This post is made to commemorate Claire Wineland and her inspirational life. Thank you for all you’ve done girl, and breathe easy.

Hospital rooms are so boring, aren’t they? When you’re having an extra long hospital stay, those blank white walls can really start annoying you. Nothing could be more boring when you’re already bored out of your mind!!! Claire Wineland knows how to spruce up a hospital room perfectly.

Of course, make sure you have your doctor’s and hospital’s permission first! If you’re having a shorter stay but would still like to liven up your hospital room, try:

• Posters! Very easy to put up and take down, they add a small personal touch to your room.
• Your own comfortable sheets and pillows. The hospital’s sheets can feel very… plain. Bring your own bedding to help make that bed a little more cozy and feel like your own!
• Towels, soaps, and shampoos. There will be soap provided by the hospital, of course, but even having a familiar scent helps. Just having a towel in the hospital bathroom will make it feel more like home, as well!
• If you have a small lamp (or even a clip-on light like I do), bring it with you! If you don’t, consider asking the nurses to dim the lights for a change. Those lights can be straight-up blinding, and trust me, you get sick of seeing them after being woken up by them for weeks on end.
• If you have any hobby-related items (a laptop, some markers and paper, a pair of knitting needles…), take them along. Even if you’re not a reader, I recommend bringing a book as well. Laying in the same bed with the same few TV channels gets tiresome! A good book will keep you absorbed and entertained.

It’s important to have comfort while you’re recovering in the hospital. Make your hospital room your “home away from home” during your stay!

Claire Wineland passed away at UCSF on September 2, 2018 after a double-lung transplant. She had a massive stroke after the surgery, causing her to be put on life support. After a week with her new lungs, her parents decided to let her go. Claire was not in any pain when she passed. The medical staff reported that it was ” the most peaceful passing they had ever witnessed.” While I miss Claire (as do we all), she surely left her mark on the world and the Cystic Fibrosis community wouldn’t be the same without her joy. Thank you for everything, Claire Wineland. Breathe Easy.

Go enjoy your life. Really. I mean that seriously.
Go enjoy it, ’cause there are people fighting like hell for it.

Claire Wineland