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Preparing for Take-Off: Tips for traveling with little ones with CF

Today is the first day of Spring, and if you’re like me, you’ve got three little words on your brain. Spring Break, baby! 

In the days of old, that cheer would have likely been punctuated with a pint in hand and thoughts of a possible tattoo. But you’re a bit past that now. You’re in your (ahem) late thirties, you have two kids, and your Spring Break plans entail one overnight stay at a salt water pool in Southern Indiana. Can I get a woot woot?!

Laugh often, it clears the lungs

I believe there can be humor in any situation, even in your lowest moments. It's one of the most cliché sayings around, that "laughter is the best medicine" and maybe it's more of a coping mechanism than anything but I found comedy to be strangely therapeutic when it comes to living with Cystic Fibrosis and diabetes.

Luck of the Irish

As St. Patrick’s Day nears I remember my Irish/English Heritage. The shamrock has been used as a symbol of Ireland since the 18th century and is registered as a trademark by the Government of Ireland. Saint Patrick, Ireland's patron saint is said to have used it as a metaphor for the Christian Holy Trinity.

The Gift of Presence - 2018 Anti-Resolutions (Part 2 of 6)

Presence

In my last CFLF Blog post, I began a series focussed on my 'anti-resolutions' for 2018 with the hopes of sharing a different perspective on the widely accepted tradition of making promises to ourself about how we will improve our life in the coming year. For me, these comittments would have fizzled out by this time of year (only two months later) and I would struggle to even remember what my big New Years Resolutions even were, let alone actually keep to them. 

Keep Rolling

Scott on left with snowboard, his friend Bryan on the right wearing skis

(Read the text below, or scroll down to watch the video...)

My name is Scott Buchanan. I’m 35 and I have Cystic Fibrosis. Its been over 11 years since my last hospitalization.

The Beauty of Silence

After finishing college I had been anxious to throw myself into working, and if I couldn’t find a “real” job, I needed to go back to school soon. I was restless to prove myself to the world, believing my validity laid with a title, position, or a master’s. As 2017 carried on, my mental health dwindled and my pursuit of “validity” was failing.

A Dryer Setting

So often when I’ve spoken about becoming “normal,” I’ve gotten several responses that all say the same thing: Normal is just a setting on the dryer. It doesn’t exist.

From a human perspective, this seems like a legitimate claim. There is no one way to get something accomplished. The majority of the time, there is no right or wrong – just a difference of opinion. We are all so diverse and that should be celebrated.

A Cyclical Life

In many ways life can be boiled down to finite series of cycles. Whether it’s drawn-out like how long the earth takes to revolve around the sun or something shorter such as how many days until you need to do laundry again, there are always positives and negatives to every cycle. For people with chronic illnesses, beginning to think in cycles can be a useful, though unfortunate, way of dealing with what you are going through.

The Beauty in The Suffering

Suffering is a key component to life with Cystic Fibrosis. There is no need to dwell on this, it simply is a fact. Living with a chronic disease is painful. Every single day is different, and the pains and aches come and go like the wind. It’s easy to become lost in a world of despair when it seems that life is too painful. But if you look at it from another perspective the suffering is magnificent. Without the suffering it would be easy to miss the truly spectacular moments in the mundane. The pain we experience shows us why it’s so important to hold gratitude for the good days.

The Emotional Nitty Gritty of CF Exacerbation

Everyone knows a cystic fibrosis exacerbation will knock you out physically, but it’s the emotional experience that can prove to be all consuming.

For me, it inevitably starts with denial. So what if I’m a little extra tired? What parent of a four year old isn’t tired? That’s weird I got out of breath reading a book to my daughter. My cough sounds bad but it’s probably just allergies.

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