Claire’s Place Foundation is gearing up to celebrate its 10th Annual Glow Ride for Cystic Fibrosis (CF) that’s set to happen Sept. 21 at Hermosa Beach, California. The milestone event aims to raise crucial funds to…

Living with chronic illness is often a lonely road. Born with cystic fibrosis (CF), I’ve often struggled with isolation, feeling alone, and living a different lifestyle from most people. Before joining my disease community, I thought I was the only one. Thankfully, I’ve developed skills for coping with…

Recently, while I was in the political organizing world where I spend so much of my time, a random hospital memory popped into my head. It was of a routine experience from the days when my younger sister, Mary, a cystic fibrosis patient, was in respiratory failure. She was on…

Through the sliding glass doors and down the stairs of the medical plaza, the midday news played — muted, but with captions running — on the TV mounted across from the reception desk. The water fountain hummed. Where I live, case numbers from the COVID-19 pandemic remain high, and medical…

One of the hardest things to deal with in life are the “unknown knowns.” This is what happens when you’ve had one too many surgeries, or just enough hospital tuneups, and you have a hard time letting go of what you can’t control. I am trying to prepare for a…

The antibiotic-resistant bacterium Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, a dangerous bacteria for people with lung diseases such as cystic fibrosis (CF), is widely spread around the world, with most strains carrying virulence and resistance genes, a large genetic study shows. The study, “The phylogenetic landscape and nosocomial spread of…

After eight years of easing the financial burden of protracted hospital stays, Claire’s Place Foundation has reached the $1 million mark in assistance to families living with cystic fibrosis (CF). The foundation, launched in 2011, provides emotional and financial support to those touched by the disease. To date, its ongoing…

“Ahhh, so lucky! Enjoy your vacation.” Many people thought hospitalizations were times to sit around and cruise the internet; get treated like royalty and served wine. (Nah, I only got rubbing alcohol.) The response was rarely, “I hope you feel better,” or, “Let me know if I can…

Some children with severe infections who require intravenous antibiotics can be treated safely at home, according to a review of previously published studies. The review in the journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases reported that none of the studies found that home-based treatment was riskier than hospital care. The review also…

Life can change in a blink of the eye. One moment you may be on vacation in Hawaii, and the next you can be on a ventilator being medically evacuated back to the mainland. Being hospitalized unexpectedly is never a happy feeling. Instead, it can bring feelings of guilt, uncertainty,…