Wow, I'm amazed that this topic has still gone on! I was hoping it would just kinda fade away into that nebula of past topics, and that nobody would ever search for "Nothing...never mind"!
Basically, what I had originally posted was that I was <b>deeply offended</b> by the abortion post, not because of my own views towards actual abortion and that whole can of worms, but because of the CF issue.
I'm still offended. People are allowed their opinions.
I feel that people with CF have WAY more to bring to the table than just their suffering, which is what most of those people are only focusing on. I posted my story about the Buddha on there because life IS suffering. We KNOW that. It is <i>absolutely unavoidable</i>, and I think it ludicrous that there are folks who would prevent a kid from being born just because he's got CF.
I know people who are wealthy, gorgeous, well-educated and popular and who suffer more than I do. They live "normal" lives and they suffer more than I do.
People with CF maybe aren't all geniuses or Marylin Monroes, but by default we bring one hell of a lot more perspective to people. We change people's lives by merely existing. We bring a lot of wonderful things to life: inspiration, motivation, the proof that despite suffering you can do amazing things.
What offends me is that the lives of those people who have passed on are now only being recognized for their suffering. I think that deeply dishonours the spirits of those who are now dead from their CF.
If I could I would have a dozen kids with CF because of what we bring to the world as people.
What it comes down to is this: Attitude.
It is not that I don't know, or that I haven't seen or even experienced end-stage Cystic Fibrosis. I watched my own brother wither away to a breathless skeleton. It's just that you look at the attitudes of "CF sucks so much, my life sucks so much" and you cannot help but feel sad for the <i>people who just cannot see their situations in any kind of positive light at all</i>. They are <i>completely enclosed and obsessed with their illness</i>. Interestingly, many of these people are people in the "How old are you and what's your FEV1?" thread that posted NORMAL or MILD lung disease!
<b>What you are suffering from, as a friend of mine pointed out, is NOT Cystic FIbrosis. What you are suffering from is a TOXIC ATTITUDE and outlook on life.
</b>
This is the same kind of horrible illness many, many people who are born completely healthy have. Look at the statistics on the incidence of suicide and depression.
I am <i>deeply offended by the thread because:
</i>
1) It implies that everyone with CF would rather NOT have been born and has an attitude like Ricky123 et al.
2) It implies that the people who DO exist, and who HAVE existed with CF <i>left nothing but a legacy of suffering</i> that the people they left behind had to watch (how unpleasant!) now have to remember and cry over. They would have no more CF because it's a horrible genetic disease where you KNOW the outcome so why would you INFLICT it upon anyone else?
So by that logic, you're saying that
a) Nobody in Africa (where the average lifespan at this moment is actually LESS than that of a person born with CF, to say nothing of the quality of life) should be born.
b) Nobody with the possibility of Lou Gehrig's disease should be born (Google search Stephen Hawking).
c) Nobody who could possibly get cancer should be born. Nobody who could possibly drive a car should be born.
d) Nobody who could possibly become a mountaineer or a sky diver, or who could have an addiction to drugs, or who could get necrotizing fasciitis could be born.
It's ludicrous. It's one step away from what the Nazis were trying to do!
I'm just trying to put things in perspective here and make people <i>really think</i>. Go on to Jerry's website. Go on to YouTube or Amnesty International and watch and read some inspiring stories. There are many, many people out there who are far worse off and who are still living amazing, beautiful, <b>worthwhile</b> lives.
Love, Chris
AKA Hermit, a 25 year old female born with Meconium Ileus, Cepacia, PA, staph, Hemoptysis, CFRD, GERD, a brother who passed away a few years ago, a wart on my foot...but who can amazingly still smile and is glad she was born!
Basically, what I had originally posted was that I was <b>deeply offended</b> by the abortion post, not because of my own views towards actual abortion and that whole can of worms, but because of the CF issue.
I'm still offended. People are allowed their opinions.
I feel that people with CF have WAY more to bring to the table than just their suffering, which is what most of those people are only focusing on. I posted my story about the Buddha on there because life IS suffering. We KNOW that. It is <i>absolutely unavoidable</i>, and I think it ludicrous that there are folks who would prevent a kid from being born just because he's got CF.
I know people who are wealthy, gorgeous, well-educated and popular and who suffer more than I do. They live "normal" lives and they suffer more than I do.
People with CF maybe aren't all geniuses or Marylin Monroes, but by default we bring one hell of a lot more perspective to people. We change people's lives by merely existing. We bring a lot of wonderful things to life: inspiration, motivation, the proof that despite suffering you can do amazing things.
What offends me is that the lives of those people who have passed on are now only being recognized for their suffering. I think that deeply dishonours the spirits of those who are now dead from their CF.
If I could I would have a dozen kids with CF because of what we bring to the world as people.
What it comes down to is this: Attitude.
It is not that I don't know, or that I haven't seen or even experienced end-stage Cystic Fibrosis. I watched my own brother wither away to a breathless skeleton. It's just that you look at the attitudes of "CF sucks so much, my life sucks so much" and you cannot help but feel sad for the <i>people who just cannot see their situations in any kind of positive light at all</i>. They are <i>completely enclosed and obsessed with their illness</i>. Interestingly, many of these people are people in the "How old are you and what's your FEV1?" thread that posted NORMAL or MILD lung disease!
<b>What you are suffering from, as a friend of mine pointed out, is NOT Cystic FIbrosis. What you are suffering from is a TOXIC ATTITUDE and outlook on life.
</b>
This is the same kind of horrible illness many, many people who are born completely healthy have. Look at the statistics on the incidence of suicide and depression.
I am <i>deeply offended by the thread because:
</i>
1) It implies that everyone with CF would rather NOT have been born and has an attitude like Ricky123 et al.
2) It implies that the people who DO exist, and who HAVE existed with CF <i>left nothing but a legacy of suffering</i> that the people they left behind had to watch (how unpleasant!) now have to remember and cry over. They would have no more CF because it's a horrible genetic disease where you KNOW the outcome so why would you INFLICT it upon anyone else?
So by that logic, you're saying that
a) Nobody in Africa (where the average lifespan at this moment is actually LESS than that of a person born with CF, to say nothing of the quality of life) should be born.
b) Nobody with the possibility of Lou Gehrig's disease should be born (Google search Stephen Hawking).
c) Nobody who could possibly get cancer should be born. Nobody who could possibly drive a car should be born.
d) Nobody who could possibly become a mountaineer or a sky diver, or who could have an addiction to drugs, or who could get necrotizing fasciitis could be born.
It's ludicrous. It's one step away from what the Nazis were trying to do!
I'm just trying to put things in perspective here and make people <i>really think</i>. Go on to Jerry's website. Go on to YouTube or Amnesty International and watch and read some inspiring stories. There are many, many people out there who are far worse off and who are still living amazing, beautiful, <b>worthwhile</b> lives.
Love, Chris
AKA Hermit, a 25 year old female born with Meconium Ileus, Cepacia, PA, staph, Hemoptysis, CFRD, GERD, a brother who passed away a few years ago, a wart on my foot...but who can amazingly still smile and is glad she was born!