Fabulous and Fighting CF: December 2012

Hellooooo again to all you faithful family, friends and followers.

I have been home a week and it has been marvellous.

In this last week I have found myself being able to do things I have not been able to do in a very long time….at least six months, if not longer.

At the weekend (last weekend) my mum and I went shopping and I walked up and down the mall for at least two hours. Yes we did stop for a breather and lunch, but the fact remains that I was able to enjoy myself, browsing and trying on clothes that I can’t afford to buy…but it really felt good to be able to do that.

I have groomed and worked my horses…not just looked at them, patted them and said ‘hello’ to them – but really spent time with them.

I cooked supper last night and had fun making my own concoction with whatever I could find in our vegetable garden. I walked myself to the garden and looked around, cutting here and snipping there to add to the flavour and aroma of my special sauce. I was a bit surprised to find one of our tortoises hiding amongst the rosemary and lavender and decided to overlook her for my kitchen cuisine…haha

So it has been a good week and with effort and hard work I am looking forward to improving my lung functions and gaining more weight. The point in my life that I am today though would not be possible if it weren’t for the support system I have behind me. My parents and brother, who have always been there, nagging and cajoling, moaning and encouraging, and at times I have just wanted to run away from it all. The doctors give me the facts and lecture me in the most endearing way, spelling things out in a sugar coated nutshell, but at the end of the day it is really up to me as to to how I decide to take all this nagging and lecturing. The Bible has many teachings for us to follow and the book that probably has more advise in it than any other is Proverbs. Soloman was the wisest of all mankind and throughout the book of Proverbs he differentiates between the wise and the fool. Chapter 12 verse 1 is an example of one such snippet of wisdom, where he wrote under the inspiration of God: ‘Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.’ I know that this is true in my life… I have to be disciplined to take my medication, do my physiotherapy, exercise and eat correctly because if I don’t do all of these things, my health will deteriorate more rapidly.

This last visit to hospital, the first time at Charlotte Maxeke, I met some young adults like me and it was great to be able to spend time chatting to them. We can relate to each other, we know what the others are going through like no-one else does. The support of family and friends is so important in our lives, but they don’t fully understand as each of us do what it is that we are going through. These friendships are different to those I have with anyone else and just as you need a gym buddy or a walking partner, I need them and they need me….a discovery that in my wisdom I choose to embrace…

So for tonight, this is me Fabulous and Fighting <3 xxx <3

Below are A few badly taken Pics of my stay in hospital with my fellow CF sufferer Friend, Juan West'