Robyn Primack November 2008
Described by friends and family as kind-hearted, thoughtful and clever, Robyn is a gifted 17-year-old student and musician who lives each day to the fullest and does not dwell on the limitations of her chronic disease of cystic fibrosis (CF). Diagnosed with CF since birth, Robyn has mastered the limitations of the disease, staying positive and working hard at her goals despite the many challenges.
Robyn is a talented senior in high school who loves music, science and reading. She has played the violin since first grade and now belongs to her high school orchestra where she practices daily. She also sings with the choir at her Temple. Her favorite subjects are English, anatomy and math, and she is an avid reader of anything that she can get her hands on. Through hard work and self-discipline, Robyn has achieved at least a 4.0 GPA and is a member of the California Scholarship Federation. After graduating high school, Robyn hopes to attend the University of California, Davis and major in nutritional science, an interest which developed through her long years of dealing with the subject on a personal level.
Robyn's biggest challenge with her CF has been dealing with the digestive problems of the disease. For the majority of her life, Robyn dealt with having tube feedings. Tube feeding is used in CF when eating a high calorie, high protein diet is not enough for a person to maintain or improve nutritional status. Robyn had several surgeries to correct complications of her digestive related CF problems that she was born with. Robyn accomplished a major personal victory recently when she was able to remove her gastronomy feed tube.
Staying healthy is important for Robyn to be able to pursue another one of her loves, traveling. Recently, she traveled to Hawaii, Alaska and Mexico for vacation. Her favorite places are anywhere with white sand beaches. One of the challenges of traveling as someone with cystic fibrosis is to keep a treatment schedule on track. Robyn brings along all of her bulky and heavy medical devices, including her nebulizer and her machines for chest percussion therapy. She jokes that she is determined to always travel, as she has in the past, with a strong and helpful friend or family member that doesn't mind carting along her supplies.
Besides school and her other hobbies, Robyn is heavily involved in community service. She is the Youth Group Secretary at her Temple, participates in the groups' programs for community service, including "Nothing But Nets," which is a grassroots campaign to save lives by raising money to acquire mosquito nets for the prevention of malaria, a leading killer of children in Africa. When Robyn celebrated her Bat Mitzvah, she collected games and toys to donate to the University of San Francisco Children's Hospital rather than accepting presents for herself. Robyn also works to help her local battered women's shelter by making cloth bags filled with donated toiletries.
Robyn has shown throughout her life remarkable determination to succeed and realize her goals. Through hard work and a commitment to herself, she has excelled in school, music and community involvement. Through dedication to her health and medical compliance, she has managed to her come obstacles such as her gastronomy tube. We cannot wait to see what else Robyn will accomplish!
Please note: The information contained on these Heroes of Hope™ Living with CF award recipient biographies are not regularly updated. The information only represents the point in time when the Heroes of Hope recipient was honored.
