( CNN ) -- I am 17 years old and a senior in high school . I am also , like thousands of other people living on this planet , sick . Like `` spend a quarter of my life in the hospital , do treatments every day to stay alive '' sick . I was born with cystic fibrosis , which the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation describes as a `` life-threatening genetic disease that primarily affects the lungs and digestive system . '' I was only 13 years old when I was forced to face the fragility of my own life . A routine surgery landed me in a medically induced coma for two weeks with a mere 1 % chance of surviving . But survive I did . Today , I do breathing treatments for up to four hours a day and take around 30 pills . Up until a few years ago , my life expectancy was 25 . Every breath I take is a miracle . I want you all to know that this is n't a sob story . I 'm not here to make you feel bad for the poor sick kid . In fact , I hope to accomplish quite the opposite . I want to share a story about finding joy and beauty in places that others see pain and suffering . I am sick , yes . But I am so much more . My life is wonderful , not in spite of this illness but because of it . I 'm writing to you from the hospital , a.k.a . my second home . When I was younger and obsessed with becoming an artist , the hospital was my New York loft apartment . I would move the furniture around to create space on the floor , throw down some sheets and indulge in any form of art that I could get my hands on . The people who would come and visit loved to tell me how sorry they were that I had to live this kind of life : sick and alone , trapped in hospital room after hospital room . I would argue with them , tirelessly . I 'd try to show them that although this life may be different from their own , it was anything but miserable . Oftentimes , it was wasted effort . I still wonder why they could never see my time in the hospital the way I did : as a blank canvas waiting to be turned into something beautiful . As I got older , my life become a whirlwind of homework and responsibilities . The hospital became my retreat , a place to gather my thoughts and focus on my health . The nurses are my friends as well as my caretakers . The doctors are my parents as well as my physicians . Hospital life , like all of life , is filled with both pain and joy in equal measures . There are so many moments to share , so much life that has been lived in these hospital rooms -- from late-night room service orders with my friends to Harry Potter movie marathons to wake-me-up-at-2-in-the-morning blood draws that taught me patience . There were moments of total contentment , when I would look up from my homework and see the sun setting over the hospital courtyard , washing my room in an orange glow . Like all teenagers , I had the lonely nights , the sleepless nights and the stay-up-late-finishing-homework nights . I even threw three New Years Eve parties as a patient , complete with sparkling juice and beeping IVs . Sure , there were endless tests and procedures ; doctors always finding something else that was wrong with my body . But there was also laughter , those moments when we could see how wrong the world had been : A short life CAN be as rich as a long one . Something that always surprises people to hear is that my health has very little to do with my happiness . Yeah , being sick can suck ( big time ) , but nothing is one-sided . I ca n't let the pain block out the beauty . When I was 13 , my parents and I started a foundation to support families like ours living with cystic fibrosis , called the Claire 's Place Foundation . When I was 14 , I became a public speaker , and now I am creating a video series called `` The Clairity Project . '' Get it ? Claire-ity . The videos shine a light on hospital life and break down the social barriers we have around people who are sick . The past four years have been a whirlwind of traveling , speaking , fundraising and experiencing life in ways I never imagined . Some things in life are ours to choose , while other things choose us . I never chose to live this crazy bizarre life with cystic fibrosis , and I did n't wake up from the coma with a plan to move my life down a totally different path . Yet that seems to be exactly what happened . And , of course , I would n't want it any other way .
Claire Wineland was born with cystic fibrosis . Wineland makes the best of the time she has to spend in the hospital . `` Hospital life ... is filled with both pain and joy in equal measures , '' she says . Wineland produces a viral video series called the Clairity Project .