I recently learned about a fantastic organization that I want all CFers in the U.S. to know about: CF Bridge of Hope. Their mission is to "to improve the health of individuals with cystic fibrosis, and extend the same treatments that are available in the United States to those who live in resource-limited areas of the world." CF Bridge fully funds a 10 day trip to the U.S. for the patient and parent to get all necessary tests and to learn about CF care. They then go home with 1 year of all the meds they need! CF Bridge currently serves 60 patients from Pakistan, Ecuador, Tunisia, Algeria, Columbia, Libya, etc.

I feel so privileged to live in a place where quality CF care and medications are accessible to me, but there are many CFers who live in places where this is not the case. For those of us in the Global North, I think it's very important to share resources and be in solidarity with others in the Global South without access to these life-saving treatments and medications.

You can mail unused medications to a U.S. address which will get the meds to CFers in need abroad. I'm doing that this week because I have some extra CF meds I won't be using and I don't want them to go to waste! You can also donate money. Visit https://www.cfbridgeofhope.org/ to learn more.

In June 2023, I had two bouts of massive hemoptysis (coughing up blood) that eventually led to an emergency double lung transplant on July 5. I didn't know until it happened to me that massive bleeding could lead to lung transplant, so I want to take some time to discuss it here.

The truth is, this is a scary story. I haven't wanted to share it with my readers because what happened to me was very, very unusual and probably won't happen to any of you. I don't like stoking fear in people who already have enough to be afraid of. However, I am usually of the opinion that knowing what the worst case scenario is can help us prepare and also feel less stressed in situations that are slightly less bad. So I’ll leave out most of the gory details here (which are honestly zombie movie worthy). In this article, I summarize what actually occurred, how I prepared for transplant, my experience receiving the transplant, and how I’m doing one year later.