My exchange year with Cystic Fibrosis

This Blogpost is a particularly important one to me and I hope many people who are fighting similarly battles will worship this. Because in this Blogpost I am going to talk about my chronic illness called "Cystic Fibrosis" and the struggles it  brings along. Travelling with my illness isn't that easy and I with this blog I want to help everyone who dreams about travelling with an illness. 

Cystic Fibrosis is a chronic illness, which you get born with. It causes thick mucus to built up everywhere in the body and damage many different organs. 

The lung, the pancreas and the digestive system are highly affected. The life expectancy improved massively over the past years. Nowadays people suffering from Cf can reach adulthood and can live up to an average age of 40, and that's pretty long compared to not growing older that preschool age! 

So that basically means that I have this thick mucus everywhere and bacteria is expanding there very quickly. 

I get a lot of lung infections and I have problems with breathing. That also means that I get lots of colds even in summer.

In the pancreas, insulin and a enzyme for digestion are produced. The enzyme called "Lipase" is responsible for digesting, but as the production is not working you can't digest the food you eat. 

I have to take meds to every meal I eat to help me digest, but I still have massive problems with that which involves pain, cramps and I pretty much feel nauseous all the time. On some days I can't even get up because of my stomach ache.

I also have to take about 15-20 pills everyday like Vitamins and digestion pills. 

But the most time consuming thing are my treatments: 3 hours treatments and another hour breathing exercises every day. 

Every two months I have to get a checkup in the hospital, and if there's a problem, I have to stay there for two weeks. 

All of that is hard work, with the pain and the treatments and doing all of that in a different country is going to be a whole new challenge. 

My personal story with Cf is a very positive one, as the condition of my lungs is not bad at all. Of course, I have to work very hard for that, but I am very proud how far I have come. 

My pancreas is the most affected organ in my body, and digesting is not entirely possible even with all the medications I take. That bears lots of dieting plans (not for loosing weight but to spare my organs) and calculating my calorie income because I need to eat more than an adult.

But the real problems that my illness causes regarding to my exchange year, besides the treatments and absences, is the insurance during my exchange. 

The normal health insurance that most programs offer don't cover "preexisting illnesses". So if I break my leg they would pay, but if I get a lung infection I would have to pay that myself and that would be immensely expensive. 
But that is basically what is going to happen: my insurance from Austria would pay the price a treatment or a hospital room would cost in Austria, but my parents would have to pay  for the rest. That's a massive risk and all I can do is hope that I won't be needing any expensive treatments. 

I will have to visit a responsible hospital once and get a big checkup, and we will have to pay for that myself. 

Most of the medication I will be needing doesn't need to be cooled, so I can take as many tablets as possible with me when I fly to America. Maybe I can add a free excess luggage for meds, I will give you an update if that is possible or not. 

Today I have 70 days until my flight departs and my journey will start. If you want to stay updated you can submit your email address in the bar on the right. If you ave any questions, feel free to ask. 
Thank you for spending your time on me,
Leonie