How do you stay disciplined?

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Noam

New member
I am a fairly....consistant individual when it comes to almost everything except my treatments!!

I go to classe regularly, go to work on time, go to fraternity meetings etc. I basically do everything I am supposed to on time, and don't miss much. BUT when it comes to doing oregano 2x a day, and advair, etc. I just can't seem to keep myself disciplined enough to get it done?

How do the rest of you do it!?
 
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bolligrm

New member
Set your mind to it. Just say you have to! just think life or
death! no way i wanna die at 19! I do my treatments regularly! You
have the chance to live life full and healthy why wouldn't you want
that option?
 
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thelizardqueen

New member
Think of it this way: in the long run, you'll live a healthier, longer life. You've got to set your priorities, and get down and just do it. I plan on being here for many years to come - all of this because of my treatments.
 
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JazzysMom

New member
To me its no different then laundry I have to do or mopping the floor. But if I just say....No excuses & do it then its done. The difference between laundry & my treatments is quality of life!
 
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coltsfan715

New member
Noam,

I so know where you are coming from with this and honestly if you are reading everyone's responses you are probably thinking - it is not the easy I know that I should do them, that the are supposed to help and they will help me live a longer life and so on, but no matter how I try to rationalize it I continue to slack off when it comes to treatments.

I had a serious problem with this when I graduated high school. I would go days or weeks at a time and not do my aerosol/PT. I still find myself trying to get away with not doing the Vest or not doing my inhalers. I will be 100% honest - I slacked off on all my treatments when I was around 18-19 and the only thing that turned me around was getting horribly sick. I didn't realize how bad things were till I went in the hospital and got IVs and was doing my therapies and aerosols regularly. When I started feeling better I realized what I was doing to my body by not doing the treatments.

I still have my days where I don't want to do them and try to get around them, but I think it comes from a desire to be "normal" and not have to do my meds and treatments. Now I try to multitask, I do my aerosols/vest while I am checking my emails, or getting ready to go somewhere (i.e. while I am putting on make up or drying my hair). If you have a hard time remembering to take pills set them all on the kitchen counter or in the middle of the table or right next to the cups so when you get a drink or something to eat you remember. I leave my meds in my bathroom so I can see them and it helps to jog my memory cause I take my meds twice a day and I usually start my day in the BR and end it there before going to bed.

You just have to find a plan that works for you. I also got a dry erase board and wrote down all my meds and the number of times a day or week I do them. The board came with magnetic stars - so each dose I take I put a star next too it for the corresponding day of the week - it helps me to visualize whether or not I have done everything and if I haven't there is no denying it cause it is written out that I haven't.

Hope you figure something out. I know it seems like a pain and a bit of an inconvenience, but it is worth it <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">.

Lindsey
 
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Faust

New member
It's hard, especially if you work and have to deal with your care. Even though I don't currently work, after I have seen several CF's die right before me, I told myself "I'd rather not go out like that". And while i'll probably still die that way as well, I can prolong it for an extended period of time with taking care of myself and proper use of supplements/diet/exercise/regular clearance.


If you don't take care of yourself via treatments and other care, your chance at checking out earlier is greatly increased. It's always better to be alive than dead under most circumstances.
 
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Kaitsmom

Guest
I do not have CF, my daughter does, so i guess that it is hard for me to relate. I do know that i want my daughter to live a long and healthy life. I do not want to ever have any regrets about her healthcare decisions, so therefore she does her treatments 3-4 times a day. She still has time to go to school, do homework, do chores, play with her friends and get quality sleep. Kait just had a CT done at our last clinic appt. about a week ago, her doctors and the radiologist as well as her respitory therapist were all amazed. Her doctor even called us at home on a Friday night to tell us how well her lungs were and how she has had very little CF progression in her 10 years. Kait has been doing her treatments atleast 3 times a day for a long time. she has a pneumonia 4 times and has been hospitalized and has came home with a PICC 3 times, so it is not like she has never been sick because of CF. The doctor also commented that he knew of alot of his adult CF patients would not be doing 3-4 treatments a day if they had lungs this healthy, ( he did say he wasn't suggesting that we stop doing 3-4 treatments ) i think that he was just simply letting me know how well her lungs are. I did tell him that if the some day ever has to come were my daughter was on a vent or dying i do not want her or myself to ever have any regrets about her doing her treatments faithfully.

I really hope that you will find a way to discipline yourself so that you will stay healthy longer...

Kaitsmom<img src="i/expressions/rose.gif" border="0">
 
A

anonymous

New member
Sean,

So why is is that you don't work, if you don't mind me asking? Are you in a financial situation that you don't have to, or are you getting disability assistence or soemthing else? You seem pretty healthy for a cf'er and lots of us not as healthy work full time. Just curiouis. I mean in my situation I have PFTs in the 40's, use extra O2 most often and work 40 hours or more a week. Sometimes I feel like I should be trying to take advantage of the system and not work.
 
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Faust

New member
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote><i>Originally posted by: <b>anonymous</b></i>

Sean,



So why is is that you don't work, if you don't mind me asking? Are you in a financial situation that you don't have to, or are you getting disability assistence or soemthing else? You seem pretty healthy for a cf'er and lots of us not as healthy work full time. Just curiouis. I mean in my situation I have PFTs in the 40's, use extra O2 most often and work 40 hours or more a week. Sometimes I feel like I should be trying to take advantage of the system and not work.</end quote></div>

I wasn't always in the shape I am now. I was previously fairly healthy, but I would crash and burn here and there. I suffered through working previously, and my health took a big hit. I'm only now after the OO considering going back to work. For me, if I get real run down/stressed out, I can get really sick and crash and burn real hard. For the record, if I were in your shape, I would not work period, unless it was something like extremely low impact desk work, or working from home. Overall we don't have anything to prove aside from what we want as goals with regards to us understanding the risks vs rewards.

By the way, if you feel having a federally recognized disability that is also a terminal illness, and going on disability because your health takes a big hit due to working, is considered "Taking advantage of the system", well I feel thats a rather masochistic ignorant way of looking at things.
 
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CowTown

New member
I constantly struggle with staying up with treatments everyday. Each day can seem so short, and then you wake up and have to do it all over again! It's really annoying for me too. I've actually found this site and hearing about the people on this site (almost) everyday to help me dramatically to start being consistent with medicines. Everyone I hear on this site has truly inspired me to take my vitamins and think much more about doing my vest and treatments regularly. I'm no different then anyone else with CF and I need to just do it. So this connection has help me. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">
 
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bolligrm

New member
What i do is find something i like doing....such as looking and
posting on this site...I would sit down and do my thereapy and look
on this and post. I was big in to games for a while and that's what
i did before school. I would get up early to do my thereapy and
play games!
 
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anonymous

New member
I'm almost 46 with CF and I have found that doing treatment first thing in the morning and last thing at night is the best way to doing things. plan it right before your shower and brush your teeth.
 
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sarabeth87

New member
i'm so glad that someone posted about this. when i lived at home ( i moved out a/b 7 months ago and then got married) i would do my treatments almost perfectly on the weekdays, then on weekends i would kinda slack, but not too bad. when i moved out, things just went down hill. i sometimes go weeks at a time without my treatments, and i dont take them untill i feel like my lungs are about to give out if i go another minute without them. i know this is very dangerous to my health. i try to take them and i tell myself that from this day on i'm gonna take them right, but then i never do. i work about 50 hrs a week then i come home and cook, wash dishes, clothes, and do everything else. i ask my husband for help, but he just is not understanding to how i feel. he works like 80 hrs a week
 
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Faust

New member
That sounds extremely rough Sara. Could you atleast spare 30 mins at night to do one aresol and a vest treatment right before bed?
 
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sarabeth87

New member
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote><i>Originally posted by: <b>SeanDavis</b></i>

That sounds extremely rough Sara. Could you atleast spare 30 mins at night to do one aresol and a vest treatment right before bed?</end quote></div>

that's where the problem is. by time i get finished doing all of that, i am run down and ready to just go to bed. i think i am going to move all my treatments by my bed and start doing them while i'm in the bed watching TV or something.
 
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Giggles

New member
I do not feel well if I do not do my treatments and I have noticed this more as I have gotten older. So, for me there is no question about it. I also want to be strong and have my lungs in the best shape they can be so I can fight off colds etc. and when I do get sick I can get back to my baseline or at least close to it. I do not work anymore and that is a major struggle, feel isolated etc. But I do feel that has helped me stay relativley healthy. I have time to workout, eat well, rest and do ALL my treatments. I sometimes have to do a treatment along with the flutter and/or vest in the middle of the day now, so that makes it hard to hold down a job. I am fortunate that I do not have to work for financial reasons and I thank GOD for that!!!!

Try to do the treatments because you are only hurting yourself in the long run!


Jennifer 34 years old with CF and CFRD
 
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Scarlett81

New member
Sometimes even if I know I have a huge list of things to get done, like say-Laundry, dishes, mopping, paying bills, and dusting. Mentally, I tell myself, ok, just do the dishes. don't worry about the rest of it. And then when I do them, I realize-that wasn't that hard. and I do the next thing.
Maybe you could do that with your health regimen.
Say, I need to do all my aerosals, then my vest, then take my meds and vitamins. Do one at a time, instead of thinking oh I have ALL this stuff to do.
Its all psychological. It's less overwhelming when you tell yourself, just do one of them.

Also, what are your life goals? What do you want to do? In 1 yr, 5 yrs, 10 yrs...where do you see yourself? B/c you will ONLY be there if you start fighting your disease with all you got now. You can do it. I want kids badly, and I want to watch them while I sit on the porch. I want to take them to Disney world, I want to see them graduate. So every treatment, every pill, every workout is for them. For my future kids, and my future vision that I have in my head.
If you find a motivating life goal, or picture where you want to be in 10 yrs, it'll help you do every treatment. And stick to it.
 
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Faust

New member
Yup. Unless someone dear to me is on fire or dying, i'm doing my treatments. I can probably count on one hand the amount of times I have missed an important aresol. And that's after 35 years. I know chores need to be done when you get home from work or whatever it is you do, but to me I think you need to delagate responsibility since you have CF. Try and get the kid(s) to do one or two for you, get the hubby to do atleast one minor one, and if the others aren't very important, blow them off in favor of your treatments.


Would you rather be alive with a few dirty dishes and a small pile of laundry or dead and have a clean house?
 
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