The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation has announced the recipients of its first annual Impact Grants.
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Recipients include eight innovative programs from around the country that serve the CF community.
Watch the entire leadership conference, including all of the break-out sessions and Medical Hot Topics, from start to finish.
My parents made sure that I enjoyed my childhood despite my health struggles with cystic fibrosis. They focused on making sacrifices and hard decisions, such as relocating to be near my clinic, and never letting me brood over my prognosis.
Having cystic fibrosis has been a double-edged sword. CF has caused suffering, but it also has given me the perspective to embrace my life.
When Rickey Powell’s first child, Miles, was born, he never anticipated that Miles would spend nearly a month in the NICU. Miles was not gaining weight and, after several long weeks, was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. Two years later, Rickey’s second child, Marley, was born. She, too, was born with CF.
I had never heard of cystic fibrosis until I received my diagnosis — but learning how to navigate my CF prepared me to advocate for my husband’s medical care and helped me grow as an artist.
Throughout my life with cystic fibrosis, I never thought about the prospect that I would outlive my loved ones. Now that I have attended some of their funerals, the thought of my own mortality has caught up with me.
Dance was my life, but I had to give it up when my health was in decline. I then found a new way to express my creativity through poetry.