Cheriz: My life with Cystic Fibrosis

One big promise I have struggled with in past, present, and probably future is to EXERCISE! I know a lot of people struggle with the same problem, regardless is they have CF. We are too good at making excuses for ourselves. I don't have time, I don't feel good, I will start next week. I was on the right track in 2012. I was doing musicals, where I was singing or dancing every night. AND I was coming home to walk or jog almost 5x a week! I started slow and added more distance as I could. I would walk 2x a week with a friend. This is where I focused on distance & length, not speed. Then on the opposite nights, I would jog as much as I could, walk catch breath, and repeat. I had more muscle, was eating more, gaining weight, and my lung function was the highest it had ever been! 60 - 64% <--- WOW! I was single, didn't have a TV (on purpose) and kept myself accountable through my blog & friend (w CF) Laura. Since then a lot has changed. Living with another pers...

5 years ago I decided to start blogging about my life. I wanted to take a more active role in the CF community, share my story with others, hear others' stories, and fundraise more effectively. I believe I have accomplished all this and more! I can't wait to see what more the future has in store. There were many topics I could have blogged about today, but I decided for a such a big occasion that I should talk about one of the biggest decisions I ever made. Getting my stomach tube!!! Also it (apparently FB says) is "Feeding Tube appreciation week" Let me take you back to when I was in 6th grade. (time travel music insert here). I weighed 45 lbs around 4'8 ft tall and ran out of energy so often, I'd stay in during recess or breaks to eat extra food and drink ensure. I struggled keeping up with my friends on Halloween, didn't have enough energy to even play sports. I struggled a lot, but I kept on pushing. Thanks largely to my family, friends, and ca...

We spend 5 wonderful days on vacation in Florida and come home to SNOW! It barely snowed all winter and today it decided to play a little catch up I guess. Well, we enjoyed our few days in the sun! The weather was perfect! (picture: you can see Andrew out swimming in distance)  I love taking trips & vacations, but having CF always makes it a little difficult. We make sure to pack all my meds in my carry on. I have a small portable nebulizer machine that fits in small spaces. We always call ahead to get permission to carry my vest on at no additional charge. We put all of clothes and my Wabi sterilizer in the big bag, which we check. We just make sure the Wabi is safely packed. They always pull my bags to look at them & check them, we make sure to have a letter from CF clinic too! As a kid I had feeding tube connectors & feeding to bring on trips. Which adds up weight wise. So flying was tougher. We typically always traveled by car when I was growing up. We even di...