Marieliz Landa's interview
Error
How did all start?
I was born sick
Do you already have a diagnosis? How long did it take you to get it?
It took several years for me to get a diagnosis.
For what medical specialties have you been treated? What has been the most useful specialty for your?
My Cystic Fibrosis care team has been the most valuable treatment team I have had.
What has been the most useful thing for you so far?
My port a cath, Iv Antibiotics, physical therapy, respiratory therapy, nebulizing, steroids.
What have been your biggest difficulties?
The biggest difficulty is staying infection free and that speeds the damage caused by the bronchiectasis.
How has your social and family environment reacted? Have your social or family relationships changed?
I am more cautious of who I am around, if anyone is sick I stay away. My family and friends know I'm sick and take special precautions near me.
What things have you stopped doing?
I have stopped running and riding bike, I haven't the energy for it but I am working out and regaining my lung function so that I can do those things again without tiring out so fast.
What do you think about the future?
I think the future is bright if I don't give up.
So far, which years have been the best years in your life? What have you done during them?
The best years of my life are the years I'm living now, each year is a gift for me and I know tomorrow is never guaranteed so I treasure what I have lived.
What would you like to do if you didn’t have your condition?
If I wasn't sick I would be selfish and not value my life so much. I think I would be more careless in the sense that I would run and do things that my lungs prevent me from doing without a care in the world, without the realization that there's others out there incapable of running and feeling the wind against their faces.
If you had to describe your life in a sentence, what would it be?
I am blessed.
Finally, what advice would you give to a person in a similar situation?
I would say to live your life as if tomorrow did not exist, treasure those around you! Volunteer, study, just live, so things because living with a disease that can take your life at any moment is not a curse like sometimes we feel, it limits and restricts you but it doesn't stop you, just means I can run just not as fast or as far but I can run.
