Transplant was a word I never wanted to hear. I was fearful, having been born in the early 80s, when being born with Cystic Fibrosis meant an unpredictable, often rocky future. Defense mechanisms felt necessary. CF used to be labeled a "fatal" disease, a "childhood" illness, and lung transplants, which only became a risky reality in the late 80s, were connected to words like "end-stage" and "last resort." Just the word transplant could make me burst into tears.

I first met Dr. Richard Belkin in June of 2010. After years of struggling with deteriorating lung issues I finally got a referral to him. He specialized in treating adult CF patients with the Santa Barbara Pulmonary Group in Santa Barbara, CA. I knew I was a CF carrier as I lost a sister to CF in 1971, but I had never been diagnosed with CF. Here I was 64 years old and thinking I might not make it through too many more bouts of pneumonia. Well thanks to Dr. Belkin I am still here and feeling better than I have in 10 (ten) years or more.

Let me tell you about what I had to eat last night. I began with a personal pizza- fresh dough, buffalo mozzarella and cherry tomatoes. Then I sauntered into a pile of clams and mussels marinara (complete with ample bread for dipping). My main course was two colors of homemade pasta- yellow and green, covered in a delicious puttanesca sauce complete with chunks of tuna, olives and capers. Dessert was tiramisu and a nice cappuccino. Everything was heavenly. I also took some samples of my wife's ravioli. But she didn't want my aggressive fork near her dish so I backed off.

I should preface this post by saying that the list I’ve created does NOT pertain to everyone with CF. I’m hoping that there will be a few that others with CF can relate to, but of course all people with (or without) CF are different, so this is just a list I created from things I’ve noticed in my own life and seem like common threads among all of us with CF.