My Art 

On August 18, 2026, I had a CF exacerbation. I was on vacation in Puerto Rico when I fell ill. I fell severely sick and was prescribed 14 days of antibiotics. I felt like I was improving, but on day 14 of antibiotics, I began to feel very lightheaded and was experiencing sharp pain in my lower left lung every time I took a breath in. I ended up in the emergency room and was then admitted to the hospital. I was prescribed IV antibiotics to fight the infection. At the hospital, the doctors placed a PICC line so I could continue receiving IV antibiotics at home. 

 

These were the drawings I made during this time to help me process the latest CF exacerbation. I focused on drawing the left lung because I have bronchiectasis (permanent lung damage) in my lower left lobe. That's also where the excruciating pain was focused. Where I have permanent lung damage, I drew Puerto Rican symbols. I focused on Puerto Rican symbols because I received a late diagnosis of cystic fibrosis due to my Puerto Rican ancestry. 

 

Since I was born, I have suffered from pneumonia, sometimes once a year, other times ten times a year. I would get so sick that the doctors were concerned I had AIDS when I was a child, having been born in the 80s. I would go from doctor to doctor, and no one knew what was going on. When I was in college, I would visit the infirmary often with pneumonia. One day, a kind nurse practitioner, who was a Colombian woman, sat me down and told me that I was going to be her pet project. She was the first medical provider who saw me and wanted to help me. No surprise, she was also the first Latina medical provider I had ever seen. After some research, she handed me the name of the best pulmonologist in Boston and told me to make an appointment with him. 

 

That was the beginning of me getting better care. He always mentioned to me that there were 3 probable reasons why I had bronchiectasis: 1) it was cystic fibrosis, 2) it was primary ciliary dyskinesia, or 3) when I was young, I had a very severe lung infection that caused the damage. He didn’t push these causes further and just assumed that it was one of these three options. 

 

Then in 2022, my husband and I moved from Boston, MA, to Maryland, near Washington, DC. 

I became a patient at the Bronchiectasis Clinic at Johns Hopkins Hospital. That is where my new pulmonologist was determined to find the root cause of my bronchiectasis. He was the first doctor to take my Puerto Rican heritage into account. I went for numerous tests and kept ruling out various potential causes, but cystic fibrosis wasn’t ever fully ruled out. As a final attempt, I met with a geneticist for genetic testing. It came out that I was a carrier for cystic fibrosis, but based on my results, they could not diagnose me with cystic fibrosis. That is when the geneticist informed me that they know a lot about cystic fibrosis in Western European Caucasian people, but they do not know much about the genetic mutations of CF in people of color. She reassured me that they were going to keep my DNA and continue with their research to hopefully be able to tell me more about my genetic mutations. She then referred me to participate in a research study that looked at the protein on the CFTR gene (where CF mutations are located). It was from this research study that they found out my protein was functioning at 30%, and I was finally diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. 

 

I am still quite angry that in 2026, I still do not know the genetic mutation for my cystic fibrosis. I am angry that so much money and research is funneled into white people, and people of color are still out there suffering without appropriate care and attention. These drawings help me channel this anger and turn it into art. These drawings help me process the decades of pain and mystery while also loving and honoring my Puerto Rican identity.