Sick Girl Speaks, Inc. 

Extended Bio for Tiffany Christensen

Tiffany Christensen was born with cystic fibrosis; a life limiting genetic disease that primarily effects the lungs and digestive system. In 1995, at the age of 21, Tiffany was given the bad news that her lung disease had progressed to the point that she need a lung transplant to survive. Tiffany sadly left the NC School of the Arts where she was studying to be an actress and began to look for ways to cope with illness during the long wait for organs.In 2000, Tiffany got "the call," got her lung transplant and enjoyed the best health of her life for two years. It was this point Tiffany was diagnosed with a difficult-to-treat complication some transplant recipients face: chronic rejection. Tiffany's health declined rapidly and a second transplant was not an option.

During her time living "life in the deathbed" Tiffany cycled through all of the stages of grief and greeted her mortality at the age of 30. Over time, she became to accept and even look forward to the time she would "graduate early" and "move on to the next big adventure." She was at peace.This peace was interrupted by a passionate nurse who vowed to help Tiffany find her way back onto the transplant list. In 2004, Tiffany was given a second gift of life and received her second double lung transplant. (Yes, that's six lungs in one lifetime!)

When Tiffany awoke in the ICU after her second transplant, she realized that she had been doing the "patient thing" for a long time. She had developed strategies and coping mechanisms but the healthcare maze continued to be difficult to navigate. She reflected on how hard it must be for those new to the system and decided she wanted to find a way to share the lessons learned along her journey. As soon as her recovery allowed, Tiffany trained as a hospice volunteer and developed a pet hospice. Along with the pet hospice, Tiffany founded and ran a non-profit for pets needing expensive medical treatments their owners could not afford. Tiffany found this world of illness, loss, and grief to be a perfect way to train for the years ahead when shew would work with humans living with illness and loss.  

Today Tiffany is a national public speaker and the author of “Sick Girl Speaks!” (2007) and “We are the Change: Transforming the Healthcare Experience through Partnership” (2010). In 2011, Tiffany’s third book “Getting Your House in Order: African Americans and Advance Care Planning” is set to be released. 

Tiffany received her BFA in theater and uses her conservatory training from University of North Carolina School of the Arts as a foundation for her fresh, interactive and dynamic approach to her various presentations. In addition, Christensen incorporates her training as a Respecting Choices Advance Care Planning Instructor, TeamSTEPPS Master Trainer and APPEAL certificate recipient into her approach to end of life issues, patient advocacy, and patient safety strategies. Tiffany currently serves as co-chair to the Duke University Health System’s Patient Advocacy Council, volunteers with Carolina Donor Services and runs her own corporation, Sick Girl Speaks, Inc.

Christensen represents Project Compassion by traveling throughout North Carolina teaching community members, healthcare students and healthcare professionals about advocacy, advance care planning and organ/eye/tissue donation.  As a part of this initiative, Christensen has designed, developed and launched her own Train the Trainer curriculum. “Finding Your Voice in the Healthcare Maze” is now a larger resource. In addition to Tiffany, there are dozens of others trained to teach the critical information found in "Finding Your Voice" within their own communities.

Nationally, Christensen’s work reaches into many areas of healthcare. A few examples of her past presentations include: “Growing Up Dying: Shifting the Pediatric Patient Paradigm” presented at the National Hospice and Palliative Care Clinical Conference, “Partnering with Patients: A Bed’s Eye View of Patient Safety” at the 6^th Annual Duke Medicine Patient Safety and Quality Conference, and “Life in the Deathbed” at the John’s Hopkins Social Work Grand Rounds.

Tiffany is a grateful recipient of the Heroes of Hope award from Cystic Fibrosis Research Institute in Redwood City, CA. Her writings found in various publications such as the North Carolina Medical Journal, Boom! Magazine, and "Growing Up Dying" can be read in Hope Magazine. On air, Tiffany can be heard on The People's Pharmacy and other radio shows. Tiffany can also be seen on NBC17 and on her own youtube channel. Tiffany has written and co-directed three short films as a part of her Train the Trainer program and is now writing and co-directing six films on advance care planning for Duke University Health System. Tiffany is also thrilled to be serving as Duke's Co-Chair for Dr. Victor Dzau's Patient Advocacy Council.

Tiffany's health continues to be stable and strong. She is currently looking into Graduate School and plans to keep doing her life's work as long as her body allows. She lives with her beautiful dog, Jenny, In Durham, North Carolina. She likes to balance the intensity of her work with shopping, good friends and swing dancing.