Lifes most valuable lesson learnt

Well tomorrow Chase turns 10.

What a milestone.

I was cleaning up photo albums the other day and came across the baby books – you know the ones, the ones we are determined we’ll keep up to date and never do… the ones we are proud to show off for #1 and then # 2 comes and there never seems to be the same amount of time available.

Anyway I came across Chase’s baby book, flicking through I looked at all the milestones, the weight gains (and loses), the medical procedures , the operations and then I looked at something else – when he first walked, talked, got his first tooth, first swore..

Most of them were blank – the first swear word I remember vividly – at the lights waiting for a red… Oh F---“as in rhymes with truck – wonder where he had heard that before at a red light!

Anyway, what struck me was the number of ‘normal’ things missed. Chases first year is literally a blur for me as we came to grips with dealing with this big unknown Cystic Fibrosis.

CF was to become what was like a member of the family – to be understood, disciplined and cared for. To be given the attention it needed.

Sadly it became a larger part of our family than I would have liked looking back now. It overwhelmed Steve and I as we tried to manage life in a way we hadn’t anticipated when we first had Chase.

Chase of course sailed through it all accepting all these adults into his life that would play such a large part in trying to keep him healthy.

We are thankful for those friends every day – his Doctor, David, his CF nurse Dee, his physio team and his dietician Annemarie.

They’ve come to understand Chases challenges with CF and his intellectually disability and love him the more for it. They have helped me cope on those days when it all seems just too damn much.

But most of all they have been there – guiding, listening and helping us get a handle on this hideous disease CF.

As I write this, a dear friend now living in Australia is fighting what may be her last battle with CF as her new lungs are rejecting her.  My heart breaks for her, her mum and her family as she is so young – but this is the reality of a disease that has no cure, that systematically destroys every organ in the body and slowly lessens the quality of life.

And through this gloom an incredible light shines through. A light that warms the body, that soothes the soul, for unlike many others , we as a family have learn one of life’s most valuable lessons

Live Life Today fully and you create a lifetime of memories

Happy Birthday Chase may we be blessed with sharing many days like this with you 
Love Mum