coughing in public -take the quiz- he he he

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Iamqueenofeverything

New member
ok. so i was coughing alot in a public place and this lady kept on giving me mean looks as she turned my way because i was coughing too much. We all know that a CF person can't help it.

so i am asking what do you do in this type of situation.

When you are coughing too much in public and a person gives you a dirty look, do you
A) give them a mean look back
B) Cough louder and cough in that person's direction when they look at you and don't cover your mouth
C) ignore them
D) other - please specify
 
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mysticrose

New member
With my kids I am aware of people looking when they cough. We practice the cough in the hands and use purell afterwards technique. Mainly because when we tried the chicken wing thing their shirts were nasty and wet. Figured it was safer for them this way. People stare or glare. My usual response when I see dirty looks is "Do you have CF? or you child?" generally a head shaking no response then I say "Good then we aren't contagious to you now please move on". Pending on my mood. I try not to be snarky but there are really times when I just can't help myself.

Jen mom to 4 kiddos. 3 w/cf and 1 lucky red head.
 
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bcl0328

New member
most people don't even care. sometimes at the gym i will cough and i see people look. usually ignore them.
 
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Printer

Active member
We need to be aware that while CF is not contagious, when we cough we spread all of the same germs that other people do. We need to follow ALL of the same safeguards that "healthy people" follow.

As for the Lady, don't be an ASS, just ignore her.

Bill
 
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nmw0615

New member
It depends on the other person. Usually I ignore them, if all they are doing is giving me dirty looks. If they come up to say something to me and they're polite or respectful about it, I politely tell them I'm not contagious, I just have a lung disease that makes me cough. On the rare occasion someone is rude to me about my coughing, I give it right back to them. I was once told in extremely rude fashion, by someone smoking no less, that it was stupid for me to come to a public place while I was sick and risk so many other people. I told him I wasn't even a bit contagious to anyone and that he was the idiotic one for choosing to destroy something I would love to have. I then proceeded to cough something up and spit it out on the grass next to him, then walked away.

I base how I respond on how the other person acts. Ignorance will make me ignore them, politeness gets a polite response and rudeness gets it thrown back in their face.
 
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Melissa75

Administrator
mysticrose, lol at the "chicken wing" name for coughing into the elbow! I do get mucus on my arms (and steering wheel).

imqueenof..., I either tell people I don't have a cold (if I don't) or I ignore them. Every once in a while someone's look is mean/mad enough that I feel I have to give them the stink-eye back...e.g. my kid's piano recital--I was being super careful to cough only during the applause and yet a grandma and I exchanged some non-verbal abuse.

Now, I'm no saint, so I'll admit I give people dirty looks outright or in my head for environmental stuff like idling their car in nice weather, littering or throwing recycling in regular trash cans, and what's likely a weird one to most: buying tons of bottled water.
 
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Aboveallislove

Super Moderator
Just curious as to what you all do when someone is "coughing up a lung" in your/your child's presence? (Tone is hard to tell in this forum: I truly am curious.)
 
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lilmac1177

New member
i think what Printer said bears repeating ... while the disease Cystic Fibrosis is not contagious, the germs (some of which are highly resistant to antibiotics) and bacteria we culture most certainly are!
 
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Melissa75

Administrator
If at all possible, I stay away from or don't cough on people with lung disease, or people undergoing chemo or with weakened immune systems (AIDs, other immunodeficiencies). The bulk of the population is as safe from us as they are from their tap water, dirt, rotten onions and moldy leaves.
 
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Iamqueenofeverything

New member
Aboveallislove, does your child have CF? is that why your concerned about others coughing? i guess if it's possible, if someone else is coughing you can move away if you can. if you cant, you can respectfully ask them not to cough or cough the other why becuase your child has cf.

i don't plan to be rude to the other person giving me dirty looks becauce i know that they don't know. sometimes it gets to me that people stare and give me dirty looks. the lady that give me dirty looks while i was coughing was an older lady so i did my best to not do anything. i just got upset because it will be like me giving her a dirty look because she walks slow and had to use a cane. i guess people just need to be aware of other's person's needs and situation and not judge until they know.
 
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Aboveallislove

Super Moderator
Yes he has cf. and I give nasty looks assuming others with the horrible cough are sick and shouldn't be spreading germs. I guess the question was twofold...what to do and tell son to do when older and also is it really bad of me to give dirty looks?
 
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Iamqueenofeverything

New member
It's kinda hard. i guess i make it a point in public to use my inhaler and let others see me use my inhaler. that gives everyone a clue. there are others things like cough drops and water to tame the cough. usually i say my allergies are acting up. i tend not to say anything to strangers because i will never see them again. but i think it's ok for someone to stand up to others that are coughing around people who have cf and can get sick easily, pepole who dont have health issues need to be respectful towards others and not make them sick
 
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bloggymom

Member
I give people a silly look and act a smidge dramatic if I get a person staring at me. Might as well give them something fun to watch. :)

I get lots of stares when I wear my mask at the grocery store or clothes shopping. I usually just stare back and they look away all embarrassed. Yep, you got caught!!!
 
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littlemisscoughsalot

New member
My daughter coughs a lot durring gymnastics. The combo of the trampolines and the workout can really get her going.. The other day another mom was in the viewing area a few feet away from me sighing super load and muttering "are you serious?" etc to her self. After being rude and dramatic for about 20 minutes, she walked upto the desk. I walked up behind her and listened to her complain about my daughter's cough to the receptionist.

Just as the receptionist was about to go out to the floor and pull her out of class I said "She has a gentic disease and her cough is not contagious." Both of them looked suprised. The other mom muttered something about how she sounds horrible. I said yeah... CF is a horrible disease. Go google it or something.

Anyways... To the other mom, I get her concern, but she could have just talked to me about it instead of trying to get her pulled out of class.
 
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Melissa75

Administrator
Bill,

I will talk with my pulmonologist at the next appt. I went through a phase of really worrying i would get my family sick. I was most worried when my kids were under five; as most, they had colds a lot. Plus my eldest had pneumonia twice.

I did a bunch of research and even once posted here a study of a family in which the CFer daughter transmitted a resistant PA strain to her parents, one turned out to have bronchiectasis, the other had no preexisting lung problems. This study freaked me out a bit, however, it was such a big deal to the medical community, as far as the study seemed to convey, that i was left with the overall impression that this situation is exceedingly rare.

I will talk with my dr though as you recommend. I also exercise cautions like not letting my kids mess with my airway clearance stuff and covering my mouth and washing my hands.
 
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Printer

Active member
Melissa:

My point was that your DD, coughing in gym class, can and will spread the same germs as any other kid in that class. Just because CF is not contagious, everything else that we cough can be.

Bill
 
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emmalav

Guest
Depending on my mood. I sometimes scowl and try to ignore it. Mostly I say I have a lung disease. Mostly I have to say no its not a 'nasty cold' I have just a 'lung thing' or 'lung disease' or 'asthma'. That quickly gets people off my back.
 
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