Monday, February 28, 2011

You Know You Have CF When

So some of you may remember this from a year or so ago... I thought it was appropriate to post here.  I did not write this, but I have to say whoever did summed it up very well.  Enjoy!

You know you have CF when: 
1. You do a happy dance when you hack up a huge wad of mucus, show your dad and he gives you a congratulatory high five! 
2. You know more medical terms by the age of ten than most people know their whole lives 
3. You have your pharmacist, family doctor, CF doctor, the emergency room that you always use or your medical insurance company as numbers 1- 10 on your cell phone's speed dial 
4. You have multiple scars from PICC lines, IV's,Ports, and other 'experimentations' as the doctors like to call them 
5. You are so used to getting blood drawn that you are the proverbial 'test dummy' for all the new nurse fresh out of college—"you don't mind do ya?!" 
6. You have antibacterial gel in your purse, in your car, on the kitchen counter, in the bathroom, in your friend's dorm, their car—heck everywhere!
7. You can smell smoke hundreds of feet away and go searching for the source so you can thump them upside their retarded heads!!!! 
8. You quite adamantly think that smokers are THE dumbest people you know—I always love it when they walk up a flight of stairs huffing and then say they NEED a cigarette! WHAT?! 
9. You laugh at those who whine & complain from a common cold or worse yet stay home because of it! 
10. You are truly sad for those cute little lab mice who must suffer from experimentations so we can have medicines to help us live—for about 1 second than you jump for glee because they came up with something to help you breathe! 
11. You can instruct the nurses how to work the IV machine at the hospital 
12. Some of the most memorable times with your friends/family is hanging out and wasting time at the hospital 
13. You make people wince because of the sound of your cough 
14. The checkout lady at Wal-Mart has confidently told you that she just got over what ever I have and Theraflu worked for her, which you calmly and sarcastically say—I will make sure to tell my doctors. 
15. You can sleep through anything—you perfected the skill by being shaken by your vest all of these years 
16. You are a multi-tasker by need. While doing you're vest you MUST eat breakfast, do your nebulizers, homework, make-up, straighten your hair and have a conversation with your mother about your most current ache in your chest all at once or it would never get done.(haha maybe not all this at once but u get the point) 
17. You learn by the age of 13 that life is a gift and most people don't see it's pretty paper! 
18. You have used your vest multiple times as a torment device for your dog by blowing air at him and watching him try to catch it in his mouth, entertainment device for the kids because a shaking vest is a fun 'toy' and a laughing tool for the adults when you try to talk to keep up with the conversation, even on the maximum setting. 
19. Many adults have commented to you that you are very wise for your age—yippee! 
20. You really did have a midlife crisis at the age of 18—what the heck do I do now? I wasn't suppose to live this long! 
21. If Albuterol and Xopenex were living things you would marry them because according to you they were sent from heaven by God to us CFers for a little help in the breathing department—I heart Albuterol! 
22. You laugh at your friends and their newest drama—hah! Don't we all wish it was THAT easy! 
23. You get truly irritated at people who don't put yes as organ donors on their driver's license—what the heck are you going to do with them when you're dead, huh?! (haha:]) 
24. You make peace with God at an early age. 
25. You feel as if there is ALWAYS someone worse off than you somewhere 
26. You are constantly on the go, realizing that time stands still for no one. 
27. You grew up thinking that everyone in your class does machines, nebulizers, inhalers, sprays and pills for an hour or two each morning before they came to school and an hour or two after. 
28. You are more scared of losing your loved ones, family and friends then you are of dying yourself. 
29. You realize at an extremely young age that you can buy everything but time and as a CFer that is the one thing you would love to have! 
30. You have also learned who your real friends are because most people can't take the pressure of being around a person who has CF 
31. You truly feel that God gave you this for a reason and, dang it, you're going to make Him proud!

No comments:

Post a Comment