Understanding Nonsense - a Column by Willian Ryan

I can still envision it: The top half of the wall was painted a shade of beige, while the bottom half was covered in blue wallpaper with white stripes. That’s how I remember the room where, at some point during my childhood medical appointments, I’d step into a clear box…

As a proud son of New Jersey who’s married to a woman who’s half Italian, I’ve found that fresh mozzarella is a key to happiness in life. I’ve never had a bad day when I’m eating said cheese. I could give you recommendations for the best mozzarella in northern New…

It has been a year. From an underwhelming season of “Vanderpump Rules” to a historic rap battle, the world has navigated a roller coaster of emotions and events. The highs of me being a huge Kendrick Lamar fan were matched by the lows of simply opening a news website or…

Sometimes I don’t know where cystic fibrosis (CF) begins and I end. I’ve lived with the ups and downs CF has brought since I was diagnosed just three months after I was born. I recently celebrated my 32nd birthday. I used to hate my birthday. I don’t…

Last weekend, I was at my local pharmacy buying birthday cards when I remembered that I needed to pick up the insulin refill my endocrinologist had ordered the day before. After giving the cashier my name and date of birth, I paid $3 for my monthly insulin pack, which I…

As an adult with cystic fibrosis (CF), I’m part of the majority within the CF community. Whereas this disease was once seen as a childhood illness, scientific advancements have allowed us to grow up, get older, and adjust to a life we didn’t foresee 10 or 15 years…

You’re probably aware of the proverb “It takes a village,” which highlights that having a community is necessary for accomplishing tasks or goals or advancing a cause. For people like me who have cystic fibrosis (CF), making progress with disease funding, research, and care has certainly required a village.

At 31, I still love basketball, and I’ve been a New York Knicks fan for 25 years. For the first 21 years of my fandom, the franchise was a model of instability and getting in its own way. I try to approach my health in the exact opposite manner, which…

One of the “pleasantries” of life with cystic fibrosis (CF) is navigating cystic fibrosis-related diabetes (CFRD). I’ve been periodically dealing with it since the summer of 2007. For the last two and a half years, though, it’s stayed with me like an unwanted memento. As I…

I sat at the head of the table in my workplace conference room and looked out the window, trying to grasp what I needed to do during my break. The problem was, I couldn’t remember. Instead, I just kept looking out the window as Pixies’ “Where Is My…