctors, it’s a CF battle. We’re overcome by politics and competition; tackling for command and barking orders at each other. Yes, it’s mutual because I’m a stubborn dude, too. That said, I’ve had some incredible docs who…

We all need to stop picking our scabs. There’s something so simple and satisfying about it: carefully removing that which is crusty and dead, seeing what fleshy colors lie beneath. It’s carnal and human, albeit totally gross. But, if we’re bravely honest with ourselves, what other reasons might…

Cystic fibrosis requires a complex and time-consuming treatment plan beyond what many other chronic illnesses require. It’s important to identify the barriers to treatment adherence and find practical ways to address the issues. Forgetfulness We have all been there, the perplexing pause followed by the blank stare directed at the…

September 2016 Every bone, tooth, and vein in my body trembled. The oxygen cannula hugging my nostrils slipped on sweat. I sat at a cold table with my pre-transplant coordinator who’d subjected me to a presentation that vividly, gruesomely, described the lung transplant process.