Victorious — Brad Dell

I was repulsed by my body. My arms were scarred and barren of muscle, thin as twigs. They hung from a bumpy, pale torso — bumpy from the ribs that protruded, the port-a-cath that sat beneath…

Gaining weight can be just as difficult as maintaining lung function for many with cystic fibrosis. Most have heard people without CF joke that they wish they had our problem with gaining weight. But for those…

I’ve seen videos of people with cystic fibrosis, messaged other patients on the internet, and knew some as a child. But since the early years I barely have any memory of, I haven’t verbally spoken with…

I crawled into my closet and pulled out a dusty, battered Ultimate X-Men: Vol. 1. Sunray slivers peeked through the slightly-ajar door, lighting sections of the comic book as I read beneath my jackets on their…

Twenty-four years of living with cystic fibrosis allows for a plethora of learning lessons — mostly through mistakes I’ve made. There are many things I wish I had done differently regarding my health to improve the…

Many label their lives with cystic fibrosis a “battle.” I prefer “war.”* There’s the daily grind: The clinic visits are strategic meetings. The treatments are patrols. The two-week antibiotic courses are skirmishes. Then there are the defining…

In ancient home videos of the Dell family, there’s shot after shot of my sister Shelby clinging to me tightly while I cringe. That was a good illustration of our relationship, until recently.

I’d been anticipating my bilateral cochlear implant surgery for more than a year. I knew it required some drilling into my skull, cuts behind the ear, and having devices shoved into…

Only 61.8 percent of cystic fibrosis patients comply with their daily respiratory medication and 41.2 percent comply with physiotherapy plans, according to a 2008 study. I’ve observed that most patients and their parents want to…

You’ll meet legions of doctors throughout your life with cystic fibrosis. You’ll encounter doctors you adore and who will save your life countless times. And you’ll encounter some who make life a nightmare. Here are six “characters”…

Dear parent, I know you’re afraid. My parents were afraid, too. My mom left a college biology class crying; the lesson on genetics included the life expectancy of a child with cystic fibrosis. There’s an old home video of…

I fought cystic fibrosis for 15 years before the overwhelming burden collapsed. My family was driving to get dinner when my brain and heart suddenly exploded. I was sobbing and gasping for breath, able to hear every…