Whenever I tell people about my life with CF they always comment on how hard it must be, or how much I have to sacrifice in order to do the things needed to stay healthy. I thought it might be an interesting idea for a posting to discuss the top three "concessions" I've had to make for CF. Now I don't want the tone of this blog to be misconstrued. This isn't some blog of me doing my best Hamlet impression and spouting "O, woe is me" in fact its just the opposite. Actually, to be honest, I actually had to brainstorm a bit to come up with what I felt were three legitimate concessions. In truth I wanted to write this just as an example of how little I really have had to sacrifice and just how "normal" a life I've managed to live.
1) Realistic Career Choices - I remember when I was growing up, probably when I was around 11 or so and watching Backdraft, I thought firefighters were really cool. One day I was talking with my mom and off hand I said how awesome it would be to be a fireman. My mom then explained to me the reasons why being a firefighter was never going to be a real option. Now I don't want to make this sound like one of those moments were a parent just crushes the hopes and dreams of a child, because this was just the passing fancy of a young boy and she was very supportive in explaining why it was an unrealistic idea. Later when I was in my twenties I started to developed an enjoyment for acting. I took some classes, had a few parts on stage and even did some Improv and I was damn good in my own humble opinion. Again I started fantasizing about acting as a career. But the more I did it, the more I looked around at the other people I was acting with and noticing one common denominator, those trying to make it work didn't exactly have much job security or a gold plated health plan. That was when I started to realize Sacrifice Number 1 - that whatever career I chose, I was going to have to make the smart choice and perhaps not chase the fantasy. That being said, I've been really fortunate, I've found a job enjoy, but one that at the same time offers me amazing job security and health benefits. Now, maybe I'm not out fighting fires, or a master thespian, but really, I'm okay with that.
2) High impact sports - Now Number 2 could be argued to be a sacrifice that most people either have to or maybe ought to make as they get older. But it was a choice I was forced to make at perhaps an earlier age than some. Growing up, I was very active in sports, low impact, high impact, it didn't matter. I snowboarded and went skiing regularly, I also played hockey fairly competitively from the age of seven until I was twenty. Nowadays, however, I mostly avoid sports where there is a higher risk for serious injury. Especially anything that would result in an injury that would keep me off my feet for an extended period of time. Now this was a decision I'd mostly arrived at on my own, but it was seeing the impact an injury like this had on a close friend of mine with CF that pushed me over the edge in this decision. One day she was snowboarding and had a fall that resulted in her breaking her pelvis. She recovered in time, but was the first to admit that she was never able to fully come back to her old self after that injury and it was the beginning of a downward trend in her overall lung function numbers. The key thing is there are so many other activities that are great exercise and an amazing experience that cutting out a few activities that introduce a higher level of risk, is something I can live with.
3) Booze and Drugs - I'm not saying I've lived a Quakeresque lifestyle and never partaken in illicit activities or imbibed the occasional spirit. I'm just saying I don't anymore. I'd been told since I was a kid that I wouldn't be able to live it up the way most people could because of the high toll the medications I take had already had on my poor beleaguered Liver. My doctors weren't so naive as to say never drink, but they always advised me to be smart and use moderation. And for the most part I listened to them, on the other hand, I did go to University and well ... anyways. I'm fortunate however that none of the choices I made when I was younger have come back to haunt me in any measurable sense. My decision in the end though was quite simple. I've always struggled with dehydration, and booze really dehydrated me. Now when I was a teenager and in my early twenties, I would tend to recover fairly quickly. However by my mid to late twenties those quick recoveries now took the better part of a week where I was coughing out thick sludge and my stomach had the worst case of gut rot imaginable. To me, it was an extremely easy decision to just cut out alcohol completely as I rarely drank for the taste and more often drank for the drunk. Every now and then I crave a beer on a hot summer day, and some days I even relent and have one, but those days are rare.
So, there you have it. My big three sacrifices. To some people they may seem huge, even impossible, but from my perspective what am I really giving up. The other side that I prefer to look at, is look at everything I have, a good job, a beautiful wife, two adorable baby girls and a nice house. So if making these three sacrifices means I get to enjoy those things for even one extra day, then it is totally and unquestionably worth it.
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