Salty Foster Mama: Life As A Foster Mom Living With Cystic Fibrosis

A part of living with CF is lots of doctors visits. I have allergy shots twice a week and visit my primary care doctor every time I get sick (which is more often than I would like). Every two months I see my pulmonologist.  I also have a rheumatologist, gastroenterologist, and ENT that I see routinely, not to mention the normal optometrist and dentist appointments that are commonplace. My CF clinic visits last a few hours because I see my pulmonologist, nutritionist,  social worker, pharmacist, and nurse every visit.  I usually get respite care or a babysitter for those days because I know I will be busy all day and can't deal with all my kids at those visits. I take my kids with me to the allergist and to some specialists. While school was in session I took the younger ones while the older ones were in school. Today I sat in a doctor's office alone while my husband took the kids to their appointments before he went to work for the day, then picked them up on my way ho...

I was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis at age two via a sweat test that came back positive, hence the term "salty foster mama." I am one of three kids in my family, two of whom have CF and one who is a carrier. I have spent lots of time in and out of hospitals and am constantly learning about new complications the disease has as I get older. Thankfully, my pulmonary function tests remain around 65% and most days I feel fairly healthy as long as I keep up with my respiratory therapy. I started my journey with foster care a year ago. My husband and I had done several rounds of fertility treatments that weren't getting us anywhere.  We didn't have the money for a private adoption but we wanted to feel the joy of having kids in our home. I had never considered foster care up to that point but when my husband brought it up I was intrigued. I did a lot of research, prayer, and contemplation before agreeing to meet with a representative from Utah Foster Care to start the app...