My name is Melissa S. I am a 39 year old woman with Cystic Fibrosis (CF). I was diagnosed when I was 7 years old after tons of allergy testing. For those seven years, everything I ate went right through me causing severe stomach symptoms. I didn't have any lung involvement until after my diagnoses. My parents were told I would not live to my teen years.

Here I am 32 years later married, own a home, had a career and gave birth to my (healthy) daughter who will be 10 in April. My CF has progressed enough that I had to stop working. I currently run on 33% lung function which makes daily life challenging.