E
entropy
Guest
This topic is about people with CF who engage in risky behaviors like smoking, doing drugs, not doing treatments, etc.
My sister always did her treatments growing up (born in 86). Well, as a youngster my mother forced us to, perhaps to the point of going too far; I despised doing my treatments. We, in a way, kind of felt like "bubble children." My mother would always call our friend's parents and ask tell them we had CF, told them not to smoke, always made us come home to do our treatments twice a day. She always told people she met we had CF whether it mattered or not. I know she did it in our best interest, but it has definitely seemed to have negative ramifications on both of us.
When we hit our teen years, both me and my sister began experimenting with things most teenagers do; namely drinking, smoking pot, trying cigarettes (I never inhaled cig. smoke though my sister did). My sister was almost 4 years older than me, so I saw this progress from the standpoint of being 4 years behind her. We lived in Florida at the time, which is writhe with narcotics, cocaine, crack, etc. My sister met a guy across the street who was a druggy and they began dating much to my parent's behest. She was 18, though, so my parent's gave her the ultimatum of leaving him or getting kicked out. She chose to stay with him.
After about a year, we learned she was smoking crack every day and taking various pills whenever she could get her hands on them. I personally think she suffered from clinical depression and she was self medicating with these drugs. She was embarrassed about her CF, so she had her own personal vest put in storage.
Another year went by, some times she would show up at the door asking for a place to stay and my parent's let her back. Even so, she always ended up going back to her no good boyfriend. Soon enough she was going to the hospital every so often with pneumonia. She didn't have health insurance either. She wasn't taking her capsules, so she was emaciated. Emaciated as she was, her boyfriend still said she was fat.
Another year went by, and in June 08 we were moving back to Pennsylvania where we lived originally. She was going to come with us. Long story short, she ended up staying with her boyfriend and continued using crack and all sorts of other drugs. She was sent to the hospital for the last time after lying on the floor of her boyfriend's room for 2 weeks, unable to move, eat, or stand up because her lungs were so stiff. She went to the hospital in August and was intubated after a week or so. Progressively she became worse, starting with her liver, then her kidneys, then her heart, her lungs being at the center of all of these complications. She was severely malnourished, had rampant Pseudomonas a. infection as well as a fungal infection that we think came from the reptiles her boyfriend kept as "pets."
I thought she was going to get better, so I didn't go visit her at the hospital in Florida. We had literally just arrived in PA and were flat broke when we got the call about her being in the hospital. She passed away on Oct. 14th 08. The last time I talked to her, she couldn't talk back. I just told her we were all sending our thoughts to her, I told her to do whatever she had to do to get well and come home. I didn't know what else to say... I only was ever able to hang out with her one time as an adult, shortly before we left for PA. There is no doubt she would be alive if she had not done these drugs and did her treatments, took her capsules, went to the doc, etc. I know why she didn't do these things; #1, she was embarrassed, #2, she didn't want to be a burden on anybody, #3, she wanted to feel like she was normal.
Her death certificate read "death due to malnutrition and liver failure."
My sister always did her treatments growing up (born in 86). Well, as a youngster my mother forced us to, perhaps to the point of going too far; I despised doing my treatments. We, in a way, kind of felt like "bubble children." My mother would always call our friend's parents and ask tell them we had CF, told them not to smoke, always made us come home to do our treatments twice a day. She always told people she met we had CF whether it mattered or not. I know she did it in our best interest, but it has definitely seemed to have negative ramifications on both of us.
When we hit our teen years, both me and my sister began experimenting with things most teenagers do; namely drinking, smoking pot, trying cigarettes (I never inhaled cig. smoke though my sister did). My sister was almost 4 years older than me, so I saw this progress from the standpoint of being 4 years behind her. We lived in Florida at the time, which is writhe with narcotics, cocaine, crack, etc. My sister met a guy across the street who was a druggy and they began dating much to my parent's behest. She was 18, though, so my parent's gave her the ultimatum of leaving him or getting kicked out. She chose to stay with him.
After about a year, we learned she was smoking crack every day and taking various pills whenever she could get her hands on them. I personally think she suffered from clinical depression and she was self medicating with these drugs. She was embarrassed about her CF, so she had her own personal vest put in storage.
Another year went by, some times she would show up at the door asking for a place to stay and my parent's let her back. Even so, she always ended up going back to her no good boyfriend. Soon enough she was going to the hospital every so often with pneumonia. She didn't have health insurance either. She wasn't taking her capsules, so she was emaciated. Emaciated as she was, her boyfriend still said she was fat.
Another year went by, and in June 08 we were moving back to Pennsylvania where we lived originally. She was going to come with us. Long story short, she ended up staying with her boyfriend and continued using crack and all sorts of other drugs. She was sent to the hospital for the last time after lying on the floor of her boyfriend's room for 2 weeks, unable to move, eat, or stand up because her lungs were so stiff. She went to the hospital in August and was intubated after a week or so. Progressively she became worse, starting with her liver, then her kidneys, then her heart, her lungs being at the center of all of these complications. She was severely malnourished, had rampant Pseudomonas a. infection as well as a fungal infection that we think came from the reptiles her boyfriend kept as "pets."
I thought she was going to get better, so I didn't go visit her at the hospital in Florida. We had literally just arrived in PA and were flat broke when we got the call about her being in the hospital. She passed away on Oct. 14th 08. The last time I talked to her, she couldn't talk back. I just told her we were all sending our thoughts to her, I told her to do whatever she had to do to get well and come home. I didn't know what else to say... I only was ever able to hang out with her one time as an adult, shortly before we left for PA. There is no doubt she would be alive if she had not done these drugs and did her treatments, took her capsules, went to the doc, etc. I know why she didn't do these things; #1, she was embarrassed, #2, she didn't want to be a burden on anybody, #3, she wanted to feel like she was normal.
Her death certificate read "death due to malnutrition and liver failure."