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In ancient home videos of the Dell family, there’s shot after shot of my sister Shelby clinging to me tightly while I cringe. That was a good illustration of our relationship, until recently. I was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis a few months after…

Cystic fibrosis is nasty. Bacteria makes my breath stink. Malabsorption makes me fart a lot. I cough so much that my face turns red, and blobs of mucus often fly out of my mouth and onto the shirts and/or pants of those standing in my general area. If I could…

I’d been anticipating my bilateral cochlear implant surgery for more than a year. I knew it required some drilling into my skull, cuts behind the ear, and having devices shoved into my cochlea. I did not expect to be restricted to Tylenol…

Only 61.8 percent of cystic fibrosis patients comply with their daily respiratory medication and 41.2 percent comply with physiotherapy plans, according to a 2008 study. I’ve observed that most patients and their parents want to be perfectly compliant — they just haven’t formed good strategies for…

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is horrible. Say it again for the people in the back: It is horrible. To be transparent, I’m writing this article in a bad mood, so naturally, I look to my diagnosis as a means to understand my frustration. I don’t believe this is unfair…

I’ve always known that I wanted to be a writer. There were some rebel years, of course — short-lived times growing up when I claimed to have aspirations of teacher-hood or superstardom. There was even a year when I wanted to be a hydrologist, as I couldn’t seem…

You’ll meet legions of doctors throughout your life with cystic fibrosis. You’ll encounter doctors you adore and who will save your life countless times. And you’ll encounter some who make life a nightmare. Here are six “characters” you’re bound to meet, plus things they’re likely to say, at…

Dear parent, I know you’re afraid. My parents were afraid, too. My mom left a college biology class crying; the lesson on genetics included the life expectancy of a child with cystic fibrosis. There’s an old home video of her talking to Baby Bradley before I was diagnosed. I was…

I fought cystic fibrosis for 15 years before the overwhelming burden collapsed. My family was driving to get dinner when my brain and heart suddenly exploded. I was sobbing and gasping for breath, able to hear every rapid pound of my heart against my ribs. I couldn’t think,…

Most of last summer was spent either in a hospital bed or lying on my couch — the couch I had watched my cat dying on just months before. I wasn’t in much better condition than my cat. I thought I was defeated, broken. The most activity I had in…