who are you in a nut shell
Haven't posted here in ages, but was sitting here in the hospital doped up on percocet and remembered the site
I go by S. here on the forums, 30 years old, male, live with CF in Newport Beach, CA...live with my girlfriend...and 2 1/2 year old daughter...and soon to be brand new baby boy(will be born Sept. 5th)! I think the last time I posted I had none of the above, so things have taken quite a turn, haha.
Currently in the hospital to clean up the lungs, but came in earlier than usual due to a hectic schedule coming up. I leave for New York on Aug. 6th to attend a music festival that my friend will be running called All Points West. He is also one of the main guys behind a couple other world renowned festivals - Coachella and the Stagecoach Festival held out in Indio, CA during late spring. I think this may be my last trip for a long, long while considering the little one who is almost here.
My health is pretty good. In the hospital around 4 times a year, usually seems to coincide with the season changes...or what pass for seasons out here in sunny so. cal. Pft's run between 40%-50% and have recently been diagnosed with osteopaenia after several minor broken bones in my feet. No digestion issues to speak of, but I more than make up for it with sinus problems. Had a nice bout in the last 10 months or so. Had surgery to clean them out in september, but then ended up never really healing completely so was back in for surgery in early January of this year. Probably had close to 20 surgeries over the last 15 years.
The fatherhood thing happened in a very comedic way. I was getting very serious with my gf and decided on a whim to get tested, even though I never had any inkling of it actually being possible. I won't go into details about how I got the specimen to the lab, just know that the lab was 45 minutes away, but they needed the sample within 30 minutes of it making its entrance into the world. That is enough of that part of the story right there. Well, a week or so later I get a call from my doctor and he was laughing, said "now that you know you better be careful!". Well, about 2 weeks later I remembered what he had said, unfortunately(or fortunately) it was a little too late. We were on our way to parenthood.
This whole thing has been the most amazing journey so far and I never could have imagined my life turning out like this. When I was younger I thought I would be dead by 21, so I lived like I would for a lot of my later teen years. Then I started to realize I may not be going so soon. Met my girlfriend in December of 2004, right before Xmas, I was 26 at the time. 2 weeks later I was asking her to go to Paris with me. I just had this feeling right off the bat that she was going to be someone very special in my life. This is my first long term, serious relationship and things could not have worked out any better. We of course had a lot of hesitation leading up to the birth of our daughter, and we still have our moments, but who doesn't.
So here I am now with an amazing family and the best medicine in the world, my daughter. I think my doctor put it best. He said that my girlfriend has done more for me healthwise in the last few years than he has been able to do in the last 12 years. A happy, warm heart and happy mind works wonders! I agree with him to a point, but he is the one who made me believe I was going to live a long, full life and got me to the point where someone or something up above decided it was time for me to take the next step. We have a special surprise for my doc once my son is born, my doctors last name will become my son's middle name.
I am on permanent disability, so that also makes me the stay at home parent. The gf is a Realtor in Newport, so she works out of the house, giving us both the opportunity to spend copious amounts of time together as a family, which I cherish immensely. She also works part time at a baby store, which gets us a nice discount on all the designer baby stuff we want/need! I am also very fortunate because I am still covered under my mother's insurance, having a ppo is very nice.
Last work I did was in the music biz and had the opportunity to work with some of the biggest bands in the world. I am very fortunate to still have the connections from those days which allows me to attend many, many concerts. Live music is the biggest love in my life behind my family/friends, it got me through many lonely times throughout the years. If there was a show that interested me I went without hesitation(fortunately they were free a majority of the time due to my "job"), which is pretty easy to do when living where I do. I have probably attended upwards of 500 shows over the last 13 years or so.
Well, I am winding down for the night. I am hoping I can find a few extra minutes in each day to check in here and keep up with the goings on of my fellow cf'ers. Take care and thanks for reading if you made it this far!
