I wish I wasn't FORCED to do treatments.

I remember the good old days as if they were yesterday. Those were the days I was able to do treatments on my own schedule, whenever I wanted, and work cystic fibrosis around my life. Those were the days when my doctors recommended 2 treatment sets a day and 3 if I wasn't feeling quite up to snuff. Those were the days I was running around like crazy and it felt like I barely had enough time to get in even the 2 recommended treatment sets a day.

In those days my treatment sets consisted of albuterol, Pulmozyme and the Vest. I only did TOBI when I was in the hospital, or when my docs convinced me that I needed a month or 2 at home. If I could go back to the good old days, I would. (If only to correct the mistakes I made concerning my health)

If I took better care of myself when I was younger and actually had less responsibility and no one truly dependent on me, there is no doubt that I'd be a better version of myself today. I firmly believe that I'd be a better husband, father and friend.

It's funny, because now I have real responsibility in my life and I do truly have less time for treatments and exercise.  Back in the day I was filling up my time doing many things that didn't have any real impact on the world nor did I have a family that I was required to put first. I often think back on the “good old days” and wonder what in the heck was I doing?

[SIDE NOTE: They wanted me to do at most 90 minutes of treatments and 30 minutes of exercise a day back in the "good old days". Today, I often do 90 minutes of treatments in one sitting. It's not uncommon for me to put in 240 to 300 minutes of treatments and exercise each day.]

Back in the "good old days" doing my treatments was a choice, a choice that I wish I would have made more often. I would have been much better served to have treated my body well when I was healthier than to take my health for granted, as I did, and end up at a place that I wish I never experienced.

For those that are new to this blog I'll give a very brief summary of what really changed my CF journey:

When I was younger I was very active and I never missed any treatments. I was very active and I didn't miss any treatments because those were the rules that I had to abide by to live with my parents. When I moved out I started making my own choices with regards to treatments and exercise. I didn't always make the best choices. I saw my lung function steadily decline from 97% in 2000 (the year I moved out of my parent's house), to a baseline of 70% in 2007 (I was in the hospital for 30 days every 3 months),  to an all-time low of somewhere in the 20's in 2009 (I was too sick to blow in the ICU and blew a 31%, 10 days into a 52 day stay). I decided during that hospital stay that I could no longer exercise only “when I had the time” and that 2 treatment sets a day (which I was actually doing consistently at this point) just simply wasn't going to cut it anymore. I wanted to live.  

After leaving the hospital in March of 2009 I made a dramatic change. I started exercising and/or working out every single day. I started doing 4 treatment sets a day, no matter what. I added any additional medication that I could take. I added an inhaled antibiotic every month. I decided that if I was going to take care of myself, the way that I should, I was going to go all in. If I wanted the results I was aiming for (an FEV1 of 75% after they told me to be happy if I got it up to 55%), I knew that my health was no longer a choice, but a "have-to". 

Through hard work, dedication, and the grace of God, I was able to regain and surpass all of the lung function that I had lost in the previous 10 years. 

I sit here today writing this blog feeling better than I have in a long, long time. The cool thing is that I'm able to say on most days that I feel better than the day before. I recently had an FVC of 92% and that's something I haven't done since 2001. My FEV1 baseline is 75% now, and I haven't seen that baseline since 2003. My life is fuller and more enjoyable than at any time in those years I was making my own decisions concerning my health care.

It's not all good news though - I am FORCED to do treatments. I am forced to exercise. I am forced to put my health first.

If I don't put my health first, even for a day, I feel it. I can no longer miss a treatment here and workout there and not feel a negative impact from that decision. If I want to be at my best, I have to do all my treatments; I have to get to the gym; I have to put my health first.

Back in the “good old days” I could miss a few treatments without consequence. Back in the “good old days” I could sit on the couch for days on end and still have the lung function of most of my peers. Back in the “good old days”, health could be more than a few notches down on my priority totem pole and I'd still be able to live a full and active life.

Not today.

If I miss treatments today, my lungs feel tight, my breathing is suppressed, and my lungs are junky. If I don't move around for an extended period of time, I feel incredibly lethargic, I get very achy, and taking a full breath is nearly impossible. If I don't put my health first and at the top of my totem pole, I wouldn't be able to take Mckenna to the park every morning; I wouldn't be able to tackle life with Mandi; I wouldn't  be writing in this here blog.

When I look back on the “good old days” I realize that though they were good, they weren't great. In all honesty, they were pretty pointless.

The love I had for life back then pales in comparison to the love I have for my wife today. The fulfillment I got from the "good old days" isn't even in the same universe as the fulfillment I get from being a daddy.  I'm able to write about the "good old days" with a new purpose, a purpose that wouldn't have been discovered if I continued to live in the "good old days".

Things would be a lot different today if I would have taken better care of myself in the "good old days". If I would have put my health first when I had the choice, maybe I wouldn't be forced to put it first today. Choices in life are a great luxury to have. When I had that luxury, I made really poor choices. Today, with that luxury gone, my only choice is to live a life full of treatments and exercise if I want to be the best version of myself each and every day.

I don't have many regrets in this life, but I do wish that I would have listened when they tried to tell me that the "good old days" pale in comparison to what God had in store for me.

I can promise you this - I would have made better choices.