Darleen and I have created this page as a forum to share with our close friends and family what's been happening with my health. As most of you know I have Cystic Fibrosis, which up until this point has been something I've dealt with, but hasn't limited me in pursuing the things I love. This past year has been a particularly difficult one, as the progression of this disease has become more evident. I found myself becoming more easily fatigued and winded most of the time; seemingly simple tasks like walking from the parking lot to the office door or carrying the groceries inside became much more laborious and required frequent stops to catch my breath. Walks with Lucy suddenly became shorter and playing fetch or chase-the-stick wasn't as fun or frequent.
This year I have completed approximately three months of intensive IV treatments to address my lung function decline. I also made the decision to switch to a more comprehensive care team, which offers many resources and supports to better manage the different areas that CF impacts. After undergoing a procedure to get a Port permanently placed for future frequent IV treatments, my care team highly recommended that at this point in time it is best to stop working full time (indefinately) so that I can focus solely on doing a more intensive treatment plan to help boost my lung function.
This isn't to say that there haven't been good days mixed in too. While this is a transitional time and I am adjusting to this new lifestyle, I am spending a lot of time reflecting on how to create a more meaningful and satisfying daily routine. With everything that's been going on this past year, we acknowledge that we have been MIA from most of your radars. Now that the dust is settling, I know that socialization will be a very important part in working through these new changes. As I continue to work towards regaining more strength and energy, I hope to spend more time reconnecting with everyone.
The main purpose of this page is to provide everyone with updates on my health as things change. As we touch base and catch up in person, it's okay to ask questions, but I hope that we can also focus on fun things happening in your lives too. We encourage you to use this page to share any thoughts, questions, and/or words of encouragement. We will let everyone know via the site if at some point in the future we need additional help or support in other ways.
In case you'd like to learn more about Cystic Fibrosis, here is a great, easy to read, resource:
https://www.cff.orgI kindly ask that this page is not shared on Facebook, as we would like to keep this for our closest friends and family. We really appreciate everyone's support and love.
