Although I’m of Indian origin, I was born in South Korea, a country I associate with wonderful natural beauty and amazing cuisine. My early life unfolded against the vibrant backdrop of cherry blossoms, sandy beaches, colorful mountain foliage, and snowy winters. And while the world around me felt alive and full of possibility, my body was quietly fighting a silent storm, which none of us could comprehend.
From as early as I remember, I struggled with persistent coughing, especially during Korea’s snowy winters. Alongside that, I had bowel problems; dry stools and constipation were a part of my life since my early childhood. These issues were uncomfortable and confusing, but because they were consistent and not too severe, they slowly just became part of my everyday life. I learned to live with these conditions even before I ever learned to question them. Being sick became the norm.
When I was 5 years old, my life took a sudden and frightening turn. I was diagnosed with pneumonia and had to be hospitalized just before a family vacation. What was supposed to be an exciting international trip turned into days of inpatient medical treatment. Although I recovered, that hospital stay marked my first real encounter with how fragile my health could be and how little we sometimes understand about the “silent storms” our bodies are going through. After hospitalization, I returned to “normal,” which still meant persistent coughing and bowel issues.
Still, I refused to slow down, as I always loved being active and curious. I tried soccer, taekwondo, and swimming at different academies. Soccer, especially, became a huge part of my life. My dad introduced me to the sport, and I remember the pride on my parents’ faces as I ran across the field.
At the same time, I was deeply drawn to academics. Mathematics, science, and chess fascinated me from an early age. While my body struggled at times, my mind felt limitless. At the age of 7, I became South Korea’s national chess champion and represented Korea in the Asian Games (in the under-8 chess category).
When I was almost 9 years old, I relocated to the United States with my family. The move brought new opportunities, challenges, and environments. Unfortunately, the “hidden storm” continued to disturb my health from time to time. The coughing persisted with occasional bowel pains, and fatigue became more noticeable. Even so, my passion for learning and competition remained strong. By middle school, I was selected for my school’s science bowl team and found an incredible platform to grow my scientific thinking. Science became more than just a subject — it became a way to understand the world and, eventually, myself.
Around this time, my norm began to change for the worse. Coughing and bowel issues persisted, but I also started to get a fever for a couple days every month. At first, my family and I were very concerned. But once again, because this was consistent and not too devastating, it became part of my new norm. Every month, I would have a fever accompanied by more intense coughing and bowel issues. My cough, bowel issues, and fever became so familiar that no one thought to question it anymore. I would miss school. Then the fever would wear off after a couple of days, and I would return to school.
My friends became curious about my health, especially my coughing, which was very frequent — at least once a minute. They speculated that my coughing had become a habit which I could control if I tried hard enough. I knew they meant well, but I didn’t know how to tell them that I cannot control my coughing, that I don’t want to be sick, that my “norm” isn’t fun for me, and that I would do anything I can to stop coughing.
Around this time, competitive soccer proved to be too demanding on my body, so I turned to swimming. For more than two years, swimming gave me structure, confidence, and a renewed sense of purpose. But as practice intensified, my body started struggling again. Once again, I was forced to step back and resign my passion to the “silent storm” in my body.
During my freshman year of high school in 2024, I got extremely sick with coughing, chills, fever, and stomachaches. It turns out I had pneumonia in my left lung. We were very worried, and I took many medications. After two weeks of treatment, the pneumonia wasn’t in my left lung anymore. But what do you know, now the pneumonia was in my right lung.
While my health condition didn’t improve for about two months, this time something different happened.
Instead of feeling only frustration, I felt motivated to find an answer. I turned to research. Using the same curiosity that drew me to science and math, I tried to understand and correlate my symptoms. From my research, slowly, one possibility kept appearing in my mind: cystic fibrosis.
The idea was intimidating, but it also explained many of my symptoms. As I revealed my thoughts to my parents, they looked up CF on the internet and felt scared at first. But then they felt relieved, thinking it’s a Caucasian disease.
During a visit to my pulmonologist, we gathered the confidence to raise this concern, and the pulmonologist immediately sat down considering the plausibility of this. My pulmonologist specified that CF is not a Caucasian disease. While they scheduled the clinical tests, I was prescribed CF-specific medications and treatments. These treatments really helped and proved to me that my health issues can be fixed, at least to some extent. There was hope.
Once the sweat test and genetic tests confirmed the diagnosis, my emotions were mixed. I felt grief for everything I had to give up over the years due to my health, and I felt relief that we finally had an answer to my problems. The diagnosis connected all the dots — my childhood bowel issues, recurring respiratory problems, pneumonia, and fatigue. I finally had an explanation.
CF treatments changed my daily life but also gave me strength and clarity to fight my health challenges. With support from my parents, treatment provided by my physicians, care from the nurses, and emotional encouragement from the CF Foundation and my friends, I started regaining stability and confidence. As I learn how to manage my nutrition, listen to my body, and adapt to my health, CF continues to empower me with resilience. With the treatments, my new “norm” has become what my family and I had been looking for ever since I was born. My coughing and fever ceased, and eventually, so did the bowel problems.
Today, I consider CF not just a challenge but also a teacher. It has taught me resilience, discipline, and empathy.
It has strengthened my passion for science and increased my desire to raise awareness and support others living with CF. My experiences in athletics showed me perseverance; my journey in science showed me purpose. CF has truly shaped who I am today.
My life has been shaped by many changes: some difficult, others beautiful, and all meaningful. I am taking these changes positively, continuing as a fighter, and taking each step forward with hope, determination, and gratitude. My journey with CF is still unfolding, and this is just the beginning. I am committed to using my voice, knowledge, and experiences to help everyone living with CF.
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