Bloggers With CF

I am a bad blogger, but a great procrastinator! Actually, I wanted to post this entry earlier in the week, but had a few uncontrollable setbacks. Mostly a fried modem and a dental appointment from hell. My apologies for the lack of updates here.

My introduction to CF came in the form of a fiery red head named Eva Markvoort. Actually, at the time I think she was brunette, but that could just be my color blindness. In any case, I stumbled across her blog in 2008, read & followed her entries, and from time to time, she would post videos. Never had I witnessed such courage, such finesse and such dignity in the face of something as ugly as CF. Reading about someones illness was bad enough, but the helplessness I felt one night that came from watching the videos was horrible. She posted a video of herself during a coughing fit. I wept, it was frightening to watch and has, to this day, stuck in my mind.

A few years ago, I caught a cold, or at least what I thought was a cold. The suffering lasted a few days but the symptoms weren't like any cold I had ever had in the past. In fact, it was just coughing fits! Major coughing fits! This went on for about a week before I decided to seek medical help. Well....my cold turned out to be post nasal drip. If you've ever experienced it, it's brutal! I would have these violent coughing fits that would leave me gasping for air. During the night, I'd cough so much, and so heavy I would almost gag and throw up...desperate for air. I don't pretend to think that my bout with the post nasal drip is anything even remotely close to what someone with CF goes through, but I understand the fear of not being able to breath, and the pain caused by the retching.

Needless to say, many of the blogs I follow and read are of people with CF. Some have had lung transplants, while others are on the waiting list....some are managing OK, while others are struggling. What amazes me most is the very tight-knit community CF'ers have formed across the globe. These are regular people full of hopes and dreams that for the most part, blend in with the rest of us and try to lead as normal a life as they can. The funny thing is, I find those living with CF have a much deeper appreciation for each day they are given....regardless of how shitty they're feeling that day. I've listed a few links to some of the CF blogs I follow to the right of the page. I urge you to visit these blogs, read their hopes, dreams and struggles and maybe leave a comment or two, or an email cheering them on! Oh...and one final request, sign your donor card please!!