Keeping Well, My Active Life - by Kim Owen
Hi my name is Kim and I will be 42 years old in May. I was diagnosed with CF at three and half years old. I used to play a lot of sports at school. I did a lot of cross country and was a reserve for the state. I used to do Physical Culture and later I did Jazz Ballet. I started to play netball on a Saturday afternoon when I was about seventeen. I had always enjoyed doing sports and I think that’s what kept me so well.
I was married at the age of twenty and had never been hospitalized until the age of 24 which was approximately 6 weeks before I was due to have a baby. I went into hospital to be treated with antibiotics to prepare for the birth. I had no problems with my pregnancy at all, my spirometry was even better while I was pregnant. I had my daughter Michelle 3 weeks early because I had slipped at my parents and I think that brought the birth on. Michelle will be 18 in May and is healthy and does not have CF.
When Michelle was two and a half her father and I separated and then divorced. When Michelle was approximately three, I was diagnosed with diabetes after taking prednisone for the first time and then approximately five years after that I was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease.
While Michelle was still a toddler I started learning Jazz Ballet and started to play netball again. I played netball up until about 5 years ago and then I broke a few bones in my hand then my foot and was diagnosed with Osteoporosis, therefore I stopped playing netball. I also did Ballroom Dancing for about 6 years and my daughter has been Ballroom Dancing for the last 10 years and is still doing it. I have been involved with the committee for 10 years now.
Approximately 4 years ago my daughter and I took up tennis to replace netball as I needed to keep exercising for my CF and osteoporosis. I still play tennis now and play comp. once a week and my daughter plays comp three times a week. I am also on a committee for tennis and run a competition for children and adults once a week.
For the last two years I have also been doing Ceroc Dancing (Ceroc dance is a mixture of jive, rock and roll, ballroom and latin dance). I use to go three to five times a week but I have been really busy with my work at the moment and have not been for a few months but I am planning to go back there as soon as possible. I have also done a couple of competitions. I quite often go out on a Saturday night and go dancing.
With all the sports and activities I do I have even been told my Doctor that maybe I need to slow down a bit because I will burning off too many calories (you just can’t win). I see him every few months and when I say I haven’t done too much mainly over school holidays he is surprised because he says that’s not like me!
I lead a very active life and I have bought Michelle up on my own with the help of my parents who look after Michelle when I am in hospital and are always there to help me. I go into hospital twice a year for a tune up but luckily I have not had to go in there in between these times. I take all the tablets as does anyone else with CF and have Percussion weekly and use my PEP if I need to.
Overall, I think it is thanks to all the sports that I do that I keep so well!
