Hi all. I guess this is the kind of place to talk to people about this. Even a month ago I would never have thought about looking for resources like this forum.
My very closest friend of the last decade, who I consider a sibling, has CF. She is 100% my family and I love her dearly. We met in 5th grade and I'm now a junior in college. Even though my college is two hours away we text pretty much every day. Every one at my university knows who she is.(L)
She, however, has stalled out at home and stopped doing her treatments. Throughout our friendship she has gone in the hospital about twice a year, once if it's a great year, for 2 week stretches. As kids we'd hang out and color or whatever. That was the extent of our acknowledgement of her illness. I have literally never researched CF and basically ignored the implications it has on my sister's lifespan for a decade. Any CF knowledge I have is pure osmosis.
A few weeks ago she went back in the hospital with PFTs of 20%, the lowest she has ever had in her life. Luckily the doctors were able to find something that raised them back up to 55 or so but she is not taking care of herself at all. She is lying to me and her family about everything. She looks sicker than I have ever seen. I've tried to talk to her, her family has, my mother (they're very close) has, and nothing going through. I'm the person she's most likely to listen to but still, nothing. She's self-destructing. I'm suddenly realizing that she could die, even soon. I've never even acknowledged that we weren't going to be crotchety old spinsters with 50 dogs together, which was the plan.
Has any else experienced the same thing? Is there a way to get through to her?
I have severe anxiety/panic disorder and I suddenly can't be around the most calming person in my life without becoming non-functional for the next 24 hours. She's 20 but she's acting about 15. She's not on a transplant list or anything. She's just acting like a cure is going to magically appear and I don't know if she has a death-wish now or what.
I just really love my sister.
My very closest friend of the last decade, who I consider a sibling, has CF. She is 100% my family and I love her dearly. We met in 5th grade and I'm now a junior in college. Even though my college is two hours away we text pretty much every day. Every one at my university knows who she is.(L)
She, however, has stalled out at home and stopped doing her treatments. Throughout our friendship she has gone in the hospital about twice a year, once if it's a great year, for 2 week stretches. As kids we'd hang out and color or whatever. That was the extent of our acknowledgement of her illness. I have literally never researched CF and basically ignored the implications it has on my sister's lifespan for a decade. Any CF knowledge I have is pure osmosis.
A few weeks ago she went back in the hospital with PFTs of 20%, the lowest she has ever had in her life. Luckily the doctors were able to find something that raised them back up to 55 or so but she is not taking care of herself at all. She is lying to me and her family about everything. She looks sicker than I have ever seen. I've tried to talk to her, her family has, my mother (they're very close) has, and nothing going through. I'm the person she's most likely to listen to but still, nothing. She's self-destructing. I'm suddenly realizing that she could die, even soon. I've never even acknowledged that we weren't going to be crotchety old spinsters with 50 dogs together, which was the plan.
Has any else experienced the same thing? Is there a way to get through to her?
I have severe anxiety/panic disorder and I suddenly can't be around the most calming person in my life without becoming non-functional for the next 24 hours. She's 20 but she's acting about 15. She's not on a transplant list or anything. She's just acting like a cure is going to magically appear and I don't know if she has a death-wish now or what.
I just really love my sister.
I am very close to her, and a psychologist or some kind of therapy has been brought up. I've heavily suggested my own wonderful psychiatrist to her and I know her parents have tried to get her to see a therapist but she was unwilling on all fronts. She isn't in college, just living at home and working at a minimum wage job a few days a week but I guess her routine is still wildly different from high school. Thanks for the insight too.