In silent cells, a gene goes wrong, The CFTR sings its broken song. It twists the lungs with mucus thick, And steals the air that should come quick.
The breath is heavy, hard to take, Each cough a battle, ribs that ache. Infections lurk, the lungs grow frail, And every gasp begins to pale.
The pancreas, too, finds no reprieve, Its enzymes lost, it cannot weave The threads of food to strength and growth, A fragile body, under oath.
Salty skin in summer’s heat, The sweat too thick, the thirst too sweet. Dehydration knocks at the door, With every bead that leaves the pore.
A child’s growth, a shadowed trace, Though appetite shows hunger’s face. Stools greasy, awkward, hard to pass, Malnutrition builds its glass.
Yet in the fight, there’s modern care, With chest cleared gently, breath comes fair. Enzymes, meds to ease the load, Though winding still, the future’s road.
The hope lives on in every heart, For cures and treatments that may start. Though CF binds with a heavy chain, Its fighters rise, through joy and pain.
