I looked after a young man years ago. He was a handsome guy, early 20s. Lots of fun. Very talented. All the nurses knew him from his many admissions and absolutely adored him. He was that type of patient you never minded taking care of. I can still picture him sitting cross-legged on his bed as he struggled to breathe.
One day, he was admitted to the hospital and he didn't get better. His death touched all of us. I think it was my first time experiencing the death of someone my own age. It made an impression on me - I still remember his name.
Last year, I read about a young girl in my own town, close to the same age as the young man that passed away 30 years ago and I thought of him again. You see, they had something in common.
Cystic Fibrosis.
Eva Markvoort was only 25 when Cystic Fibrosis ended her life prematurely. She tried desperately to live. She had a double lung transplant which her body rejected. She did everything she could to fight the Disease until trying wasn't enough anymore. I had been following her blog every once in a while the year before she died - and watched her videos. She was an amazing young woman. One of her dreams was to make a movie documentary . And she did.
The title? "65_Redroses". Interesting name.
Cystic Fibrosis strikes early. Early enough that very young children are affected. When children so young have an illness that is difficult to pronounce, sometimes the words get twisted. Cystic Fibrosis often comes out as "Sixty-five Roses". Eva threw in the "Red" because that was her favorite color.
Even though it was expected, it was a shock to read that Eva had finally died. When you follow someone's blog, somehow they become part of your life, and if they reveal enough about themselves, it is like they are one of your circle of friends. I wasn't quite ready for it.
In a way, Eva still lives on........
* Average Age of Survival through the years:
1950 - Age 1
1960 - Age 10
1970 - Age 16
1980 - Age 18
1990 - Age 29
2000 - Age 32
2004 - Age 35.1
2006 - Age 36.9
2007 - Age 37.4 (but only 50% will reach this age)
2 comments:
Thank you for sharing the link to this; I had never watched that video. I knew Eva from the livejournal CF community, which I began posting in when I got engaged to my husband, who has CF. Eva was always good to talk with about things like whether or not CF'ers "should" have children, and I miss her very much. The statistics you posted at the end might look grim to some, but I'll focus on how the numbers keep rising. My husband is 31 years old and we've been married for almost 6 years now, which is more than I've hoped for at some times. I'm ready for more years ahead! :)
Wow, he is doing great! Yes, focus on living day to day...
Eva was an amazing person, saw her on tv here - and I lived in her community... I also have another video of an RN with CF:
http://callmenurse.blogspot.com/2010/08/registered-nurse-her-story-living-with.html
Thanks for stopping by! And may your husband celebrate many more birthdays! :)
Post a Comment