Living with my Worst Enemy
A Composition by Elena Avila, Person with CF
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a pretty common genetic disease in the United States. Statistics show that about thirty thousand people in the United States are diagnosed with it. CF causes the body to produce thick, sticky mucus in the lungs, pancreas, liver, and intestines. In the lungs, this mucus is difficult to cough up and provides the perfect environment for bacterial infections. In the pancreas, it blocks the digestive enzymes from reaching the intestine, where they are required in order to digest food. This can also affect growth due to the lack of the body absorbing fats and proteins, which is one of the reasons why I'm so small. In some people, like myself, it can also cause cirrhosis of the liver.
Since I was diagnosed at the age of nine months, having cystic fibrosis is all I've ever known. I have to do breathing treatments
twice a day and take tons of medication every day in order to stay healthy. I've had to be admitted into the hospital a few times.
I was there for two weeks straight once, which was challenging. I didn't get to see my family very much, and I had to get IV's put
in my arm and do twice as many treatments as I normally do. It's hard sometimes, because I just want to wake up and live a normal life.
However, I know I have responsibilities I need to keep up with, regardless of how much I hate doing it.
CF has caused me to have negative thoughts about myself. Sometimes, I want to just completely give up. I tend to get scared sometimes when I catch myself thinking about how long I have left to live. There are so many things I dream of doing. I would like to go to college and get a degree in music or nursing, I hope to get married and start a family some day also. Will I ever fulfill any of those dreams?
My parents have told me stories about me almost dying from malnutrition at the age of nine months, because the doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. When I think about how they never gave up on me, it helps me to keep on fighting this disease for them and for myself. With newer medications coming out every year, the average life expectancy for people with CF has increased from twenty-nine years at the time of my birth, to thirty-seven years, currently. By the time I am in my thirties, perhaps there will be a cure.
Even though having cystic fibrosis is challenging, I think it has helped me to be more responsible, mature, and have a whole different outlook on life than most people. I try to be a happy and care free person most of the time. I believe God puts everyone on earth for a reason. Perhaps He put me here to educate people about Cystic Fibrosis and to reach out to others struggling with illnesses and such, as well as to be a positive influence in their lives. I want people to know that even though life may be tough, we can still make the best of each day we're given. I thank God for how long He's allowed me to live, because we are never promised tomorrow.