CF Awareness

 I'm responding to a blog post made my a nurse that has worked with CF patients in the past and fully supports all causes involving CF.
http://65redroses.com/2013/05/being-cf-nurse-why-i-support-the-4eva-campaign/
In her blog post she states that,
"I was very excited when I heard about the #4Eva Campaign, and the work that the team is doing for CF awareness month, however, I think that awareness should be raised all year round.  I hope to one day make that happen!! I think that we can learn from the successes of campaigns like breast cancer campaigns, and hopefully build a campaign for CF awareness that is just as popular!"
 I completely agree with this statement. CF awareness is popular but not as well known as it should be. CF awareness' month is May. 1 month of the year CF is given the medical world undivided attention but then becomes unacknowledged the rest of the year to medical professionals that don't work with CF patients. I also hope that one day this will change and people around the world with support CF awareness year round as they do in various Cancer awareness's. CF and CF patients deserved to be recognized and taken in higher regard than they are currently. My sister has CF so she has to take certain precautions in school everyday, when students ask why she responds with the tedious comment, "Because I have Cystic Fibrosis". Unfortunately only 4% of the people who ask know what it is. The other 96% are clueless and proceed to interrogate my sister about her illness. If CF awareness is raised and becomes a more supported and popular theme CF patients including my sister wouldn't have to explain their illness to everyone who asks. I fully support the idea of making CF awareness a year long event and hope that when it happens, my sister is around to witness it.

65 Roses

65 Roses is the symbol of Cystic Fibrosis known to all patients. The CFF (Cystic Fibrosis Foundation) gives items with the "logo" on them to donators. My grandmother has donated a great deal of money to the foundation over the years and gives my sister all of her gifts. My sister now has quite the collection of 65 Roses items on her wall. She has 2 blankets, an umbrella, pencils, a sweater, and a few other things. When she was little we called her Cystic Fibrosis either CF or 65 Roses. The story was something she related to and it made her outlook of CF better.

CF Diagnosis

When my sister was 9, she was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. I was 10 or 11 and had absolutely no idea what it was. All i knew is that is wasn't good because both my parents were crying and just held her. And since then my whole world has changed. Now my little sister is stuck taking a ton of pills everyday, she has to do breathing treatments and her vest for an hour everyday and she has to eat all day long. I didn't understand why she was always so little and sick when we were younger; until the doctors started giving her growth hormones and muscle simulations so that she would get stronger. Now I understand that her immune system is weak and that is why my family does all we can to keep her healthy. In school she has to wear gloves and a mask all day and use germ-ex and Clorox wipes to kill germs on all surfaces and she is taken out of school during flu season to be home schooled so that other students don't get her sick. I wish she hadn't been diagnosed with CF, but the more I think about it the CF has only made her a stronger person. She is always so happy and smiling. Her illness hasn't weakened her it has made her who she is today...she is my sister, my best friend, and my guardian angel.  And I don't know what I would do without her.