When the pandemic started, I started to feel lost and disconnected. That changed when I was introduced to a new program from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation that taught me how to share my CF story with confidence.
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The Foundation and Bakar Labs will support AVECRIS Pte Ltd and Nosis Biological Sciences as they pursue genetic therapies for cystic fibrosis with their novel technologies.
This year’s awardees showcase the diversity of journeys in the cystic fibrosis community.
As someone with cystic fibrosis, I struggled with the fact that I might be a burden to those who helped care for me. Things changed when I married Ramón and learned the true meaning of caregiving.
After two kidney transplants and one double-lung transplant, I am currently doing dialysis treatments as I wait for my third kidney transplant. Keeping a positive attitude and having friends and colleagues who support me have helped me adjust to life on dialysis.
Today, there are close to 40,000 people in the United States with CF due in large part to more people living longer into adulthood, signaling a shift in what it means to live with CF in the modern era.
When I became a nurse, I was determined to be punctual and reliable, and I excelled despite my cystic fibrosis. But on the advice of a CF doctor, I changed my career trajectory, which at first caused heartbreak, but eventually led to a leadership opportunity.
I felt so alone as a kid being gay and having CF — there weren’t any role models in the 80s and 90s that I could look up to. Eventually, I found people who understood what I was going through and that helped me feel good about who I was, and who I am today.
La fibrosis quística (FQ) es una enfermedad genética. Escuche las presentaciones de los expertos, el Doctor Fadel Ruiz, director del centro de fibrosis quística de Baylor y el Doctor Carlos Milla, director del centro de fibrosis quística de Stanford y sus respuestas a las principales preguntas de la comunidad sobre terapias genéticas para la FQ. El panel fue moderado por Sylvia Mazuera, madre de dos hijos, el menor de los cuales tiene FQ.
Throughout my life with cystic fibrosis, I have marked many milestones. My most important one yet is holding a full-time job while managing my health.