Why Did I Start Blogging? 100th Post!!

This post marks my 100th blog post!!!! Honestly, I didn’t realize I have blogged this much in the past 15 months. I guess I have a lot to say : )  Not only that, if someone asked me 2 years ago if I would have a blog about my life and have 100 posts I would have said no way.  But I LOVE blogging.  Maybe that is an understatement….  

I never really expressed why or how I even started blogging about my life. For me, I have never met anyone with CF.  I can tell you this that I have always been interested in how others live and cope with this disease.  When it comes to meeting people with this disease most of the people in the community have met others through hospital stays or what we call tune ups.  For me, I am beyond lucky to never havehad a single hospital stay or tune up.  Basically, a tune up is where you go into the CF clinic and stay a minimum of 2 weeks receiving heavy doses of i.v. antibiotics and visits from respiratory therapists to pound the mucus of out your lungs.  It’s NOT a two week vacation from school, work, or anything else at least that is what I am told and have read. But anyway I was always curious how others battling my same battle battled every day.

So here is how it all started…………….One day I was google searching running and cystic fibrosis and stumbled upon a link that opened up my eyes to a new world that I didn’t really know ever existed.  I know that sounds very very strange. But the link I clicked on was my fibro’s blog site.  All I can say is thank you Ronnie!!! If it wasn’t for clicking on your blog site I would not have learned that this blogger world ever existed.   I started reading many of the blog posts on here and read the comments that were left on posts.  I would click on the profile names of individuals who left comments to be directed to their very own blogger page.  Through all this, I found MY community of warriors who are battling much of the same things I do every day.  I know we all have different obstacles when it comes to CF but it is nice to find people who may have gone through some similar things that you have or will in the near future.  

After reading and following other CF blogs in the community for close to a year, I decided it was a good idea for me to take my CF life public.  One of the biggest reasons why I decided to blog was during OUR fertility journey we couldn’t really find anyone with our similar story.  There was no one that we could find who had a CF spouse (ME) and that their spouse was also a CF carrier going through pre genetic diagnosis (PGD) and IVF.  Once we were given our miracle news that we were pregnant, I decided to put OUR life out there for the public eye.Graciously, Maria approved of that decision : ) I wanted to put it all out there because I know WE were not the only people who would/will be going through this process.

Apparently, I was correct in this assumption! One day, I decided to Google search CF and IVF.  If you google CF and IVF you will get close to 1,200,000 results.  My blog post about OUR IVF journey is #3 on that list.  I guess that means people are reading OUR story and Google thinks at least that post has some value to it : ) To me that is pretty neat!!

Before I began this blog, I wanted to find a name for my blog that fit my life.   I decided to name my blog “Living My Dreams With CF” because that is honestly how I feel about my life.   I have been blessed with a fantastic life beyond words could ever describe. Through my blog, you have seen how blessed I am to have a FANTASTIC wife in Maria who motivates me every single day to put my best foot forward in every single thing I do.  In fact, she has seen more ups and downs in her health than I have in the last 2 years.  But never once has she ever said I am done or I am giving up.  When Maria found out she was a CF carrier and then soon after that she found out her infertility  she could have said there is no way I am going to go through anymore.  But never once did she say I quit. She has shown me that I truly am blessed to have the life that I do have. I cannot thank you ever enough to have you right by my side every day!!

Another dream that has come true in my life is that I am a father.  This is something that many people may take for granted outside the CF world. In the CF community many of us were told we wouldn’t see life beyond a certain age.  For most of us in my CF generation that was anywhere from teenage years to mid 30s.  So that meant going to college, having a career, getting married and having a family was I guess you could say not realistic. But never once did I take those words to heart and I believed that I would defy the odds.  Well for all those who read my blog you can see that I have accomplished every single one of those. Most recently, with the birth of Alayna I defied the odds again.  

Alayna is another reason that fuels my motivation and determination every day I get out of bed.  I am more determined than ever before to be as compliant and healthyas I possibly can.  I want to see that day Alayna starts kindergarten, graduates from high school, and I want to be there to walk her down that wedding aisle, and not only that to become a grandfather to her future children.  

Through my blog and other various forms of social media, I found a passion that I never knew existed.  That passion is raising awareness about CF and putting a positive spin on this disease to my readers, my fellow cysters and fibros, and even parents to CFers.  I honestly LOVE talking to all of you whether it’s through blogging, facebook, or forums.  I have been so blessed to be as healthy as I am with this disease and I feel that helping others overcome their challenges with this disease is my mission.  I have had the opportunity to interact with many of you and have made lifetime friendships.  I never once thought before I got my feet wet in this community that I would be talking to people all around this world.  I have been able to help a mom living in South Africa to a CFer, others who live in Europe and even Australia.  That just blows my mind.  I will continue to raise awareness and stay as positive as I can when it comes to this disease.   I hope you all continue to read my journey as I create more awareness for everyone who is impacted by this disease.

But most of all…………………………………………………………………..

THANK YOU for reading and being a part of my blog.  I appreciate anyone who takes the time out of their busy day to read what I have to blab about : )