Family Life

After reading a recent blog post about the elusive “f” word, I was inspired to publish my own piece about the irony of CF and family life. I feel that some people simply do not understand the grasp that CF has on my life. One of the areas that has been most affected by the disease is my personal life.

To most people, having a family is something that is taken for granted. It is a natural part of life, a right of passage if you will. However, to those of us living with CF, having a family represents something much more. It is a dream, a desire, an underlying notion that consumes our every decision. There is an inherent selfishness that saturates the idea. Abandonment, desertion, rejection; all of these idea’s comes into play when a CF patient decides to start a family. After all, we will, at some point in time, be forced to leave our loved ones behind. That being said, don’t we all – healthy or unhealthy – face the same predicament?

In my opinion, there is only one factor that should be considered when an individual decides to start a family: love. All other barriers, all other hurdles and all other difficulties can be overcome if love exists.

Part of living with CF is living with limitation; however, there are some things that we must not let the disease affect.

A Day in the Life

Cystic Fibrosis is embedded with ambiguity and misunderstanding. The myths and misinformation that surround the disease are abundant. As a CF patient I try my best to misspell these half-truths. In this post, I thought I would take a moment to share some of the ways that CF impacts my day-to-day life.

Most students roll out of bed with just enough time to make it to class. I, on the other hand, have been forced to adopt a more demanding morning routine. Every day, I am up at 6:00 a.m. to begin my daily battle with cystic fibrosis.

Each morning I awaken to a harsh reality. After 6 or 7 hours of sedentary inactivity, my lungs are almost always filled with a thick lining of mucus that makes it very difficult for me to breathe. This discomfort is one that every CF patient knows all too well.

I begin and end my day with 60 minutes of treatments: 30 minutes of PEP (positive expiratory pressure) mask therapy, a form of chest physiotherapy to help loosen the mucus in my lungs, and 30 minutes of inhaled medications through a nebulizer. Luckily for me, I am able to perform half of this therapy while in the car while on my way to school.

In addition to physiotherapy, I take pancreatic enzymes with every meal and snack to help me digest and absorb the nutrients in food. These, along with the many oral antibiotics and steroids that I must take, bring my total ingestion of pills to about 30 a day. Not to mention the variety of puffers I use in the morning and evening to help keep my airways open.

In total, my CF regime consumes between 2 – 3 hours of each day. Needless to say, as a CF patient you learn to prioritize and manage your time effectively.

The treatment protocol is certainly both strenuous and time consuming; however, it is a necessity, not an option. As a 23-year-old, I have come to accept that I owe my life to the medical treatments that I have received, and continue to receive on a daily basis. Quite frankly, fighting CF is a gigantic pain in my ass, but it is that fight that will keep me alive until the day that a cure is found.

Carleton University Students Continue to Shine

The Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CCFF) applauds the decision of the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) on Monday night to continue its long-standing partnership with Shinerama. Last week, the Association voted to cancel the annual fundraiser at Carleton University. After many students expressed their concern over the vote, a second motion to re-instate Shinerama was put forth. At yesterday’s meeting, the new motion was passed, setting the stage for another Shinerama campaign in 2009 at the university. “The students at Carleton are leaders in the fight against cystic fibrosis,” said Cathleen Morrison, Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

“We are delighted that CUSA chose to continue support for CF research and care. We look forward to working with Carleton students on a successful Shinerama 2009.”

Shinerama is Canada’s largest post-secondary fundraiser, involving students at approximately 65 university and college campuses across Canada, annually. It began in 1964 as a shoe-shining campaign, and has grown to include a wide variety of community and campus-based events under the Shinerama banner. Carleton University has participated in Shinerama for more than 25 years and has raised close to $1 million. This year alone, the school raised $40,000 in support of the work of the CCFF. “Shinerama is an excellent example of young Canadians helping other young Canadians,” added Morrison.


“We’re grateful to all students across the country who have helped to make great strides in the fight against cystic fibrosis.”


This Canada-wide student campaign celebrates its 45th anniversary in 2009. About CF and the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Cystic fibrosis, which affects the lungs and the digestive system, is the most common, fatal, genetic disease affecting Canadian children and young adults. In the digestive tract, CF blocks the absorption of adequate nutrients from food. In the lungs, the effects of the disease are most devastating; and with time, respiratory problems become increasingly severe. Ultimately, most CF deaths are due to lung disease. The Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is a Canada-wide health charity, with 50 volunteer chapters, that funds CF research and care. In 2008, the Foundation is supporting more than 50 research projects, which are exploring all aspects of the CF puzzle; from investigating new methods of fighting infection and inflammation in the lungs, to finding new therapies that target the basic defect at a cellular level.


For more information, visit www.cysticfibrosis.ca.