Cheriz: My life with Cystic Fibrosis

Clinic  Numbers, my mask, and updates: First of all, since my last post A LOT has happened. My last post was about the Peoria Chapter Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Annual Meeting & Awards Night. Make sure to scroll down & read that post . Not only did I receive an award,but was honored to be the guest speaker, BUT I also learned some facts (that I had never heard of before) about the CF Foundation! Secondly, Last week I had the privilege to speak at a local High School assembly about my life with CF and thank the students for their fundraising efforts. The Illinois Valley Central High School raised over $17,000 in 45 minutes for the CFF! Alyssa Paldo from WMBD News covered the event. If you want to check out the video she posted on Facebook (hear about the students did it and even see me on the news, go HERE). Way to go Grey ghosts!  Okay, now to catch you up about my clinic and tell you about the mask I wore! I drove from my place an hour to my parent's pl...

Tonight's Annual Peoria Chapter Dinner: Every year the Peoria Cystic Fibrosis Foundation hosts an Annual Dinner/Meeting. The latest and greatest news about the CF Foundation, research, and patient care is discussed. CF center reps, Pharmaceutical companies, CF Foundation Leaders, and Volunteers all come together for the same reason: to share and learn more about CF (ultimately to CURE it)! Tonight I was beyond excited and honored to be not only invited (only 1 CF person per indoor event is allowed, due to cross infection rules), but I was also asked to be the guest speaker tonight. If you would like to hear my speech, then head over to the  YouTube Video  of it   HERE .  I was very touched to receive the "Great Strides Partner of the Year" - Which typically goes to a Great Strides team, Corporate Sponsor; someone who pushes to make Great Strides grow and succeed every year. Which is what I try to do, but mostly I just loved being there. Connecting with others a...

Putting my sneakers on: Sorry, I haven't posted in a couple weeks! I have been pretty busy with work, which is GREAT! It's nice to see my client list build and to actually get a paycheck! YAY! The first paycheck I received was from my 1st closing! YAY! ( check HERE to see the picture) Since the last post, I've been really focusing on life. Yep, life. Just living. It can be hard work sometimes. I work, keep the house clean, maintain health, and even try to work out! But it's hard. These new kicks I got help motivate me though. Rock' em CF sends out new kicks to CFers that want to work out/jog/ and get in shape! I just filled out a form, had my doctor sign it, sent it off, and BAM- my new kicks arrived! Thanks Emily! Fragile, but Strong... Which is perfect timing, because I want to get stronger. Working out will help me gain muscle and improve my lung function. Win-win! This really helps strengthen my health, which is super important! As I get older, it get...

I Spy With Silly Eye: "Silly eye" is an understatement. As you all know (probably) I have mild cerebral palsy, which affects my right side.  I was diagnosed at around age 2-3. I had glasses since I was a year old, but it wasn't until I started walking funny on the outside of my right foot and talking out of one side of my mouth that my parents knew anything was wrong. After many years of physical therapy, barely anyone could tell I even have CP. I said goodbye to my leg brace at age 10, goodbye to glasses at 12 years old, and kept getting stronger! (picture: doing physical therapy at home) I was very fortunate to have such a mild case. I still catch myself holding my arm stiff (t-rex style as I call it) and I have trouble with tying shoes, cutting food, doing buttons, etc. Sometimes my right hand just drops items, and overall my right side is super weak. I try very hard to work out and keep it's strength up, and overall it has gone pretty well.  I have no r...

Weekend Luck: Doctor's offices are open Monday through Friday. Yet I always start feeling sick on Fridays. Luckily, I don't get "sick" too often. Which is pretty lucky considering my pathetic immune system. My immune system can't fight anything and even a simple cold could become more serious and life threatening. For example:  I had to break down and call Doc's after office hours (this morning) to figure out what to do, thanks to a simple cold sore, AGAIN! Yep, you heard me right. Again, thanks to a cold sore. Not sure if you remember in 2013. In 2013:  I had a cold sore that turned my  mouth and lips full of cankers, sore, and lesions. My jaw/mouth was so swollen that I couldn;t talk (which is really funny if you know me, since I gab all the time) or barely swallow liquid. My throat and tongue covered in bacteria and fungi (my tongue was covered in pure white - it was thrush). My fever reached 104 and my pulsox dropped into 80s, Andrew took me to...

Our Story : Andrew and I met in a show choir. I graduated from the University of Illinois in 2010 and decided to return to the local community college to take a few courses, before jumping into graduate school. I wanted to be a social worker at a medical facility, and also have my real estate license. Andrew had graduated with his culinary degree, but decided working in a restaurant wasn't exactly what he wanted. So he decided to return to the community college and find a new path... (picture on right, from November 2012, school field trip with friends- Conklin's Barn Dinner Theatre.) We met in August of 2012, that fall, at the 1st show choir practice. He was really sweet and nice, but I wasn't really looking to date anyone. I had been engaged in the past (2009), then followed that relationship up with 2 bad relationships. But Andrew had different plans for me. He was sweet and asked about my CF. In fact, he had told me he was following my blog. So I knew he underst...

Why Do I Blog? I thought I'd share why I started blogging in honor of my blog's 4th year! There are lots of reasons why I blog. It started when I did Stand-Up Comedy on the BigTen Network. My Stand-Up comedy is all about my Cystic Fibrosis. If you want to watch a clip of it, it's here  (I start about 10 minutes into it- this was my 2nd time ever doing stand up, I was NERVOUS! lol)!  It was pretty rewarding though being able to spread awareness via jokes on TV! Please, understand that I didn't make jokes directly about CF. Having CF itself, is not funny. However, CF can get you into some funny situations and we need to have a good outlook on life. Why be negative and sad all the time? PLUS, Why not share mine and raise awareness?!?! I graduated that semester from college (Fall 2010) and moved back to my hometown. I felt like I wasn't doing enough for the CF Community. Nobody in my hometown, really had CF (those who did had already passed away), and our town d...