posted for kendra
I posted this in myother lj a while back, but I'm putting it here for Kendra
Cystic Fibrosis is such an absolutely horrible disease, every time I think about it, I want to cry.
People with CF DIE. "In 2005, the predicted median age of survival rose to 36.5 years"
they make information SOO impersonal. Its just another freaking STATISTIC! well, the people who HAVE CF aren't statistics! its NOT just another number! this is REAL!
don't you get it!? these people have freaking 30 years to live! and many don't even make it that far.
with CF, you live in constant fear. The mucus in your lungs cannot ever be completely cleared, despite the daily "thumps" you have to get... pounding on your back and chest, sometimes upside-down, in attempt to dislodge some of the build up for you to cough up... and so they gather bacteria, and you get lung infections. These generally are so severe, you get landed in a hospital anywhere from a week to MONTHS. That time in the hospital, you don't know whether or not this will be the last time you get sick. yeah, the last time.
When you're hospitalized with CF, you feel as if you're drowning in your own body fluids. For every day you're lying in bed, the nights stretch out twice as long. You're scared because theres no guarentees that your doctor's bag of tricks will work this time-- it seems that the nasty little germs get more resistant every time they're faced with a new antibiotic. you think everyone in the world is having a good time but you, because the only faces you see are nurses and doctors and lab techs who poke you full of needles and suck blood out of you because it hurts so bad, you think you're going to scream. you cough up your guts and vomit blood. you wake up one morning and realize you're still alive and that you made it through another episode, only to know that you'll have to do it all over again. Until the one day you don't wake up at all.
When you're recovering, days turn into years. I don't even know what keeps them from suicide.
you want to be able to laugh and have fun, but it costs you every time. you laugh, and then you can't breathe, you cough up blood. you have to fight for every freaking breath!!
what a terrible way to have to live.
and there is no cure.
Cystic Fibrosis is such an absolutely horrible disease, every time I think about it, I want to cry.
People with CF DIE. "In 2005, the predicted median age of survival rose to 36.5 years"
they make information SOO impersonal. Its just another freaking STATISTIC! well, the people who HAVE CF aren't statistics! its NOT just another number! this is REAL!
don't you get it!? these people have freaking 30 years to live! and many don't even make it that far.
with CF, you live in constant fear. The mucus in your lungs cannot ever be completely cleared, despite the daily "thumps" you have to get... pounding on your back and chest, sometimes upside-down, in attempt to dislodge some of the build up for you to cough up... and so they gather bacteria, and you get lung infections. These generally are so severe, you get landed in a hospital anywhere from a week to MONTHS. That time in the hospital, you don't know whether or not this will be the last time you get sick. yeah, the last time.
When you're hospitalized with CF, you feel as if you're drowning in your own body fluids. For every day you're lying in bed, the nights stretch out twice as long. You're scared because theres no guarentees that your doctor's bag of tricks will work this time-- it seems that the nasty little germs get more resistant every time they're faced with a new antibiotic. you think everyone in the world is having a good time but you, because the only faces you see are nurses and doctors and lab techs who poke you full of needles and suck blood out of you because it hurts so bad, you think you're going to scream. you cough up your guts and vomit blood. you wake up one morning and realize you're still alive and that you made it through another episode, only to know that you'll have to do it all over again. Until the one day you don't wake up at all.
When you're recovering, days turn into years. I don't even know what keeps them from suicide.
you want to be able to laugh and have fun, but it costs you every time. you laugh, and then you can't breathe, you cough up blood. you have to fight for every freaking breath!!
what a terrible way to have to live.
and there is no cure.