Valiant Voice – a Column by Lara Govendo

Lara, 33, resides in Vermont (for now) as a wild, adventure enthusiast who holds a master’s degree in mental health counseling. She writes about living out loud and develops educational programs to restore hope to those in need. Thanks to her double-lung transplant in 2017 due to cystic fibrosis, you can now find Lara traveling on the regular, exploring the glorious outdoors, and belly laughing with her loves. She’s passionate about connecting with like-minded people, so join her at www.laragovendo.com and on social media (“Lungs4Lovey”) while she flies by the seat of her (no) pants.

Romance and disability: My love story

For a long time, the relationship between romantic love and disability was complicated for me. It’s taken time to heal from my traumatic experiences with dating. I honestly didn’t know what romantic love was until I met my fiance, Christopher. Because of my chronic health conditions, I was led…

CF treatments are miraculous, but what about rare mutations?

For many years, I’ve had to endure the ongoing praise for life-changing cystic fibrosis (CF) medications. Let me explain. CFTR modulators like the most recently approved drug Trikafta (elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor) have completely changed the way that many patients address the chronic challenges of CF. I’ve watched…