Yesterday was hard.
It started great. I was up at 6:30 with a cup of coffee and a slice of banana bread, watching CBS This Morning.
Then a coughing fit started, one that had me leaning over the sink. It wasn’t pretty.
It’s been a long time since I coughed like that.
It’s hard to explain the toll that takes on my body. My chest hurt, my stomach was sore, and my back ached. But mostly I was just exhausted. Completely drained.
A couple hours later I managed to pull myself off the couch and walk to yoga. I knew that even if it was hard, I’d be glad I went.
The rest of the day I struggled to stay present. It’s a lot easier to be positive and hopeful when I’m feeling good. But when I have days like these – when CF is hard to ignore – my mind wanders. Back to the what ifs. To other CF patients. To my biggest fears.
And then I saw this video. And I realized it was just ONE day. It doesn’t define me or my CF or my future. It’s just ONE bad day.
So I took a nap. Made a healthy dinner. Did my meds. Went to bed early. Slept in.
And this morning I woke up feeling much better.
CF may give me some bad days, but it doesn’t have to hold me back.
* * *
One of the things that helps get me through my bad days is my support system. I have an amazing group of friends and family who have my back every day.
Steve Beck (a different Steve than in the video above) is one of them. Aside from being a good friend, he’s a phenomenal runner (seriously, he’s freaky fast). And he’s running the Pittsburgh Half Marathon this May to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. It’s not often I ask for donations on this blog, but I want to help Steve reach – and even EXCEED – his goal. Any amount will help make a difference… and bring us that much closer to a cure.
Thank you.
From A to Pink | A Blog by Katharine Scrivener 