Cystic fibrosis sucks.
Well, my buddy Mike is in a bad-way. At least he seems pretty much the same emotionally as he's been since I've known him, even though time is getting short.
He now has a machine that essentially "filters" air into just oxygen, and has about 50 feet of tube so he can get to the bathroom and to the fridge if he needs to from his bedroom, because he's now wearing the little nose-piece 24/7. This is ontop of the "fannypack" that is patched into a shoulder-site that gives him regular doses of antibiotics 24/7. On top of the handful of vitamins, more antibiotics, and cough meds he takes daily. And the tempature in his room is like, close to 60 degress, but cold air is easier for him to breath, so I didn't say anything, but damn I'm glad I was sitting near a vent.
The only real change is, because that he now has one collapsed lung, that even with the oxygen tube, he is prone to fits of anger, induced by the lack of oxygen. It didn't happen when I was there, but his mom and his wife said it gets bad sometimes, and it's stressful. They didn't know that was the reason at first, they thought he was just getting bitter and angry about his condition and lashing out, but the doctor hooked him up to a machine that monitors the oxygen content in his blood, and let them know what was going on.
It was a little disheartening, seeing all that tubing coiled up near him, and all of the various sized portable tanks of oxygen he has there in case he needs to leave the house for something.
And still, those damn moronic doctors and their policies... first he was "too healthy" to have a lung transplant, now he's "too sick". That right there puts ME into a fit of anger everytime I think about it. Especially the "too sick" part.
I guess he's just come to terms with it over the years. Then again, he's managed to beat the doctors life expectancy predictions everytime... but the collapsed lung is sort of the proverbial "last straw".
Since he's never had prime rib, even though he's a HUGE steak fan, even more than I am (but I think alot of it is because he can't have it very often, with him being on disability and his mom and wife having low-level incomes); I really need to try to find the time (and money) to buy and make a standing rib roast for him and his family.
His wife is changing from full time to part time, which at first set off some alarms in my head about their finances, but she has it worked out. She's doing it so she can spend more time with him... which is both incredibly touching, and deeply saddening. It's also a pretty clear indicator that time is short... so if I'm going to do anything with them, I'll need to try to do it soon.