Can you live an “ordinary” adolescence when you have cystic fibrosis?

By Amélie Payment, 16 years old.

My name is Amélie and I am 16 years old. I was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when I was nine months old. My first year of life was very hectic, as I was hospitalized for the duration of my life. Today I want to share with you my opinion on how I see the adolescence of a person living with cystic fibrosis.

How can we live an “ordinary” adolescence when we are affected by cystic fibrosis? This is a question I asked myself for a long time before drawing these conclusions.

First, because we are sick, we have to follow a routine, take and inhale medications or antibiotics on a daily basis. We also need to do sports, do respiratory physiotherapy and go to all of our medical follow-up appointments. Let's face it... it's a lot! Health is not the only thing we need to take care of. There is school, our social and family life and even more for some.

Personally, I found that my illness and adolescence were not a very good mix. Adolescence is a great phase of questioning, sometimes of rebellion, and in my case of great anxiety.

But despite this difficult stage in my life, I decided that at 16, instead of seeing my illness as something negative, I was going to accept it. By that, I mean to live one day at a time and above all to accept myself as I am. I have no control over the bacteria that enter my system, that's for sure. But what I can do is make every effort to successfully complete my treatments.

I am basically a girl like the others. I have qualities, faults, dreams and goals like speaking out about my illness. The main difference between me and other teenage girls is that I have a bit more responsibility and I can't make decisions spontaneously. For example, I can't decide to go sleep at a friend's house on a whim because I wouldn't have my PEP and my medication. I also miss school more often than normal, which is why I have already been bullied because other students did not understand my situation.

In short, even though having cystic fibrosis has already caused me problems, I realize that being different is a good thing, because it makes me unique and that is extraordinary. I am happy to be who I am and to have the life that I have right now.

Finally, to answer the question How can you live an “ordinary” adolescence with cystic fibrosis? In my opinion, we simply cannot! Hihi! And I think it's okay to be different and unique. Having cystic fibrosis has made me a warrior and I enjoy every day that goes by. I am not just a sick girl, I am a survivor!

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