Sarah was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis (CF) as an infant, and at that time the average life expectancy for CF patients was 14 years. Over the next 30 years, she managed to defy the odds, but it was never easy. Sarah endured three to four hours of rigorous physical therapy and breathing treatments to keep her lungs from filling with mucus. Then everything changed.

In 2020, Sarah was one of the first patients to benefit from a CF modulator trialed by Corewell Health, which is now widely used to treat 94% of CF patients. It attacks the disease at the cellular level, providing nearly instant relief for mucus buildup in the lungs and other organs.

Sarah has been using the modular for the last four years, and her medication requirements dropped from dozens of pills a day to just three. She has also eliminated the need for constant physical therapy and hospital trips. Most days, she forgets she even has CF, something that was unthinkable for the first 35 years of her life.