Joshua Hilton
CF has impacted my life in so many more ways than I could have imagined. Even though this chronic illness has changed just about every aspect of my life, I have become a stronger, more resilient, and motivated person because of it.
I was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis when I was two months old. From that moment, I had no idea that my life would be completely different. Often times when I was a kid, I could not understand why I had to do things differently from all of the other kids. I didn’t understand why I needed to do all of the breathing treatments and spend hours waiting for doctors’ appointments while all of my friends were enjoying school and other activities. I often got very frustrated and angry with myself for having this chronic illness. Eventually, as I began to mature and learn about my body and about my health, I began to see the different lessons I had already learned because of my early hardships. As a result of doing all of those extra things to keep my health in check, I learned the importance of taking care of my body and was able to make it one of my top priorities. I also learned to cherish the moments I did have with my friends. I knew that because of my condition, I never knew when I would be hospitalized and miss out on the experiences and the memories that I wanted to make.
As I progressed through school and began taking harder classes and having more work to do, the lessons that I had learned from CF came into play again. I would be stressed and overwhelmed with the amount of work that I had to do. However, because of my experiences that I have had with CF, I knew that I was capable of going through hard times, and I had the motivation and drive to be able to push knowing that would come out of my struggles as a stronger person. I knew that I could do all of the things I needed to, like taking my medicine and doing my breathing treatments, all while doing my schoolwork and still being able to do the activities that I loved.
It could be very easy to look at Cystic Fibrosis as a chronic illness that negatively affects my life and makes it so that I couldn’t do the things that I want. However, for me, CF has changed my entire outlook on life, and made me a more hopeful and motivated person. CF has helped me to be able to have high standards for myself and has helped me to know what I can accomplish. None of this would have been possible if I did not take care of my body and do all of the required treatments and take the prescribed medicine. I would not be the same person or have the same looks on life if I did not have Cystic Fibrosis.
