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and medical professionals who impact our lives.
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Living With CF Continued
The most notable part of understanding that I had CF came when I was in 5th
grade. This was the first time my family had ever heard of CF specialty team
clinics. We got an appointment and were just astonished at the volume of
information that was presented to us. I remember being more thrilled than
scared. There were booklets about nutrition which for me was a real turning
point. I typically have more difficulty with malabsorption than with lung
infections. Being told that I could have as much fat as I could tolerate and
as many calories as I could tolerate was the most exciting thing I had ever
been told in my life. Up until that point I think I could count on one hand
the number of times my family had eaten at a fast food restaurant.
We celebrated that night on the way home from the doctor's office by
stopping at Denny's for a hot fudge sundae-my first ever.
I consider myself fortunate to have not been hospitalized until I was 13. I
have to admit, this was largely due to my rebellion against taking my meds.
The teenage years with CF were rough, but I'm sure that's true of anyone's
teenage experience. Throughout high school I was hospitalized an average of
once a year. When I got to college I had learned enough about how my body
was affected by CF during times of stress, so I learned to voluntarily
schedule my "tune-ups" around my breaks from school.
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