Every good story has a protagonist and antagonist as the main characters, and important secondary characters that help influence the main characters. In the story of my life, I work hard to make sure cystic fibrosis stays in its role as a secondary character.

As a child, when I would start to feel overwhelmed by CF and what it required of me, my parents would repeat a simple mantra: You have CF; CF does not have you.

It was a way to remind me that CF is only a part of me, not the entirety of me. I am more than my CF diagnosis. I am a voracious reader and writer. I have blonde hair and eyes that can look blue or green depending on what color shirt I'm wearing. All these things help make me who I am, but none of them make up the whole of me.

This mantra helped shape how my parents raised me as a child. Although I was expected to have complete compliance with all my CF medications and treatments, I was allowed to occasionally skip a vest treatment. My parents recognized that, sometimes, I just had to be a kid, not a kid with a chronic illness.

As I grew into my teenage years, I was given more control over managing my CF. I was the one who would call in to the pharmacy for refills on my medications. My parents and doctors had the final say in medical decisions, but my opinion mattered and was taken into account. I felt like I had greater control over my life, which made me feel more empowered when it came to taking care of myself.

I was still expected to be compliant with all my treatments, but I had the freedom to be a normal teenager, too. The night of my senior prom, doing my vest wasn't even a thought in my head. I brought my pills with me, danced for hours, and ended the night watching the “Lord of the Rings” movies with my best friend. I was just like any other (kind of nerdy) teenager.

Now, as an adult, I have a realistic view of my life and how CF fits into it. I decide what I want to do, what I want to achieve, who I want to be ... and then I figure out how to make it work with my CF.

When I decided I wanted to earn a graduate degree, I looked at online programs because I knew in-person school was going to be difficult. I ended up earning two master's degrees. When looking for an editorial internship at a publishing house, I wanted a virtual one so I could gain experience and also demonstrate that I was completely capable of doing my work from a virtual setting, knowing that in the future I will likely have to do at least some work from home or the hospital.

Everything depends on working together with my care team by having open and honest communication with them. I know I can go to them with anything, and they will help me with whatever I need. I trust them completely and know they will find ways to help and encourage me. The doctors know CF better than I do, and I know me better than they do. By working together, I know we are forging the best path for me and my health.

When COVID-19 was at its peak in Colorado, having CF put a limit on what I could safely do, and I wasn't used to that. Now that COVID is at least a little more under control right now, I have a little more flexibility. I discovered that, while I have new restrictions on my life, I could still work within those restrictions to achieve what I want to do. I have more time to devote on work for my publishing internship and on my personal writing. I have time to concentrate on my health goals, like getting back into hiking shape and working toward hiking my first fourteener (a mountain peak with an elevation of at least 14,000 feet) next year. Rather than viewing this time for what COVID is preventing me from doing, I am choosing to look at the opportunities this strange time is giving me.

In the end, every decision I make comes down not to what CF will allow me to do, but rather what I allow myself to do.

Everyone in the CF community is so much more than a CF diagnosis. We have CF; CF does not have us. We are the protagonists of our stories, so write your life the way you want it to be.

Interested in sharing your story? The CF Community Blog wants to hear from you.