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I never had the luxury of time to reflect on the hardships that I experienced fighting cystic fibrosis because I was too focused on that particular day’s struggle. Still, there are two experiences that have stuck with me even though they were more than 10 years ago.
I was nervous about deciding to go to college — how would CF and the intensity of college fit together? There have been more than a few bumps along the way, but I’ve learned that through everything, I got this.
I initially struggled with how to share about my cystic fibrosis with people I met when I started college. Here’s what I learned.
I am excited that the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation has surpassed $100 million in research funding through its Infection Research Initiative and that it promises to continue to support infection research at the same rate as the past three years. I am hopeful that the patient community will hear more about funding updates for new infection research as we move forward.
When I was in college, I wanted to do it all and my health wasn’t as much of a priority anymore. I learned to accept that things will not always go according to plan and to integrate routine in my life to ensure my health comes first.
I was diagnosed late with cystic fibrosis. When I found out I had bronchiectasis on top of that, I was crushed. However, nine years later, my health is as good as it can be, and I’ve learned the value of fighting back.
When I went off to college it was up to me to manage my cystic fibrosis for the first time without help from my family. I felt fine after skipping my medications and decided to stop using my noisy vest because it embarrassed me, and I wanted to make friends at my new school. As a result, I stayed in the hospital for a few weeks and left with a new perspective on life.
From a young age, I was determined that cystic fibrosis would never stop me from pursuing my dreams in the medical field. It wasn’t until I hit a road bump in pharmacy school that I realized my CF could actually give me a unique advantage.
I learned that service dogs for diabetics can be trained to detect the scent of high or low blood sugar. Could this type of training be effective for teaching my service dog to detect when I have a bacterial infection?