Today, I am living a future I was never promised.

I was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when I was just six weeks old. For most of my life, CF wasn't an abstract diagnosis. It meant hours of treatments, countless medications, hospitalizations, serious infections, declining lung function, and damage that extended far beyond my lungs.

There were years when my lung function fell as low as 29%. CF caused catastrophic damage throughout my body, including CF-related diabetes and kidney disease. I grew up knowing that there was no guarantee I would get the kind of future most people take for granted.

And yet, this year I turned 40 years old.

Even more extraordinary, I became a mom. My biological son, Arthur, was born this August.

I don't take either of those things lightly.

I'm here because decades of CF research changed what was possible. Treatments developed through that research fundamentally altered the trajectory of my disease and gave me years of life I once had no reason to assume I'd have.

But this story isn't finished.

There are still people with CF who don't benefit adequately from today's therapies. There are still infections we struggle to treat, complications we don't know how to prevent, and lives that remain profoundly shaped by the relentless demands of this disease. We still need better treatments, and ultimately, we need a cure.

That's why I continue to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

My life is evidence of what happens when ordinary people decide that people like me are worth fighting for.

You can make that decision today.

Donate. Walk with us. Share this page. Help fund the research that gives another child with CF the chance to grow up, turn 40, build a life they love, and experience a future their family once wasn't sure they would get to see.

Thank you for helping us make more futures possible.