All my teenage life I thought I was invincible, I thought nothing would stop me. I didn't listen and I didn't care. I would get unwell and my lung function would drop, but I would come back out of hospital after IVs better than ever and I thought I was unstoppable.
I didn't need to listen to the doctors, I didn't need to listen to any of the other patients because I wasn't them it wasn't going to happen to me I was invincible. I was told by the consultants, the nurses, the psychologist, the dietician, my parents, my brother, my grandparents, friends of the family, my friends, other CF patients that were older than me, but I didn't need to listen or pay any attention to that I am Callum, and I was invincible.
Well turns out I'm not, turns out everyone was right. They wasn't just saying it because they had nothing better to be doing with their time. They wasn't saying it so that it improved their health or the length of their lives, turns out they were all doing it because they all cared about me. All them people telling me the same thing but I knew better!
Fast forward to 2015, I'm now 24 and im giving the same lectures I had to younger patients and praying they listen but knowing deep down they won't pay an ounce of attention until that life changing event happens and they almost lose their life like I did! Nobody is invincible when it comes to CF, we all fight against it, but ultimately it will always have an upper hand on our body and the only tool in our armour we have is to do the treatment we are prescribed and keep our lung function as high as possible for as long as possible, but when your lung function is high, treatment isn't high on the list of priorities because 'you can afford to lose a bit' well in reality you can't!
I look back at life and often wonder would I do it any different if I had my time again, and I'd love to say I would, but hand on heart I provably wouldn't. So what gives me the right to tell others what to do? I don't suppose I do have a right, however I just want the best for everyone else, like everyone wanted the best for me!
So if your reading this and your not very compliant with treatment, you miss your tablets, or nebs and think to yourself it'll be ok, I can hand on heart tell you, you won't!
Do you want to be on oxygen 24/7?
Do you want your bedroom being bought downstairs as you can no longer climb stairs?
Do you want to have to be washed by family members at 24 because you haven't got the physical energy to do it yourself?
Do you want to spend like I have recently and will be until I get my call for lungs around 80% of your life in hospital?
Or ultimately do you want to be waiting for a call for a chance of a second shot at life aged 24 when you can live a lot longer with your own lungs?
If the answer to any of those questions was no then I plead with you please try and up the amount of treatment you do as something is better than nothing and everything is better than something!
