98%...and a solid 6

As someone with CF, I always pay really close attention to my PFT's. PFT's, or Pulmonary Function Tests, tell me how my lungs are doing... How much lung function I have been retaining through my illness, the capacity of both my major and minor airways, and how much oxygen is in my blood. To me, they are my grade by which I determine the current state of my health. They can be great, or they can be terrifying...especially if closely monitored after an illness. Maybe it's just me, but with every illness that strains my lungs, I am constantly battling myself and second guessing whether or not I did any lasting damage.

Top it off with the damning statistic that CF patients tend to lose between 2% and 4% lung function each year.

Is it me, or did a collective hush just fall over this blog???

I remember my first appointment and hearing about my PFT's. At 16, I rationalized it like any honor roll student. "96%... That's an A. My lungs are an A. I can live well with a 96%". Then I saw that statistic and realized even if it was only 2% a year... In 10 years, I'd be at a 76%. And I cried. Because I've never in my life been a C student.

It's a funny thing about us A students though... We are determined to keep our A's, and sometimes, they become even better A's.

Today, in that little room of the PFT lab, I solidified to myself what a lot of people have told me for quite some time now.

I am so much stronger than any statistic.

Today, almost exactly 12 years after those initial PFT's, my lung function is a 98%.

And tomorrow, when I celebrate my 98 with a 6 mile run, and my lungs start to scream at mile 4... I will smile and keep pushing because if they are strong enough to be at 98%, then they are strong enough for 6 miles. And who knows, maybe 99 is around that next mile marker.

Half crazy, and completely loving it,
Jenny