“Don’t be hard on yourself”— Mike on relationships and CF
For CFStrong, Mike shares his experience of navigating relationships—with partners, family, friends—with CF, including how he approaches talking about CF and dealing of feelings of missing out.
”When it comes to relationships, I was always, right from day one, I was always just honest. I always just thought that was the best way to approach it. So I never tried to hide it or, you know, do anything deceitful as it were. I just used to be open and just say, “You know, I have CF. This is kind of what that is. This is what I have to do to keep myself well.”
”I think, if nothing else, going to a psychologist is… The way I’ve always looked at it is, they’re not necessarily there to fix all your problems, but they’re an impartial third party that looks at things in a different way to your friends and your family look at it, and they can give you perspective. That’s the way I’ve always used psychologists, and it’s been extremely helpful to me.
The experiences and views shared in this video are not medical advice and may not be reflective of Cystic Fibrosis Community Care viewpoints. You should always follow the advice of your clinic team regarding your health.
This video has been developed by Cystic Fibrosis Community Care (CFCC) and Cystic Fibrosis Western Australia (CFWA) and funded by the Australian Government. Thank you to Mike and all those who have contributed to this video.
This video was published in November 2022. If you would like to share your story, please contact us at admin@cfcc.org.au. We’d love to hear from you and so would our listeners.