Laura Rothenberg spent most of her life knowing she was going to die young.

She had cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder that affects the lungs. When she was born, the life expectancy for people with CF was around 18 years. (It’s more than double that now.) Laura liked to say she went through her mid-life crisis when she was a teenager.

I met Laura when she was 19. I gave her a tape recorder. And for two years, she kept an audio diary of her battle with cystic fibrosis and her attempts to live a normal life – with lungs that often betrayed her.

Sometimes she wouldn’t record anything for a few months. Then there were days when she hardly turned the tape recorder off. Over those two years, Laura recorded more than 40 hours of tape.

Today on the show we’re revisiting Laura’s story, My So-Called Lungs.

Click here to learn more about cystic fibrosis.

Laura’s memoir, “Breathing for a Living” can be purchased here.