Skip to main content

CF's lil laughs & awkward moments!

A random list of things I've heard said about me (in my life):

1. Plenty of people have thought I smoked in the past and few thought I was anorexic (because of how thin I got).

2. Been accused of having Swine flu at College

3. Been labeled as a genetic disease whenever taking a genetic/Bio class

 None, of these bother me. Everyone jumps to conclusions. They are all funny stories now! Here are the stories:

1. (At U of I) Smoking Story: A guy that I liked at U of I kept joking  around making little digs about my smoking, and I always thought he was kidding. Then a few weeks later when people started thinking we were dating, he mentioned to me how he could never date a girl that smoked. Oh he wasn't joking, he thought I smoked. And I remember thinking, "how bout a girl with a lung disease?" Needless to say, we never dated.

Anorexia Story: I'd eat dinner on fridays before I headed out the door to meet a ton of friends at an extra cirricular we did called IV (intervarsity). I didn't like eating infront of large groups of people (due to taking pills).  I didn't even know that this guy/friend was thinking that I was anorexic. We had been hanging out quite a bit, But the one night I happened to take my pills (sneakily without nobody noticing) and I did eat a piece of pizza (which I'm not a big fan of). It was .50 cent night and I was in college (its cheap food). I happened to go the restroom after I finished eating and he kinda freaked out thinking I was going to go throw up my pizza. Very awkward moment in my life.

2. Swine Flu Story: I think I mentioned this in another blog, but once I had a professor very rudely tell me in the hallway that I shouldn't be out when I was sick. She thought I had Swine Flu and when I told her I didn't, she said maybe I'd better go see someone and make sure, because I didn't sound healthy. I then said something along the lines of "I'm tired of people avoiding me like the plague, I don't have Swine Flu, I have Cystic Fibrosis." I walked off, but the professor followed me and stopped me to apologize. We then had a long and nice chat.

3.Labeled in Bio Class Story: In high School, most people knew I had CF, except a few people. This short list of people who didn't know included my Science Teacher and at least one kid in my class. They day we did our presentations on a genetic disease my partner (Sarah) and I chose Cystic Fibrosis. While discussing it affected the lungs by building up mucus, and how other organs can be affected for a CFer, this kid in the back of the room kept making comments like "ew, yuck, what a gross disease, and crap that can't be healthy, they're doomed, etc." Then I pulled out the awesome visual aids I had (actual nebulizers, etc) and my teacher asked me where I got them and i responded "at home". She asked me "you have these at your house?" and I said "yeah, I have CF."he look dumbfounded and the kid in back responded " Crap, I'm an Ass."  LOL Almost died Laughing!

Now for funny reactions: (how people react when I tell them I have CF)

10. "what's that like?"
9. "aw, I want to hug you"
8. "What that F*** is that?"
7. "how long have you had it"
6. "So you have a Cyst?"
5. "Oh, yeah I have some asthma."
4.  "Can I catch it?"
3.  "Do you hate it?"
2. "Shit" - this was a new one I heard from a castmate recently..LOL
1. and my dentist: "Oh, my wife had that once"

and yes I still go the same dentist. Regardless of his lack of knowledge about CF, his knows his teeth! :-)

Sometimes, I wish I had a hidden camera on me when I told people. some people have great reactions. They ask me what it is, what does it mean, what do I have to do to stay healthy... And some have no clue what to say. I can't blame them, its a little like dropping a bombshell on them.

Maybe I will hear more down the road that top these. We'll see.



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

5K. I could cry. Beyond Annoyed.

My 5K I paid my registartion fee weeks ago, have been training and I'm ready for the 5K. However, I didn't get to run my 5K today. Why? Because Cystic Fibrosis decided to one up me. I got my spots back friday, and they just got worse and worse. They look like this: They take over my feet, and sometimes my calves. I posted about this a few weeks ago. I had them during the last few performances of Hairspray. I call it the "Mummy disease" because when it happens my joints freeze up and I can't move. So the morning of my 5K I wake up and they are on my thighs...     and on my arms. This is the worst they have been in years. I took pictures to show Dr. B at my clinic on the 11th.  I'm just really bummed and upset about my weekend! I was supposed to run my first 5K!!!!! I then had a bags tournament in Peoria for the Dream Factory, and was then going to head to Champaign for Sat night- Monday! My friend Alex, reserved me a ticket for Ren...

Calling All Who Care!

     Please Read : Okay, so first off I want to say that this post is tough. It's tough to think about and write. However, it is extremely important and a huge topic in the CF Community, and is VERY NEAR AND DEAR to MY HEART!  First I want to ask you... What if I told you I needed a Transplant. That I needed to reach a certain weight, get my kindeys functioning better, get a higher pain tolerance, and get off a couple medications I take right now. What if I said I couldn't receive a 2nd chance at life unless I reached these goals and I raised a certain amount of money that seems impossible to raise. What if I had been in and out of the hospital off and on for the last year, with many surgeries, had multiple infections and my lung function dropped from 40s to the teens and now is slowly dropping still. What if I was starting to wonder if my decision to go through the grueling Transplant tests was worth it. What if I start to get down about my cf and wondering why ev...

A Hospital at Home

Coming home from the hospital takes a balance..... Wait.... Did I just say home from the hospital??? That's right!  I get to leave Wednesday the 18th, after 8 days in the hospital. It was a logistical thing. I have a super important court date on for "Shoes (our AMAZING foster son) soon." So Doc knew before he admitted me that I would be leaving by that day... So what does this mean for me and my health??? Well, I need to make sure I continue the same treatment schedule I would in the hospital. So 4 sets of nebs a day. 8am, noon, 4pm, 8pm. Which means I finish my course of IVs at home. I will be on IV's at least until 27th (so 1.5 weeks left). I came into the hospital on Tuesday the 10th, but we didn't realize until Friday the 13th that my Psuedomonas is resistant to all of the antibiotic options for IVs except one med. So on the 13th we switched to Avycaz, which is a newer, hard hitting antibiotic that was brought to market less than 3 years ago. We were hoping I...