When CF Changed My Plans

My life with cystic fibrosis

Before I leave the house each morning, I've already spent one to two hours treating my cystic fibrosis.

While most people are getting ready for school, work or seeing friends, I'm connected to inhaled antibiotics, airway clearance therapies and chest physiotherapy. Then I do it all again later that day. This isn't what happens when I'm sick. This is what happens every day.

My CF diagnosis

I'm Teresa, I'm 21 years old, and I've been living with cystic fibrosis for practically my entire life. I was diagnosed with a rare genetic mutation of CF when I was two and a half years old after my parents became concerned about my weight and digestion. My rare mutation means that currently, it's not yet known if modulator therapies would benefit me.

As I grew older, the challenges became more complex. At the age of 10, I experienced my first significant decline in lung function, and since then I've battled chronic pseudomonas infections that require daily inhaled antibiotics to help keep the infection under control.

Life with CF

Living with CF means constantly balancing the demands of treatment with everything else life has to offer. While friends may be making spontaneous plans or thinking about their next adventure, I often have to consider how my health will fit into those moments. Managing CF isn't something I can put aside for a day. It requires ongoing attention, planning and commitment. This reality has shaped nearly every aspect of my life.

One of the hardest things CF has taken from me is dance.

For years, dancing was something I loved. It brought me joy, confidence and a sense of freedom. But as my health changed, the physical demands became too much, and I eventually had to step away from it. Letting go of something that was such an important part of my life wasn't easy. It's one example of how CF can change plans, limit opportunities and force difficult decisions that many people my age never have to consider. While CF has changed my relationship with dance, it hasn't taken it away completely. Today, I teach dance, sharing my love of it with others and helping the next generation discover the same joy dance brings me.

Finding hope in the future

The uncertainty can be just as difficult as the treatments themselves. Living with a progressive disease means I don't always know what the future will look like. Many of my decisions are influenced by questions about my health and how it may change over time. Planning for the future can feel complicated when there are so many unknowns.

I'm still hopeful for what the future holds.

Every advancement in cystic fibrosis research brings new possibilities for people like me. Knowing that researchers and healthcare teams are working to improve the future for people with CF gives me hope. I believe progress is possible, and that more opportunities, and more breakthroughs may be within reach.

I don't know exactly what the future holds, but I do know what I hope for. I hope for more time, more opportunities and more moments spent doing the things I love. And maybe one day, that means finding my way back to the dance floor.