Very nicely done. I always used to joke that whatever you do, don't read that depressing story about wind mills and Holland(you know, the one about the family that has a CF diagnosis and their expectations are for Paris and the Eifel Tower but they have to accept Holland and wind mills). There should be a dire warning to parents when they get the first diagnosis to absolutely NOT read depressing material.
Anyway, I remember when the phone call came for our family. I was sitting at the kitchen table and about to eat a stouffers chicken alfredo frozen meal when the phone rang. On the other end was Dean's pediatrician(which I KNEW was bad, because doctors are always to busy to call with good news(they have a staff member do it). He informed me that the results for Dean's sweat test were WAY off the charts and that he would have a CF. Knowing absolutely nothing about CF, exect that it was probably very bad, I inquired as to the ramifications for Dean and our family. When I finally hung up the phone I sat and looked at the now cold plastic container of chicken alfredo and became nauseated. What followed was the most intense emotional ass kicking that I would ever experience(so far, thank God) in my life. But you know what? Life goes on. It may still suck now and then, but it goes on. What you don't realize in that early dawn of the disease, is that there will be happiness in your future. And that you can cope with the crap that will come your way. And I think people with special needs children live move fulfilling and deeper lives than parents of normal healthy children. Because it teaches you to live in the moment. Intensely in the moment. It's like living your life through an old 8mm movie real ALL the time when you have a child with CF. You laugh harder, worry harder, cry harder. It's just intense.
And ironically, my little Dean has turned out to be the better athlete than his none affected older brother Jay! Go figure. That's just God's way of messing with your mind. He's funny that way. Just when you think your child will struggle all his life with this dibilitating disease, he picks up a football and looks like Tom Brady from the Patriots.
Anyway, I remember when the phone call came for our family. I was sitting at the kitchen table and about to eat a stouffers chicken alfredo frozen meal when the phone rang. On the other end was Dean's pediatrician(which I KNEW was bad, because doctors are always to busy to call with good news(they have a staff member do it). He informed me that the results for Dean's sweat test were WAY off the charts and that he would have a CF. Knowing absolutely nothing about CF, exect that it was probably very bad, I inquired as to the ramifications for Dean and our family. When I finally hung up the phone I sat and looked at the now cold plastic container of chicken alfredo and became nauseated. What followed was the most intense emotional ass kicking that I would ever experience(so far, thank God) in my life. But you know what? Life goes on. It may still suck now and then, but it goes on. What you don't realize in that early dawn of the disease, is that there will be happiness in your future. And that you can cope with the crap that will come your way. And I think people with special needs children live move fulfilling and deeper lives than parents of normal healthy children. Because it teaches you to live in the moment. Intensely in the moment. It's like living your life through an old 8mm movie real ALL the time when you have a child with CF. You laugh harder, worry harder, cry harder. It's just intense.
And ironically, my little Dean has turned out to be the better athlete than his none affected older brother Jay! Go figure. That's just God's way of messing with your mind. He's funny that way. Just when you think your child will struggle all his life with this dibilitating disease, he picks up a football and looks like Tom Brady from the Patriots.