A Day in the Life with Cystic Fibrosis

Most people have a daily routine that they follow. But with cystic fibrosis the daily routine is a little more complicated.I can't just wake up brush my teeth, put on make up and head out the door. Instead I have to do treatments every morning, afternoon and night. 

A day in my life looks a little something like this. I wake up and start my nebulizers. A nebulizer is a machine that connects to a mouthpiece, the mouthpiece is filled with a liquid medication, the nebulizer machine pump air through the mouthpiece turning it into a vapor which I inhale. In the morning I only do one of these, followed by my vest. The vest is a machine the shakes my lungs so the mucus in them can come loose and I can cough it up. After the vest comes the antibiotic nebulizer.  This round treatments last from 45 minutes to an hour.  Once I am done my treatments I eat breakfast. My breakfast consists of high calorie and high-fat. My go to for breakfast is whole milk with heavy cream and some type of flavoring. In one glass of that milkshake there's about 500 calories. Whenever I eat I have to be sure to take my enzymes. Enzymes are what digest my food for me. Once I am done my breakfast I wait a little while then I exercise. 

After all that is done I can get on with the rest of my day like normal. That is until around three o'clock, when I need my afternoon nebulizer. This only takes about 15-20 minutes. So it doesn't take up too much of my normal life, but it can be a pain to stop what I am doing to get a neb done. After the neb comes a high calorie and high fat snack. The snack is important to give me a boost of energy and extra calories during the day. 

After afternoon treatments my day continues until about seven o'clock when it is treatment time again. This round is about the same as the mornings. Starting with two nebs fallowed by the vest than another neb. This round last an hour. 

Most of my day is normal and I am just like everyone else. It's just that I have moments where my life pauses, and the only thing that matters is breathing in a nebulizer nice and deep or coughing up the mucus as I shake. It's a strange thing to get used to and not everyone can handle it. I have lost friends because I couldn't have a normal life without treatment interruption. And at the same time I have gained great friends. My treatments are a true test, to see if you can handle my lifestyle. Not many make the cut, but I am blessed and thankful for the ones that do.