Coping with cystic fibrosis as a child led to depression. Creativity -- especially singing -- helped me find myself and led to my auditioning for The Voice Australia.
Site Search
For me, exercise has been a magical treatment for my cystic fibrosis. I have found that our bodies respond to the demands put on them, so train your body to meet a fitness goal, and your strength and endurance will improve.
Growing up with cystic fibrosis was often lonely, but discovering how to make myself and others laugh helped me navigate those years and gave me a purpose in life.
At 34, I had no obvious symptoms or family history of colon cancer. My body was telling me something was wrong and compelled me to push for more tests to reach a diagnosis. Now every day I get up and learn to be comfortable living in the uncomfortable. With more screenings happening earlier, you may never have to.
After I had to go on disability to focus on taking care of my health, I got involved with the CF community and volunteered with Community Voice. Little did I know it would help me when I needed it most.
Despite my cystic fibrosis, my relationship with my daughter continues to grow stronger each time we are together. She doesn't care about what I can or can't do physically. She just loves me unconditionally.
I have faced a lot of ignorance about my cystic fibrosis -- even from people whom I thought were my friends. I have learned not to take it personally. I just educate who I can and move on.
Since I could remember, my sister shared her CF story to raise awareness, and she inspired me to do the same. Now, with this year's Teen Advocacy Day, we finally get to advocate together.
Understanding that I suffered trauma from medical encounters during my childhood helped make me a more effective self-advocate as an adult.
Although I had heard of cystic fibrosis, I never knew anything about the disease until a chance meeting with a member of the CF community during a networking event. Since then, I have provided donations to CF events and am in awe of the determination and attitude that people with CF have about life.