At times it is nice to find comfort in friends and family. Especially those who understand what you are going through. Those who do not take CF lightly and understand the defective monster that lies in the genetic strand. Friends and family visiting are always a comfort to Jerid whenever he is in and actually helps build his morale. It's amazing how even a 5 minute phone call from someone will mean the world to a CF patient and actually helps in their recovery. His parents will come up every other day and bring him up munchies. Sometimes they ask him what he wants and other times they surprise him.
At times some of our CF friends would be admitted the same time Jerid was and we would get together for midnight coffee. The hospital has a coffee shop with plenty of tables. It was really nice to sit around, joke, laugh and sip on our coffees for about an hour. We didn't go past an hour because at this time Tonya was in and out of the hospital every few weeks and she needed to have an oxygen tank and a wheel chair to get around. Despite having to have a few extra things with her she was always up for midnight coffee. Everyone would have a blast. I really loved it. I got to sit and see past the CF, the oxygen tubes, picc lines and port-a-caths and see past the thorns on the rose. If I thought too much about what they were going through I would catch myself starting to get a little weepy and I did not want to miss any laugh everyone was sharing with each other. Most of the time I would sit and listen because they would talk about going to CF camp and the fun things they all did together. I loved those stories. They were special childhood moments and they shared them with me. I was very honoured.
Two weeks in the hospital was a long time to just sit in the hospital. I know many CF patients who would agree with that. I would try and stay up whenever I could with Jerid. There were many faces who would come in and out of his room. Whenever RTs would come in I would love to curl up behind Jerid. Between the shaking of the vest and the low hissing of the nebulizer I would always fall asleep. As weird as it sounds, it was actually comforting for me. He was getting good care and I was able to relax.
Jerid likes to do CF studies. I'll support him in it. It is a good idea and it helps others with CF. He was on one study and they were finally able to come out with the medicine. It's an inhaled antibiotic. Jerid has been out for almost a year now because of this new med!n I find it very exciting and hope that the others who use it receive the same results. Jerid is not a fan of doing it three times a day but he needs to do it. At first I'll ask him if he's done his treatment and if he says yes I'll run down the list of meds he has to do for that treatment time. If he says no, then I grab his meds for him, start hooking him up to his vest machine and get his neb ready. He gets annoyed with me at times because I do that but as far as I see it, he will not fight alone as long as I am still around. He had told me at one point that when he met me he was just waiting around to die. He didn't want a lung transplant either. That was out of the question. Then one day he changed his mind. I asked him what had changed and he looked at me and said ""You". I can not imagine how someone could impact another life in such a way and with such intensity. I still can not comprehend it, which is why I give his health care props to him. He's the one sitting there several times a day doing treatments.
The swine flu broke out and people were in a panic. There was a huge rush to get the H1N1 flu shot. I was worried that anyone with lung issues were going to be looked over. I was wrong! Thank goodness! Jerid was able to get his along with a few CF patients I know. Long after the swine flu panic my 10 year old daughter Abbigail somehow caught the swine flu. As soon as my ex hubby and his wife found out they rushed over to our house and got the kids. I had just had surgery and they knew with Jerid’s CF they didn’t need to be around us. I talked to the kids step mom and asked her to care for them like I would. She told me that it wouldn’t be a problem and expressed how she knew it was hard for me having a sick child and not being able to care for them. I talked to my kids everyday they were gone and they seemed to be in better spirits and assured me Stacy was taking good care of them. I couldn’t have asked for a better step mother for my children. I love her. Now my son tonight started running a fever of 100.6 and had a huge headache so I called my ex hubby and told him about it. He said they'd be right over to get him because they're contagious when they have a fever. It's not 100% that he does have it but none of us want to chance it, especially when it comes to Jerids health. He assures me that he is fine. He is taking the tamiflu as precaution but I still worry. I can't help it. I love him.
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