Hello. My name is Jarod and I am new to the site. I am 22 with CF, and was very healthy until about half a year ago. Now, all of a sudden, all sorts of new things are cropping up, like the back pain you mentioned. I really hate that, especially when I have a bad cough and the pain makes me want to collapse. Also, I've been having problems with arthritis, sinus headaches (from nose polyps), coughing up blood, stomach pains well the list goes on. I understand what it is like to suddenly have your heath drop off for no apparent reason. I do not wish to think about how I am going to be doing three years from now. I am just about to finish college so my life should be starting, right? Hmmm, it feels like it is just beginning to wear down. Also, I have not seen any CF friends from my childhood for a long time, and as far as my other friends go... well, they are very kind and sympathetic, but they do not really grasp what I am going through. As I'm sure everyone can imagine, I've been a little emotionally unstable (meaning I've been coming very close to having embarrassing crying episodes in front of many people who would not understand). For someone who usually keeps his emotions bottled up inside (and yes, I know that is not healthy), this is a very new experience. Something that I am trying to convince myself is to just stop worrying about things, handle each day as it comes and let tommorrow worry about itself. When I am stressing out about my future or my health I am not enjoying life, and with my health declining I want to make things count. Well, that is what I am personally working on, anyway. Obviously, it is not as easy as it sounds (which is another something that many friends fail to grasp). I want to thank everyone for their testimonies here... after two not so great weeks finding this site was a nice turn. If anyone cares to email me, it is jarodbulthuis@hotmail.com.Jarod