Valiant Voice – a Column by Lara Govendo

Six years ago, I had a double-lung transplant because of severe cystic fibrosis (CF). I found the process traumatic, mostly because I didn’t feel prepared. I wish someone had taught me all the things I learned during that season of my life. To help others on a transplant…

Born with cystic fibrosis (CF), I’ve been told my whole life that there’s a number on my head. I’ve written about my beef with life expectancy before, but to sum it up quickly, thinking about death and dying is normal for me. Mortality is a common topic of…

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…

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…

I would have died without a double-lung transplant. Those words still send chills down my spine. It’s surreal that my story could have turned out differently. I try not to dwell on it, but sometimes my eyes sweat with emotion while reflecting on that truth: I was dying…

As a person with a disability, I’ve been perceived as different and treated that way. This treatment has taken various forms during the seasons of my life, depending on when my disability was visible. I’ve been misunderstood, misrepresented, and mistreated in all kinds of arenas, and I want to set…

A recent hospitalization for appendicitis reminded me too much of frequent hospital stays in the past. As memories infiltrated my thoughts, the traumatic ties to the past bubbled to the surface. It’s important to name and process our experiences since medical trauma compounds with chronic illness. Prior…

I live with some level of pain and nausea on the regular. I’ve become numb to these symptoms because I’m used to them, but that’s sometimes a problem. A few weeks ago, I had intense nausea and belly pain. It seemed normal, given my cystic fibrosis (CF),…

Prior to my double-lung transplant in 2017, I was scared of the words “palliative care.” I mistook it for hospice care and thought it meant preparing to die. I was hypersensitive about that because I was waiting on the organ transplant list. If I had known then…

I had an identity crisis when I turned 30. At the time, everything that had previously defined me — my health, my job, my financial independence — had been stripped from me. It felt like the rug had been pulled out from under my feet. Most 30-year-olds aren’t writing out…