This is my story.

Early in the morning in 1976, my mother awoke with what she thought was gas pains from the pot roast she had eaten for dinner. Haha! Nope! That was ME mom, not gas! I was ready to start my venture in this great wide world!

I was quite a colicky and fussy baby. Little did my parents know at the time I was suffering from tummy aches due to complications from Cystic Fibrosis (CF). At 18 months old I was diagnosed with CF, and the doctors told my parents I wouldn’t live past the age of twelve. I can not imagine what it would have been like to be in their shoes. CF is a life-shortening, genetic lung disease that has been a challenge to live with, but with out it I wouldn’t be the person I am today. I am very proud of who I have become.

Growing up I was a very healthy girl (for someone with CF), although I was quite protected from the world by my parents. I had to be very careful to stay away from the typical childhood illnesses, colds and such, which could lead to serious infections. My first hospitalization happened when I was in the first grade. This “tune-up” involved IV antibiotics and nebulized medications, to fight an infection in my lungs and tube feedings to help me gain weight. Although I had a HUGE appetite for a kid (even more than a normal kid, my parent’s had the grocery bills to prove it!), I struggled to stay at the 5th percentile weight wise.

With many responsibilities for my health care, I grew up quick. I knew I had to take my enzymes with every meal, otherwise my body would painfully punish me. In grade school, I remember the amazed look on the school nurses face every day when I would pop 10 pills in my mouth at once. They were scared I would choke, not realizing what a talent I had become from years of practice.

My loving parents did all they could to keep me healthy. Nebulizer treatments in the morning and evening, and sometimes in between, along with a percussion treatment on a slant board. I was quite aware I was not a “normal” child, which caused me to be quite shy. Struggling with feeling healthy and not understanding why I couldn’t be treated “normal” I became quite a handful for my parents. This struggle was a blessing in disguise. It has made me fight the people who claimed I couldn’t do certain things, those beliefs that I should be pampered because I was “special”, and has made me fight this disease with all my heart and soul.

During my teenage and young adult years, I often volunteered my time and body for research studies in hopes to find new treatments and possibly a cure for CF. I have always been very open about my disease and believe that awareness is the first step to a cure. Whole heartedly I stand behind the phrase “Knowledge is power”. The more each individual knows about their health, the more the researchers understand what CF really is, the longer and healthier we all would be. And history has proven me right!

Not knowing what my future would be, even more of an issue with a chronic illness, I struggled my hardest to build a great life for myself. I started working at a retail store at sixteen saving every penny to buy myself a car. All the while trying to prepare for college. I had no clue what I wanted to be “when I grew up”, but I knew I wanted to be successful.

In 1995 I started my post-secondary education at a local commuter college. First I wanted to be a social worker, but I was informed that high paying jobs were very difficult to find. I was well aware I needed a large income to be able to afford my high medical bills. My mother had spent hours and hours on the phone with medical companies and insurance companies, while I was growing up, so I knew what I was in store for. Finally, one day I sat down with a college course catalog and circled every class that looked interesting. A right angle turn happened in my education that day, I found out I really wanted to be a mechanical engineer when I grew up. Quite the opposite of a social worker. Also, I had a great interest in outer space and other planets so I ended up getting a minor in astrophysics along with my bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering.

I worked as an engineer for several years, but recently I was laid off from the small company I worked for.  While I job searched I took some time to soul search. I realized that although engineering was fun, I really wanted to get back to my heart’s desire to help people a little more directly in the medical field.  I made a few phone calls and just so happened I found a job working with pulmonary research databases at a children’s hospital.  So far this job has been a perfect fit, matching my technical skills along with my medical knowledge gained from my own experiences, with my passion to help others and further medical treatments especially for those with CF.

Independent, responsible, fairly healthy (this is a very relative comment), and a momma to a puppy. I couldn’t be happier!

My health has certainly changed over the past 25+ years. I am so grateful for everyone who has supported me through the thick and the thin, from my professional health care providers to my family and friends, and even those few strangers I have met along the way.