As the saying goes, “April showers bring May flowers." I cannot believe it is already May, and I am once again thrilled to celebrate Cystic Fibrosis Awareness month. I believe that every year is an opportunity to share with the world what exactly Cystic Fibrosis is, but now, more importantly, when our community is still very much affected by the pandemic. When April quickly comes to an end, and May creeps up, I start to think of all the new information I want to include on my social media platforms.

It is hard to believe it is May 2021 and over a year since the COVID pandemic put us all in quarantine and we all have faced many challenges. May is also Cystic Fibrosis Awareness month and during this month the community comes together to help others learn about the disease, share personal stories, and unite behind our mission: finding a cure for all people with CF.

Organ donation saved my life and has brought me the joy of living far beyond what I ever thought was possible!

I was not fully aware of how much I struggled in my day-to-day life until I began my life post double lung transplant. Explaining what organ donation means to me, is fruitless, because I could never describe how much I appreciate the gifts I have received from my organ donors. And since I have three organ donors, I have a LOT to be thankful for.

I wrote this blog post to kick off organ donation awareness month by sharing my journey to ‘new lungs’. I was sitting in a chair in a side conference room on the cf floor of Children's Hospital Boston. My mom was there along with a few of my doctors and nurses and my sister on speakerphone. My CF team wanted to have a serious conversation about my health. I had recently been admitted to the hospital for the fourth time in four months and this time it was a more serious admission.