Victorious – a Column by Brad Dell

July 16, 2019July 11, 2019

We Don’t Get Used to Disease, So We Still Need Your Support

Columns, Victorious - a Column by Brad Dell

Bradley was a dramatic kid. I’d sit up in bed at night, unable to lie down because it made me cough, and wonder whether Prometheus ever became used to ... Read more

July 9, 2019July 9, 2019

Why Rare Disease Communities Must Stand United

Columns, Victorious - a Column by Brad Dell

“You need space at the table for five wheelchairs?”  The waitress’s eyes exploded from her skull, shocked to the degree I’d expect if I were to ask that she ... Read more

June 25, 2019June 21, 2019

Are Anger and Fear Villains, or Must We Acknowledge Them to Thrive?

Columns, Victorious - a Column by Brad Dell

It’s been almost three years since a port-a-cath infection nearly killed me. A fungal infection invaded my bloodstream and attempted murder, shutting down my organs and blasting me into ... Read more

June 4, 2019June 3, 2019

Screwed Over Expectations, Pura Vida, and a New Normal

Columns, Victorious - a Column by Brad Dell

I was fully deaf, too weak to walk across my living room (I couldn’t reach my upstairs bedroom anymore), constantly coughing and vomiting, soaked in sweat and wheezing, too ... Read more

May 14, 2019May 14, 2019

In Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month, I Look Back to Anticipate the Future

Columns, Victorious - a Column by Brad Dell

The night I received my first Hill-Rom Vest — at age 5 — was a fun one. It was a beast of a machine in the mid-1990s, a white ... Read more

April 30, 2019April 26, 2019

Here’s What It Feels Like to Have Cystic Fibrosis

Columns, Victorious - a Column by Brad Dell

There’s a rattle in my chest when I inhale. I sweat and dig my nails into my palm. I feel it, microseconds of dread and fear as the rattling ... Read more

April 9, 2019June 21, 2019

Why I Shout My Story

Columns, Victorious - a Column by Brad Dell

A dad at the church I attend came up to me and said his newborn daughter had been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. He looked tired; his motivation for telling ... Read more

April 2, 2019April 1, 2019

The Scenes in ‘Five Feet Apart’ that Tore My Heart

Columns, Victorious - a Column by Brad Dell

Heard enough about “Five Feet Apart” yet? I know you’re begging to read just one more piece about it, right? I saw the movie about a week after its ... Read more

March 26, 2019May 23, 2019

‘CFer’ or ‘Person with CF’? I’m a CFer and Proud of It

Columns, Victorious - a Column by Brad Dell

Note: I do not write on behalf of the entire CF community. No one does. This is about my preference. The most amusing, yet irritating, thing a person without ... Read more

March 19, 2019April 4, 2019

I’m Getting Better at Detecting Depression’s Creep and Shooing It Away

Columns, Victorious - a Column by Brad Dell

I shoulda seen it coming. (That’s what I always say in hindsight, once it hits.) Maybe I shoulda known when five people at church told me I look “really, ... Read more