clairebells
New member
I commend Natalie for coming here and being honest about her concerns about the future. She's being smart to think this over carefully and get more info. And if her boyfriend is sick often now (I think she said he is, otherwise why couldn't they travel), realistically this is a progressive disease and it's only going to get worse. CF can be a consuming, exhausting disease to deal with, both for the person with it and the caregiver. How severely is her boyfriend affected (although of course that can change - someone can be a "healthy" CFer, then get cepacia and decline rapidly), I wonder?
I think to knowingly choose to marry someone with a debilitating disease like CF requires a special, deeper, more selfless love, and a really good personality match (ie. I can't imagine having serious temperament incompatibilities and having to cope with serious illness) - otherwise you're going to end up resenting the person as they start to get sicker and sicker (and here again the question of how sick this guy is comes into play - if he's doing okay, they could possibly have 5-10 great years before he starts to get very ill; if he's sick a lot now, it'll probably only get worse unfortunately).
Lizardqueen put it well when she said that one thing most CFers don't have a lot of is time, so if you have been with him a few years already and are having serious doubts about where the relationship is headed, let him go so he can find true love elsewhere (or at least take some time off from each other so you can find out what you both really want).
To Allie:
I've been wanting to say this for a while. Over and over again I am deeply touched and often moved to tears by the beautiful love you shared with your husband Ry. The grief you've described at losing him just breaks my heart. I wish so much you could have had many more happy years together, because yours is a rare and true love that many of us will never encounter in this lifetime. Thank you for coming here (and I know it can't be easy to be on a CF forum when CF took your husband's life such a terribly short time ago) and sharing your story, and for helping others deal with this disease. I believe in my heart that Ry is still with you, watching over you, somehow, and that you will be together again one day. God bless you.
Jenny (mom to Chrissy 4 w/CF and Claire 6 no CF)
I think to knowingly choose to marry someone with a debilitating disease like CF requires a special, deeper, more selfless love, and a really good personality match (ie. I can't imagine having serious temperament incompatibilities and having to cope with serious illness) - otherwise you're going to end up resenting the person as they start to get sicker and sicker (and here again the question of how sick this guy is comes into play - if he's doing okay, they could possibly have 5-10 great years before he starts to get very ill; if he's sick a lot now, it'll probably only get worse unfortunately).
Lizardqueen put it well when she said that one thing most CFers don't have a lot of is time, so if you have been with him a few years already and are having serious doubts about where the relationship is headed, let him go so he can find true love elsewhere (or at least take some time off from each other so you can find out what you both really want).
To Allie:
I've been wanting to say this for a while. Over and over again I am deeply touched and often moved to tears by the beautiful love you shared with your husband Ry. The grief you've described at losing him just breaks my heart. I wish so much you could have had many more happy years together, because yours is a rare and true love that many of us will never encounter in this lifetime. Thank you for coming here (and I know it can't be easy to be on a CF forum when CF took your husband's life such a terribly short time ago) and sharing your story, and for helping others deal with this disease. I believe in my heart that Ry is still with you, watching over you, somehow, and that you will be together again one day. God bless you.
Jenny (mom to Chrissy 4 w/CF and Claire 6 no CF)