As others mentioned, I have most of my meds together. My pills/inhalers are in a cabinet in the kitchen, and my apartment has a bar which is very convenient for a medical station since I don't drink. I have a little fridge back there, cabinets for my supplies of meds (as others mentioned, most of mine come in at least a month to three month supplies), and a counter for vest, nebulizer, sterilizer, and so forth.
When I take out the last inhaler or the last bottle of pills from my medical area, I put the empty box on my desk by my computer. With pills that just come in one large bottle (such as actigall), I pull it out of the kitchen cabinet and place it on my computer desk when it gets to a certain level. My meds are all ordered online (I'm with Kaiser) and are all mailed to me except for the refrigerated ones. Those I order online and have to go pick up at the Kaiser pharmacy. So, if I don't have time to re-order at that moment, I remember to do it when I see the empty bottles or boxes on my computer desk.
As far as compliance, I work full time as a teacher and also teach piano lessons after school, so really full time plus a little. Still, I am 100% compliant with meds and vest. One thing that really helps me is that my medical area also has a mirror and outlets, so I keep all of my hair and make-up stuff in the cabinets by my medicine and get ready in the morning while doing nebs and vesting. I also often grade papers on the bar during my evening treatments. As someone else mentioned, if I have to, I do nebs in the car or sometimes even after school at my desk. Recently, I flew to Indonesia and missed several treatments because of the loooong flight. I never skip treatments, so it felt scandalous, though, I must admit, also somewhat liberating =)
The one area where I struggle is exercise. I'm too exhausted by evening to do it, so the only way to get it done consistently is to get up early enough to do it in the morning. That's a tough one for me. At times, I walk a few miles on the treadmill every morning for months. Usually what messes me up is getting sick. Then I simply can't get up to do it in the morning and have enough energy to make it through the day, so I get out of the routine. Once off, I never seem to be disciplined to get right back to it, so there are major gaps in my exercise program.
I think the key to the whole thing is the determination to get it done. What made me become compliant was when I began to comprehend how it affects my quality of life. Yes, it's inconvenient and means I have to make choices. Yes, in the end it doesn't make sickness go away anyway. However, it does make a huge difference to my quality of life and is really the only power I have to control the state of my health to any degree. I've been told by nurses that they can generally tell right away when cf patients come in whether or not they're compliant--it makes that much difference.
So, I would say, it's a matter of choice. Can it be done? Absolutely. Is there a price to pay in order to achieve it? Absolutely. Certainly there are ways to make it work better with your life, but ultimately you have to ask yourself the question of whether it is important enough to you to make it happen. Years ago I made the choice that it is, and from a long term perspective, I don't regret that decision at all!
Sorry this is so long--hope it helps!
