Timothy Bransford

Luisa.  You sound like a younger me because, if not for hemoptysis, I would hardly know I have cystic fibrosis.  Do I have PTSD as a result of the many episode of hemoptysis I’ve experienced over the years?  Probably, yes.

I do my best to prevent CF from dominating my world.  It mostly hovers like a malevolent shadow, a lingering cloud in my sun…[Read more]

As I see it, this entire discussion reduces down to personal responsibility for the choices we make.  If you fear a vaccine more than you fear being rejected for organ transplant that is your choice.  And the consequences of your choice are your responsibility.  The shortage of organs from doners when compared to the demand by dying people ma…[Read more]

Peter Sellers as “Chance the Gardener” directed by Hal Ashby.

CF would not be the central part of my story.  It is not the reveal.  The reveal is how fickle life can be and how tied we are to random encounters with time and place and other people.  These encounters can make us soar or they can make us crash regardless of how we try to co…[Read more]

As much as I respect the medical profession, I do not worship at its feet.  Like most CF patients, I do my best to know my disease and how it impacts my health.  I advocate for myself.  If a doctor is unable to handle my micro-management then I find a new doctor.  Fortunately,  I live in Seattle and we have a major CF clinic at the University of W…[Read more]

CF is such a broad spectrum.  I believe it has a massive footprint that that is still relatively unknown.  I’m lucky, it mostly impacts my lungs.  I seem relatively OK with the rest of my organs.  In fact, I’m pretty much a healthy person outside the FEV issue.

I come from a large family.  I have 6 siblings and I am the only child with kno…[Read more]

The looks I used to get during my CF clinic visits when I wore my N95 mask.  The freight I used to sense from the general public when I wore that mask outside the clinic.

Post-covid it’s a different story.

I’m comfortable with social distancing and mask wearing.  I’ve practiced this as much as possible for many years.  Covid just legitimi…[Read more]

I know the dilemma. Just title this little ditty “Achilles meets Icarus”.

My way of coping with the realities of CF in the workplace 26 years ago was to start my own business with the aim to create a more user-friendly work environment. I determined to be overt with all aspects of CF. As I hired employees, part of my interview process was…[Read more]

Thank you for your kind commments.

This morning, like every morning, I was awakened by the stiletto paws of our cat Jaxx. He is a big boy, so when he stands on my stomach and speaks with his “feed me Seymour” meow, he cannot be ignored. Next to Jaxx is his sidekick, Marvin. Marv is also a big boy. However, his morning technique is to wail like a banshee while gently tou…[Read more]

Spirit animals are integral to my personal view of the world. Many people may write this off as fantastical and, possibly, delusional thinking. And they might be right. But, for me, the natural world and the spiritual world have merged into one world since childhood.
I believe that I do not have a specific spirit animal. However, I know that I…[Read more]

Snow and mountains, or sand and sun… Fact is, I must have it all.

I spent my childhood on a small island in SE Alaska on the edge of The Misty Fjords. Pacific Ocean on one side, mountains rising in the back yard. Salmon, eagle, bear, raven, deer, ptarmigan, ancient cedars, towering sitka spruce, moss, muskeg…this was my playground. However,…[Read more]

Pre-CF diagnosis, I always believed that I alone controlled my destiny. Fate was just the consequence of my choices. This belief allowed me to function in high stress envronments and, for the most part, it held true. I also believed that a nuclear bomb could go off and I would emerge, shiney and new, from the dust cloud. Alive and well.…[Read more]