Nov 22, 2015 5 min read

Every week is Thanksgiving week for Cana Carter.

She was born with cystic fibrosis, a life-threatening disorder that damages the lungs primarily, but other organs as well. Carter was diagnosed at age 3, healthy until college and first hospitalized at 30.

Over the next four years, her condition worsened to where she needed a double lung transplant. She didn’t have to wait long for available organs and underwent the procedure Jan. 29, 2006.

Nearly a decade later, Carter exudes boundless energy and enthusiasm. She feels great, runs 5Ks, teaches special education and operates a year-old business – Cana Rochelle Art Design – that sustains and stokes her creative side and has transformed her into a fledgling philanthropist.

She is giving thanks by giving of herself – to many people.

“This (cystic fibrosis) made me decide that I can’t work and not give back,” said Carter, 44, of North Franklin Township. “I don’t do this (artwork) for income. I feel I got a second chance and decided I want to give back to communities.

“I felt I could do some creative stuff and, hopefully, help some charities.”

A lifelong art aficionado, Carter launched Cana Rochelle – her first and middle names – in August 2014. Esentially, she paints freehand on canvas, photographs the work and downloads it onto her computer before determining the finished product. “I decide whether to go as is, add colors, hues or textures. I can fool around with sizes.”

The resulting items bear an appealing blend of colors, designs and techniques, some with personal haikus written by Carter.

Cards are her specialty, but she also produces and sells canvases, tote bags, T-shirts, jewelry boxes, ornaments and even dog biscuits.

“I’d like to come up with more business or charity logos, and more dog cards.”

Two shops carry Carter’s merchandise, Chicco Baccello in downtown Washington and H. Baskin Clothier at the Galleria in Mt. Lebanon, but the majority of her items are sold at charitable fund-raising events.

“I come up with three or four images, take them to an organization and they choose (which one to sell),” Carter said.

She donates a percentage of her proceeds, usually 15 to 20 percent, to the participating charity. Carter has worked with 15 of them, mostly nonprofits, including Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Susan G. Komen (breast cancer), Alzheimer’s Association, Nicole Chauvet Foundation, Autism Awareness and Washington City Mission.

Her design for the Alzheimer’s Association, appropriately, features forget-me-nots.

Pat Joseph likely won’t ever forget Carter. The executive director of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s Western Pennsylvania chapter has known – and admired – the artist for years.

“People like Cana, adults who have inherited a disease like cystic fibrosis, seem to be pioneers who have the same character traits,” Joseph said. “They’re passionate and live life to the fullest, probably because they’ve seen what bad days can be like.

“She could have walked away with her new lungs, but she didn’t walk away. She creates awareness, shares her story and uses her new business to help other nonprofits. She’s quite the entrepreneur.”

Carter devotes about 10 hours of week to artwork, working from the basement of her home. She also is a substitute teacher who tries to limit herself to three days a week with the Trinity School District, at the high school and middle school levels. That is enough work between the two vocations.

She graduated from Trinity in 1989, then continued down the education trail for many years. Carter has a bachelor’s in elementary education from California University of Pennsylvania, special education certification from Waynesburg University and an art degree from Art Institute of Pittsburgh.

As if college isn’t challenging enough without CF.

Though she was born with the disorder, it wasn’t detected until Carter was 3. Her parents, Brice and Glenna, were concerned she wasn’t gaining weight.

“They were told my life expectancy was 11,” Carter said, adding that CF treatment has progressed a mite since 1974. The expectancy is now 41.

Neither parent had CF, but her father carried the gene.

Carter was a local mini-celebrity by kindergarten, the Western Pennsylvania poster child for CF. Carter has a promotion photo on her phone of a young Cana with Steelers star Franco Harris.

Health-wise, she did reasonably well into early adulthood and pursued her passions for art and music. Carter played the flute in the high school band. “It was never sports. I don’t know how to throw a softball.”

In college, she started experiencing shortness of breath that was alleviated by antibiotics. But at 30, Carter had to be hospitalized “and I went downhill and was put on the transplant list.”

After a four-month wait, she had surgery at UPMC-Presbyterian hospital, where she spent a month in recovery. Her new lungs are CF-free, although she still has the disorder and could be at risk to certain issues.

“I haven’t had any complications,” said Carter , who takes medications and an enzyme before she eats to handle digestion.

The perils of CF never go away, nor do the daily burdens of self-care, but Carter smiles a lot and is upbeat.

“I’ve never been down in the dumps about my situation,” she said. “I’ve always kept a positive attitude. I’ve always felt I can do everything.”

She basically can – and does.

“I think Cana has had a driven-type lifestyle since her early years because it takes that kind of drive to deal with CF,” Joseph said. “She’s quite the ambassador for people with CF and other diseases.

“She’s winning in every respect, a great example of how you don’t let CF beat you.”

Cana Carter may not be a softball player, but she has been knocking CF out of the park.