Cheriz: My life with Cystic Fibrosis

Why it was AWESOME being born in the 1980s. Besides our mom's awesome hair-dos right? Well, there are some perks to being born in the 1980s with Cystic Fibrosis. You may think I'm joking. I mean, what perks? Right? We didn't have almost any of the beneficial medication or research that we do today. Because of this lack of research & proper meds the expectancy of life was around 10 years of age when I was born. Sadly, this was pretty accurate in my life as I watched 3 best friends pass away between the ages of 10-14. It was tough having CF or a child with CF in the 1908s. Our treatments took longer and the machines were wickedly heavy. Parents didn't have the vest machine, my own mother had to do manual chest percussion on me multiple times a day (up to four times). In the 1990s, pulmozyme was introduced and some research started to take off (but nothing like today). Most people in the 1990s still didn't know what CF was and had never heard of it. With a f...

& of Course my Results: I realized this morning as I sat down to start this blog entry that even though I go to clinic between 4-6 times a year, I have never REALLY explained it. Cystic Fibrosis Clinic is where most CF patients go to talk with their doctor & care team about their health (various aspects of it). A CF Care team is usually compromised of a: CF Doctor/specialist- who exams you, discusses treatments, trials, meds, overall health & prescribes anything you may need (exams, X-rays, meds, etc).  Nurses or P.As.- Assist the doctor with tasks & usually is the person you talk to on the phone when you are sick. Respiratory therapist - they help you do your breathing tests, discuss therapies, etc Physical Therapist (or Athletic Trainer)- helps you get active and gain/ or lose weight (whichever you need, usually with CF it's the former) Dietician- helps you focus on how you need to eat, choosing good foods, or tips to help with weight. Social Worker...

Thankful for Halloween: One picture can say a lot. For example:  This picture (besides saying I just woke up) Also, say a few other things:  I have lung problems (Cystic Fibrosis) since I'm doing a vest treatment & nebulizer, It's Halloween or I have eye problems. Well, actually it's all three! I'm thankful it's Halloween, because it makes my eye patch blend in more. Why am I wearing an eye patch? I don't wear glasses or contacts, right.... Did you know that I did have glasses for many years. I had such bad eye sight that as a baby that I got my first set of (thick) glasses by 6 months old.  I had bifocals by the age of three. However, the eye problems were corrected (sort of) by age 11 and I could ditch the glasses.  Only in the last year have I noticed them coming back. Lately, they have been pretty bad. I've hit more curbs while driving and stopped driving at night all together.I keep running into things and tripping, I'm usually ac...

Life at Our House:  I want to take some time to update everyone on what is going on at our place. Our life has been a little crazy since getting married and only now, do I feel it is starting to slow down. Whew. We got married on August 16th, Andrew's new store (where he works) had its grand opening on the Tuesday after our wedding. We moved into our new place on Wednesday that week. Since then Andrew worked 12-14 hour days 6 days a week until we left for our honeymoon on September 27th! I spent most of my days unpacking, cleaning our new home, Calling docs & updating all the accounts with pharmacies, etc. (See our Wedding pics on my Facebook page! ) We got back from our Honeymoon on October 2nd. Read about our Honeymoon Trip right here . Luckily, since then Andrew has been able to work less hours (averaging 50-55 a week) and he gets two days off a week now. I've had some job interviews and meetings,which went awesome. I then met with the Real Estate company, where I p...

Saturday was ALL About the CF Foundation: We got back from our Honeymoon on Friday night (go to last post to read about our honeymoon). Then Saturday morning we got up early to head to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's Great Strides Walk in Peoria, IL! We helped set up, and joined 17 other teammates at the walk! Which is pretty good size for #TeamCF2 at a secondary walk. I say secondary walk, only because 95% of my team lives in Princeton, IL and all attend the Princeton's CF Walk. So to have people repeat walks or drive far to go to second walks is pretty special. Click here to see more about our Princeton Walk ! Of course this year we had some  UnityPoint Health-Methodist Respiratory Therapists (department) join the team! A friend works there and got his boss & co-workers involved. Our team of 17 raised at least $500 (but we have to wait 2 weeks for the website to total amounts). So a big thank you to UnityPoint Health-Methodist Crew for joining #TeamCF2! I really d...

A Week to Ourselves: Things at work are settling down a bit for Andrew, so it was ideal for us to finally take our honeymoon. Deciding on a Honeymoon destination was really tough. I didn't want to fly anywhere, because it was a lot of luggage ( pic: 4 days worth explained on Facebook ), we only had 4 days, and would cost a lot more. We wanted to get far enough away it felt like a whole new place. We aren't big fans of resorts, beaches, or anything like that. Don't get me wrong, I understand why people like them. But, to me they are overcrowded and I get burnt after 10 minutes in the sun. If I spend 1 hour in the sun I will be sick for two days afterwards (I believe it has to do with my skin tone & the combo of all the antibiotics I'm always on). I started sifting through Midwest Living and they had a decently large article about the top "so-many" towns for get-a-way weekends. It told what the town was known for, along with recommendations for food and ...