My Thoughts on Five Feet Apart

**This blog post may contain some spoilers on the movie, so if you're planning to see it, I'd come back and read this after.**

Yesterday evening I went to see the new movie Five Feet Apart with some past coworkers and friends (all knew about me having CF). After the movie, we had an awesome conversation about CF. That's EXACTLY what I was hoping this movie would do -- pique people's curiosity about CF. The more they know, the more they'll (hopefully) be inclined to spread the word and help us raise funds to help find a CURE.

As a member of the CF community, I was really looking forward to seeing a movie specifically about Cystic Fibrosis. There have been many different opinions from people in the CF community about this movie, just like there would be different opinions from anyone about anything. Not CFer feels the same way about everything - everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

I was really excited about getting more awareness for Cystic Fibrosis from this movie. CF is not a very common disease, with only about 30,000 people diagnosed in the United States and about 70,000 total world-wide. Cystic Fibrosis has no cure and affects almost every patient differently, which is a major hurdle for researchers and scientists because they can't create a "one size fits all" medication for everyone.


Before going to see the movie, I was expecting it to be a love story about two people with CF who couldn't come within five feet (six feet is the CF Foundation guidelines) of each other for the fear of passing their bacteria to one another. I assumed it would be focused more on their love story, with a little mention of CF throughout the movie. I assumed that one of the main characters would die at the end of the movie and that I'd be an emotional basket-case throughout the whole thing.

I was pleasantly surprised throughout the movie because there was a huge focus on CF. I felt the movie did an excellent job explaining typical CF treatments like the Vest, nebulizers, enzymes, countless pills/vitamins, using a g-tube, IV antibiotics and oxygen. They even showed one of the main characters cough and spit out mucus (you could hear the eww from the teenagers in the theater) as I thought to myself story of my life. The actress who played Stella was eerily similar to Claire Wineland, but in a good way. I felt that the actors/actress displayed what it's like to have CF pretty accurately. There were many lines throughout the movie that really hit home for me, too, especially when one of the characters, Poe, was talking about CF being a burden on our significant others (how they're just waiting for us to die -- I can't remember exactly what it was anymore & it's driving me crazy). Either way, even though I am not nearly as sick as the characters in this movie, I have had several friends pass away from CF and know that the actors' portrayal was very accurate.

Of course there were several "Hollywood" moments throughout the movie that were added for dramatic affect that would not be realistic (running up staircases on oxygen, a pool in a hospital, Stella's immediate wake-up after transplant & not even cringing while crying about Will...etc), but going into it, I knew that was a possibility and it didn't change the way I felt about the movie.

I am SUPER excited for more people to see this movie, especially those who may not know much, if anything, about Cystic Fibrosis. I think this movie is going to have a huge, positive impact on the way people understand CF and how important it is for us to continue fighting until we have a cure!

So overall, YES I felt this movie portrayed CF in an excellent way. YES, I think it's awesome for the CF community to finally get some recognition. YES, I'd definitely see it again...and possibly take notes on my favorite quotes. :) If you go see it and have more questions about CF, I'm an open book, so ask away.



Below I've added a couple links to interviews with the actress who plays Stella and the director of the film, posted by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. I found them very interesting & they gave some more background on the movie. **Oh, and I really want to read the book, too**
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Great Strides 2018

Our 2017 Bloomington team! :-)

Great Strides season is upon us! This year, the foundation has condensed several of it's walk sites in IL, so it took me a bit to decide which one our team should attend (the two we normally do are now gone). This year we're going to try to help Champaign's walk grow with our large team.

This year is also a special year for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. This is the 30th year of Great Strides! It also happens that I'll be turning 30 years old this summer! When I was born, in 1988, I don't think anyone expected me to live this long, let alone be thriving!

Since this year marks 30 years of living, thriving and beating CF, I'd love for this to be our biggest Great Strides year yet!

*Most number of people registered
*Biggest turn out in Champaign
*Largest amount raised for CF -- our team goal is $5,000 (or more)

To reach these goals this year, I need YOUR help. If you'd like to walk with us in Champaign this year, please make sure that your register online for free: http://fightcf.cff.org/goto/colleen30

If you're unable to attend the walk with us, but would still like to make a donation: http://fightcf.cff.org/goto/colleen30

If you're interested in walking at another location around the state or country: http://fightcf.cff.org/site/PageServer?pagename=strides_searchResults

Whether you can join us or not, to help raise awareness of CF and it's need for donations, feel free to share the link on your social media with friends, family, co-workers, etc. The more we make people AWARE of CF, the more likely we are to collect DONATIONS. And as we know, DONATIONS go to RESEARCH for MEDICATIONS and hopefully one day, A CURE!

Great Strides, Great Strides and More Great Strides

Did I mention it's Great Strides season?! This spring was filled with three Great Strides events for me and it was so awesome!!

DeKalb

Our first event was in DeKalb in April. This one is very special to me because I helped create this walk when we lived there five years ago. It also takes place at the same park where Tim and I got married, so it has lots of sentimental value to me. I loved having Anna there this year and am excited to continuously attend as the years go by and as our family grows and changes. Its fun visiting the town where it all started.

We typically have a smaller team at this event - a few of our friends, my family and Tim's aunt & uncle who live nearby. Even though our team was small, we still raised $450!

Parsons
My second event was actually held at my school. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to speak to all classrooms about what CF is and how I keep myself healthy on a daily basis.

We did two fundraisers as a school and finished with our own Great Strides Walk on the path around our playground. Each class collected money, but then we also did a school-wide change collection that was much more popular. We had a "Cutest Baby Contest" where I displayed 26 different baby pictures that belonged to different staff members throughout the building. The students put change (some put cash) in the jug of the baby they thought was the cutest. It was so fun and the kids loved it!
The combined total from classroom donations and the Cutest Baby Contest was $597.63! My students brought in the most money to our class so we were able to lead the school in our Great Strides walk. As an entire school, we walked one mile outside. The local newspaper was there to report on our event, and there was also a former student (now in her early 40s) who has CF and has had a double lung transplant who walked with us. (Extra pictures from the paper)

It was an amazing event to bring awareness to the kids about CF and I'm excited to see it hopefully grow into the community over the years.


Bloomington

Our final Great Strides event was in Bloomington which is now our team's biggest location. I even had a few Parsons people come out to support me! Last minute, I was asked to speak before the walk, which I always enjoy doing because I hope to spread some positives about CF and how it is possible to live a 'normal' life despite having a disease. This year, I brought Anna up with me during my speech.

We enjoyed a nice walk with friends and family, then hung out at the park for a little while before leaving to celebrate our nephew's second birthday.

Our team raised a total of $1,695 at this sight!!

Which brings Parsons Owls and Colleen's Friends and Family grand total to:

$2,907.63!!!!

Thank you so much to everyone who shared information about CF, donated and walked with us this year! I am so lucky to have such amazing people in my life. :-)  

Great Strides

Click on the picture above to head to my team's Great Strides page

Colleen's Friends & Family's next Great Strides walk is just around the corner!! We had our first one on April 12th, in DeKalb, and our team raised a total of $1,455! Our next one is in Bloomington on Saturday, May 10th. I'd love for our team to raise a combined total of $5,000 between the two walk sites. So far for the Bloomington one, our team has nine people registered who have raised $645. That puts our team total at $2,100 so far! I'd love for us to reach a grand total of $5,000 this year - only $2,900 left!! Don't forget that donations & fundraising don't close after we've walked in Great Strides, it's open all year. Feel free to share this with your friends & family to help raise awareness & funds for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to help me live a long and healthy life for my husband and daughter!

Thankful November, Week 2

Each day of November, I'm going to take some time to recognize at least one thing I'm thankful for - no matter how big or small, then I'll post them at the end of the week. Go here to see the first week. I should also mention, that these are not in any specific order, other than one thought per day.

3) Dr. Maria Dowell, my CF doctor! She is AMAZING! I had a wonderful peds doctor, but I felt that as soon as I moved to the adult clinic, that I was finally in charge of my own health. Dr. Dowell helped me realize that I was in charge of my CF, not that CF was in charge of me. I thought there was no way to gain back lung function that I had lost. She opened my eyes to see that if I took the job of taking care of myself seriously, then I could fight back at CF, and that's exactly what I've done over the last six-seven years since being with her. Dr. Dowell gave me the kick in the ass that I very-much needed to keep myself healthy for as long as possible! She is full of information, extremely understanding, and is a great person to talk to.  I know that when I see/talk to her, she has my best interest in mind.  I look forward to my appointments with her several times a year, not just to see how my health is doing, but just to sit and talk with her. I appreciate, more than I can express in words, everything that she has done for me, and I hope that we can maintain this great relationship for years to come!

4) Speaking of amazing people, there's my husband, Tim! He's the second 'kick in the ass' that I needed to wake myself up and live my life. To be honest, the first day I met Tim, I didn't have this "oh my goodness, he's the one" feeling, and he was actually the one who pursued me (read about how we met, here). But a few months later, after talking to him one night online, I said to myself, "I'm gonna marry this guy!" and the called my best friend to make sure I wasn't going crazy! Haha!
Here we are seven years later and still as happy as can be. Tim is perfect for me. He laughs at my stupid jokes, and I laugh at his. He 'kept me in line' in college with my healthcare, which motivated me to be the healthiest version of myself, for him. He'll go along with me when I sign us up for 5Ks and stair climbs, and usually beat me. :) He puts up with my excess mucus like a champ and rarely ever complains. ;) He is supportive, a listener, understanding, open, happy, and loving....how could I ask for anything more??

5) Today, I'm going to go with music and the ability to listen to it (I think it's something we take for granted). Without my ability to hear, I'd miss out on all the beautiful and fun music that I like to listen to. There are some days where music just gets me through. Its something I enjoy listening to and singing along with, especially country music. I love that songs are powerful enough to bring me back to a specific time and place, and bring back so many memories and emotions. I love that there are different types of music and like to switch it up a bit depending on my mood. Music is good for my soul. :-)

6) I'm thankful for the opportunity to shoot the Day in the Life Videos with cfliving.com! When I was a teenager, hating and trying to deal with my CF, it was videos just like these that I was looking for! I hope that by participating in these videos, and sharing my story, someone somewhere is getting the little pick-me-up, motivation, advice and/or information that they need to keep themselves going! I never thought I'd be able to do something like this, and it was so fun making the videos! The cfliving people are the best! :-)

And if you haven't seen it yet, here's the latest video on routines & goals. I thrive on routine and schedule, although I still know how to be flexible when I have to be. Having a routine and setting goals for myself keeps me motivated and on track with all of my treatments! Just so happens that today is my 250th day of 100% compliance....haven't missed a vest or neb in 250 days!!

7) Today I'm thankful for technology. I love having my blog, Facebook page & groups, etc, to connect with family, friends and other CF patients around the world. I've met so many wonderful people who I would never have met if it wasn't for online communities and the internet. Today, I'm especially thankful for technology because I'm starting to catch a cold/virus/something, so I was able to email my doctor & nurse this morning to call in some Cipro for me. It's amazing that I'm able to get in touch with my doctor in Chicago and get the drugs I need the same day! I'm also thankful for the advice & information I get from other CFers I'm able to connect with through social media. Several suggested doing sinus rinses when catching a cold (and regularly) to help with sinuses. I bought one while at Walgreens picking up my Cipro and tried it this evening - what a WEIRD feeling! I still feel stuffed up on one side, but I'll keep at it over the next few days to see if it helps relieve my cold a bit faster. Thanks everyone for your help! :)

8) I'm grateful to have a 'recovery' day on Monday. I've got Monday off due to Veteran's Day, and I can already foresee that becoming a very lazy day. I've felt pretty crumby all day today and am looking forward to finishing up this third treatment so I can get to bed. Tomorrow we're heading up to Chicago to hang out with some friends and then we have the CF CLIMB on Sunday! Tim and I will be climbing 58 flights of stairs. My goal is to finish in under 30 minutes, and I'm really hoping this cold doesn't slow me down! I am thankful though, that I'll have Monday of to be completely lazy and get my schoolwork done in my PJs...and rest my legs!

Gets Me Every Time

I absolutely LOVE this video!!! It gets me teary and gives me the chills no matter how many times I watch it!!! And, word on the street is that there are four CF patients (a couple are obvious, like the lead wearing her purple :) ) in the video! Please pass it on! 

ROAR!!!!

CF CLIMB

Call us crazy, but Tim and I just signed up (and paid) to climb 58 flights of stairs on a Sunday morning! 

Why, you might ask?? Well to support the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, of course!!! I received an email from the Foundation the other day informing me about this event and it piqued my interest. It's downtown Chicago, so I thought I'd get more of my family to sign up (not one yet....they must be too scared ;) ) and I've been exploring lots of Great Strides events this year, what's one more fundraiser for the year? Plus, they were having a promotion where it was only $10 to sign up instead of the typical $45 - can't pass up a deal like that! It's going to be a physical challenge, but I won't let me CF stop me on this one.

And with the new CF regulations & guidelines, more than one CF patient can attend indoor events sponsored by the CF Foundation at their own risk. Here's the disclosure from the event's website:

B. CEPACIA AND INFECTION CONTROL POLICYBecause of risks to people with cystic fibrosis (CF), only one person with CF may be invited. Also,individuals who have ever had a confirmed positive sputum culture for Burkholderia cepacia (B. cepacia) complex shall not attend any Foundation events/meetings. These requirements are because CF germs can be passed between individuals who have CF. Some germs in a person with CF can cause serious respiratory illness and, in some patients, may lead to death. CF germs are not a risk for otherwise healthy individuals.

Despite this policy, individuals with CF might choose to attend events or meetings without informing the CF Foundation or without the Foundation's knowledge. If so, they do so at their own risk. The Foundation accepts no responsibility for any risk to health involved in attendance, or in any social contact between persons with CF. For more information, please visit www.cff.org.

I'm glad that they're not enforcing the strict regulations of only one CFer attending an indoor event. I feel like a lot of people in the CF community were really turned off by this, and I think it's fair that we're able to make our own decisions on things like this. I understand they're doing it to keep us safe, and also to cover themselves, but I think that CF adults should be responsible and mature enough to make their own decisions. With that said, I am aware that at least one other CF patient will be there, so I will wear my pin proudly to identify myself and be sure to keep my distance.

Finally, my goal for this event is to raise at least $200. If you'd like to donate to my CF Climb, please let me know. My page hasn't been set up yet on the CFF website, but as soon as it is, I'll post it on here. Right now, I'm just collecting any cash or check (made out to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation) donations to submit on the morning of the Climb.....which is only three weeks away! I better get these legs into shape!!!!!

A Day in the Life: Chapter One

I am SO excited to finally share this with you!!!! I've hinted at something coming up for a while now and I can finally share this wonderful experience with you! I was approached at the beginning of this year by the people at CF Living because they were looking for a "fresh face" for 2013. Someone had referred me to them, which I found so inspiring. After several phone interviews, they came out one weekend in April to film Tim and I discussing our lives with CF. I am so proud and happy that Tim was willing to do this with me! I feel it's so important to get his perspective, not just mine, because really it's something he has to deal with, too. 

I cannot believe the amazing amount of feedback there's been from the video since CF Living released it one week ago. The video has had over 300 likes, over 140 shares and over 50 comments! And that's just off of the one posted by CF Living! I've seen fellow CFers, co-workers, friends, family and people I don't even know, share the video on their Facebook & Twitter pages, which I appreciate so much - the more awareness of Cystic Fibrosis, the better!!! 

I never thought I'd have the opportunity to be a part of something like this, and when the chance came up there was NO way I could turn it down! THIS is exactly what I was looking for when I was going through my teenage years when I didn't want to accept CF as a part of my life. To read all of the comments about how I'm 'inspiring', 'motivating', calling me a 'role model', telling me that I 'give them hope' it's an unbelievably amazing feeling! 

I can't wait until the next four chapters (Work Life, Routine & Goals, Marriage & Family, and Exercise & Nutrition) are out because they each touch on their own subject and I think they'll spark a lot of great conversations. 

So without further ado, if you haven't seen it yet, or you'd like to watch it again, here's Chapter One: Meet Colleen.

A Day in the Life: Chapter 1, Meet Colleen

CF Awareness Month Blog #31 - THANK YOU!

Thank you for reading all 31 posts (or the ones you did read!) this month on my mission to help raise awareness of Cystic Fibrosis.

Thank you for your kind words of encouragement from commenting on some of my posts. I love to know that my readers are enjoying what they're reading.

Thank you to anyone and everyone who's ever donated to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation!! Every dollar makes a difference and you're helping to keep me healthy! For that, I cannot thank you enough.

Thank you to everyone who has participated in a Great Strides event! Along with raising money for research, they are wonderful for getting people involved and gaining public awareness for CF.

Thank you to those who have shared my blog with others to help spread awareness of my personal story with Cystic Fibrosis. I hope to be reaching CFers and parents of CFers, and I want them to know that it is possible to live happily & fully with CF.

CF Awareness Month Blog #30 - Raising Awareness

At the bottom it says:
THEY KEEP YOU ALIVE

• I hope to be spreading awareness by sharing my story with you through this blog, and I hope that you'll share it with the people you know. It's been fun to share some more about my CF story through this month's blog posts.
• I'll be able to share something with you in July that should help spread more awareness... :-)
• I've created a Facebook page for my Great Strides team (Colleen's Friends & Family) where I update year-round. 
• Participating in Great Strides is a wonderful way to raise money and awareness of Cystic Fibrosis for anyone!
• Even just wearing my Great Strides, Out Run CF and/or Rock CF shirts out in public and to my 5Ks help raise awareness...especially when they're as cool as my new Rock CF shirt (get yours here!) ----->
• How do you help raise awareness of CF??

CF Awareness Month Blog #29 - My Wish For CF

"My wish for you

Is that this life becomes all that you want it to

Your dreams stay big

Your worries stay small 

You never need to carry more than you can hold

And while you're out there getting where you're getting to

I hope you know somebody loves you

And wants the same things too

Yeah this, is my wish." 

~Rascal Flatts~

I love this song by Rascal Flatts (one of my favorite groups), and I really think it applies to this blog topic as well. Of course we're all wishing for a cure to be found for Cystic Fibrosis! That's the whole point of spreading awareness, donations, Great Strides, etc.

But in the meantime, I feel it's very important for those of us affected by this disease to stay as positive and hopeful as possible. I know that it's not easy everyday, but we cannot let this disease define who we are or negatively take control of our lives. Look into your future and plan for it, live your life!!! Who says that you can't do what other people do? CFers do it all the time!

And remember that there are so many people that love and support you!! Whether it's your family, friends, co-workers, or members of the CF community, we're all in this together! So until we reach that day that CF does stand for Cure Found, we need to remain positive, strong, happy, grateful for the life we have, and keep spreading awareness and raising money to find that CURE!

CF Awareness Month Blog #28 - What NOT To Say

• "Have another cigarette!" or anything else linking our cough to smoking....trust me, I know we'd all give anything to not have the smokers cough.
• "Must be nice to have to gain weight." (see comment below)
• "Must be nice to be able to eat whatever you want." I've blogged about this before, but it's not about eating whatever you want. Yes I need to consume a large amount of calories, but if I put crap into my body, then I'm going to feel like crap, and I am going to crap! haha
• "You're so skinny!" or "I wish I was as skinny as you." These bother me only because people don't realize my life-long struggle to not be so darn skinny and malnurished. 
• "The Vest looks fun." Try being hooked up to it for at least an hour a day, and while you're shaking, you're coughing your brains out....SO fun!
• Anything that has to do with our bathroom habits!!! WE CAN'T HELP IT!

That's about all that I can think of. I hope some fellow CFers will add a few! And it's one thing to say these to me without knowledge of my CF, but it's most annoying when it comes out of the mouths of people who know what I'm going through and just don't think before they make a comment.

CF Awareness Month Blog #27 - Inspirations

See my blog below, there's a huge inspiration for me! I am really inspired by fellow CFers who are totally kicking CF booty! They motivate me to better myself and my health each and everyday. Also CFers who have lost their life fighting this disease. They make me want to prove that I can still live a full life despite having CF. I'm also inspired by CF moms - because not only are they taking care of themselves & their CF, but they're also proving that they can carry and raise a child(ren) at the same time! To me, that's pretty inspiring! I hope that one day I can be an awesome CF mom, too. :-)

CF Awareness Month Blog #26 - In Memorium

So far in my life, I've only personally known one CF patient who's died, my friend Joe, and it was very difficult for me. And I say 'so far' because I know that as I connect with more cysters and fibros in the online CF community, eventually (hopefully years and years down the road) I'm going to start losing more friends. It may not necessarily be to CF, but it's still tough when you have that connection with them. You know exactly how they were feeling and what they had to deal with day to day.

Summer 2005 - 17 years old

When I walk in Great Strides, or when I'm running around my neighborhood, or feeling particularly negative about wanting to do my treatments, I think about my friend Joe. I'm doing this, whether it's running, raising awareness, or doing my treatments, because I can. I think about all of the things that Joe wanted to do with his life and how, unfortunately, he's not around to do them anymore. I think about how he would want me to be happy and healthy, and to do the things I love. I do it for him. I do it for those who have lost their life from CF. To show them that I'm not going to give up because I know they didn't give up when they were fighting, too. I am doing everything in my power to make those who are no longer with us because of CF, proud. And their families proud. I do it to prove to myself that I can beat CF each day. I will not let CF run my life.

CF Awareness Month Blog #25 - CFF

I would not be where I am today without the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Since CF is not a federally funded disease, all research is completed off of the money received from donations. The CFF funds most research that is being done to help cure this disease. On their website, you can follow new drugs as they make their way through the pipeline, which for me, is very encouraging to actually see the progress being made! So many of the drugs that are "To Patients" are ones that I am currently on that are helping to keep me healthy so that I am able to live a normal life. Thank you to anyone who's ever donated to the CFF and thank you to those who are working at the CFF and/or doing the research to help keep me alive.

CF Awareness Month Blog #24 - Videos

Cindy's Kalydeco video: This is a short news clip of one of my cysters, Cindy, who has been on Kalydeco for almost a year now. Shortly after she started it, she found out she was pregnant. Now her daughter, Kate, is two months old and doing very well. This video explains how taking Kalydeco has positively changed Cindy's life & her outlook on her future. :-)

Great Strides video: This is the video from the Great Strides website.

And finally, the video below is the longer version of the Dick's Sporting Goods "Every Runner Has A Reason" commercial series. This one features a 29 year old man with cystic fibrosis. Enjoy :-)

CF Awareness Month Blog #23 - Photos

I have a ton of CF related pictures that I could share. I have a lot from Great Strides, several of me doing my treatments and some other CF awareness pictures. I won't bombard you, but I'll share a few of my favorites:

My largest Great Strides Team to date!! Over 50 friends & family, and there are a few missing from the picture. :-)

I saw this one floating around Facebook and thought it was cute.

Interesting fact (also found this on Facebook)

All of my medications & equipment minus the Vest and some nebulizer viles

Fall 2006 - talking to Tim online while doing my Vest

This is a newer thing for me, but I've really been trying to keep myself healthy
when I go to the hospital for doctor appointments.

CF Awareness Month Blog #22 - CF Facts

One of my cyster blogger friends, Illness Inspired Words, has been sharing a few "fun facts" this month in honor of it being CF awareness month, so I'm going to point you in the direction of her blog for today. Enjoy! :-)

Fun Fact #1: CF is not a lung disease!
Fun Fact #2: CF is an "orphan disease"
Fun Fact #3: CF is an extremely expensive disease 
Fun Fact #4: CF is mostly an "invisible disease"

CF Awareness Month Blog #20 & 21

Sorry I'm running a little behind - we've been very busy lately. Saturday was Tim's 27th birthday and we celebrated by going to a St. Louis Cardinals game with his sister and her husband on Saturday evening. Unfortunately, the Cards lost in extra innings, but we had great seats and a fun time together. Sunday we spent the morning hanging out with our nephew, Isaac before heading home and grocery shopping (a thing we both hate doing!). I love that we now only live about two hours from Tim's sister because it makes it much easier to hang out for a weekend. :)

Really?! I hope after reading my blog, you have some information about what Cystic Fibrosis really is! I know that each case is a little different patient to patient, but I hope you've been able to learn the ins and outs of my case through my posts. For more information you can visit www.cff.org, www.cfliving.org, www.cysticlife.org, or to learn more about my CF click on the words "Cystic Fibrosis" under the what I write about  area on the right side of this page. 

CF Awareness Month Blog #18 & 19

I would definitely say I'm a little crazy about having a routine/schedule. That helps me get my treatments done and usually not at crazy hours of the day. I also have one of those days of the week pill organizer things which really keeps me on track with taking all of my vitamins each day. It's much easier filling that thing once a week than getting one pill out of eight different bottles each morning.
As far as hygiene, I would not consider myself a germ-a-phobe....obviously, I am a kindergarten teacher! But really, I try not to be too weird about germs. I feel like I need to be exposed to things like 'normal' people to help build my immune system.
Probably the most annoying thing, and the thing I need to get better about is cleaning/sterilizing my neb cups. Right now I clean them in hot soapy water after each treatment. I'm supposed to boil them often to also help kill the germs, but that is so annoying. I'm very anal about keeping the mouth pieces and cups together (I label each neb cup so I'm not using the same cup for different meds), so I don't like to throw all of the pieces from all three cups into boiling water at the same time...maybe that's just something I need to get over. I've read that using a baby bottle sterilizer helps some CF patients, so I might look into that. We currently don't have a dishwasher (machine -- I'm the dishwasher), so that's not an option for me right now.

Haha, I love that the picture says, "OMG don't start me!" because that's exactly what I'm thinking. If you know me at all, you know how much I HATE when people smoke!!!!! After growing up with some family members who've smoked, having a good friend with CF whose parents smoked (UGH!), living in apartments with smoking neighbors, I am not afraid to tell the world how STUPID I think it is!!!!

But honestly, I think it comes with having CF and appreciating my body a little more than someone who doesn't have any health issues. I was born with crappy lungs and I work my butt off daily to keep them in tip-top shape because I want to lead a long, healthy life. Where (I feel) someone who's born without any health issues assumes they're going to lead a long, healthy life, so why not smoke a little bit. Again, I have no idea what's going on in their head, and honestly want to slap them sometimes for smoking - haha - but that's just my guess.