Erica Western is 29 years old and was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis within 24 hours of being born. She was born with a Meconium Ileus, which required surgery within the first 12 hours of her life. She is the only one diagnosed in her family with CF. She does have a fraternal twin sister, and her twin is a carrier of CF but does not have the disease herself. She received a bachelor’s degree from James Madison University in Interdisciplinary Liberal Studies and continued on to get her Master of Arts in Teaching. She currently works in Hanover County as a High School Computer Science Teacher. She recently has been interested in getting more involved with the Cystic Fibrosis community and is excited to pursue that. Erica also lives in the Richmond area with her husband of 7 years, Michael, and they have 2 Labrador Retrievers who they love to take on walks. Erica also helps her husband run a marketing business that does business throughout the US and in multiple foreign countries. Erica loves journaling as a creative outlet, which started from trying to be more organized with tracking her health. She also enjoys hand lettering and graphic design as well. She can’t wait for the opportunity to travel more to see more parts of the world.