Blog

My life after a 2011 lung transplant was going along smoothly -- until chronic rejection and the wait for new lungs while hospitalized took me to my physical and emotional limits.

Although I'm self-reliant, after I experienced a trauma, I realized that it was okay to ask for help.

Although my journey with cystic fibrosis has been difficult, over time, I have learned to embrace it. In my poem “Monster,” I address this head on and describe my own process of coming to terms with my disease.

Cystic fibrosis may impact your health and productivity, but life doesn't stop just because you're feeling ill. Although CF can sometimes make it difficult to maintain your responsibilities, I've learned a few tricks over the past 30-odd years to stay productively motivated and take it one step at a time.

As a social worker, my career has been primarily focused on crisis intervention and psychiatric hospitalizations for those with mental illness. It wasn't until I received a double-lung transplant that I learned firsthand just how important mental health and trauma management can be.

Pulmonary function tests (PFTs) are a standard component of quarterly cystic fibrosis clinic visits, but they can often cause a great deal of stress for people with CF. Here are a few strategies that I've found helpful for reducing my own PFT anxiety.