• Interview Feature: Judy Moreland

    Posted by bailey-anne-vincent on April 5, 2021 at 4:19 pm

    I am so excited to attempt something new on the forum (let me know if you like it?): Interview Features of Forum Friends! I contacted Judy Moreland, who I met through the forum here, to ask if I could interview her for my column on CF News Today, Life in the Grey, because I was so wow’d by her candor, insight and story (a 70-year-old CF-er is truly noteworthy!) every time she posted.

    Although pieces of her story will be woven into my Op-Ed in my column yet to come (within the next month)- keeping with the word count and style of those weekly pieces as a whole- I felt it might be a shame to spare our fantastic forum her full responses! After Judy reminded me I had the power to post them here (no word count to worry about), I realized what a fun concept this could potentially be.

    For now, let me introduce the undiluted and beautifully written replies of our forum friend, Judy Moreland, and please consider leaving her encouragement, kindness and follow up questions!

    INTERVIEW WITH JUDY MORELAND

    1. I know that many will feel so empowered and inspired to think of a fellow CFer existing and thriving at 71. If you had to give a bit of encouragement to the younger generation of those with CF, what would it be?

    Right after I had a blood test for the CF genes, I met with a very young geneticist. I thought after meeting her that it may have been her first day or first week on the job because she seemed very inexperienced with such delicate work. When she asked me about my ancestry, I told her I was Irish. She asked me if I was 100% Irish, and I replied that I was. She had an “oh, no” type of reply and said that CF was very common in Northern Europe, and especially among the Irish. When she said something about CF being the 7th chromosome (or something like that), I lost it. I had always considered 7 my lucky number. The luck of the Irish, I guess. I found out 2 weeks later from the result of the test that I did indeed have CF. (I think I figured out afterwards why CF is so common in the Irish. Ireland has a damp climate, and the climate may have helped their children with CF because they struggle with dryness in the lungs and other organs.)

    I had a hard time finding someone to help me with CF after a diagnosis at age 42 in 1992. The CF Clinic here in Syracuse, NY only accepted children. My husband and I were lucky enough to find a clinic at the University of North Carolina, and the doctor’s advice to me was to exercise for 20 minutes a day, every day or as many days as I could, and that it would keep me out of the hospital. That’s my best word of encouragement. (I finally got into the CF Clinic here in Syracuse in 1998 after a lot of work which my pulmonologist was lazy about doing. Luckily, with my nursing background and a love of writing, I was successful after a prolonged period of fulfilling requirements.)

    I did this faithfully for many years, and it did keep me out of the hospital. I was working full time at the time, and I knew that after work I would be too tired to go to a gym, so I walked briskly around our neighborhood or exercised on a Nordic track. I read a lot of books on the Nordic track.

    2. How is your health currently? How are you feeling now?

    My health is not as good as it was back in 1992 when I was first diagnosed. My forced expiratory volume was 142% of predicted back then! In 1994, I had sinus drainage surgery with local anesthetic, and it was only partially successful. The surgeon said that I moved around too much in the surgery, and that she really couldn’t drain me as much as needed. I decided to have a second sinus surgery in 2001, and my CF doctor at the time said he thought my lungs were strong enough for general anesthesia.

    I think he was wrong. My FEV 1 three days before surgery was 129% of predicted, but it fell after surgery–a complicated story. I should have consented to an IV antibiotic but was afraid of it back in 2001. Since that surgery, my FEV 1 has never been the same and fell over the years to the 40%-50% range I am in now. I am tired all the time and have struggled with depression, to be honest. Also, I don’t exercise as I used to and should. I started part-time work in 2001.

    Started Kalydeco in January of 2015 and Trikafta in December of 2019, and I think both these drugs have helped keep my FEV 1 from further decline. Beginning in 2007 and ending in 2017, I had to have 6 rounds of IV antibiotics. After the first round in 2007, I had to quit a part-time job I loved as a Senior Advocate for a community action agency called P.E.A.C.E., Inc. Community action agencies were mandated in the 60s by Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty. It was my favorite job (and last job) of my professional life.

    3. In 71 years of beautiful experience, what is one of the hardest things you’ve ever had to overcome in your personal health journey?

    The hardest thing was infertility, which I think was because of CF and my husband’s low sperm count. Trying to get pregnant was so hard and bitterly disappointing. When I was trying in my mid-30s, I didn’t know I had CF. I didn’t know why I couldn’t get pregnant, but the statements people made like “You’re trying too hard,” “All you have to do is start adoption, and you’ll get pregnant,” and “Go away for the weekend with a bottle of wine” never really seemed like the reason, and I was so sick of hearing them that I thought I should write a book called Trying to Relax Makes Me Nervous.

    Once in my 30s, my GYN doc told me to come in for an exam when I was ovulating. He told me after the exam that I wasn’t ovulating because my mucus was too thick. I was incensed. Trained as an RN and ovulating for over 20 years by my mid 30s, I knew when I was ovulating. I just didn’t know that my mucus was thicker than most women’s because of CF (and didn’t know I had CF). So, I was right that I was ovulating, and the doctor was right in telling me that my mucus was too thick.

    My husband and I looked into adoption, but at that time the only way to get an infant was to “buy” a baby internationally from places in Asia, Central America, and Eastern Europe. We couldn’t really afford it, and there were problems with international adoptions. As an example, in Korea, one-fifth of all the babies had hepatitis B transferred from their mothers at birth.

    4. Given that you mentioned your husband, do you mind telling me a bit about your love (How you met? How has CF impacted your relationship? How long have you been together?) and, since you mentioned his own recent health struggle: Do you feel dealing with your own health or that of your loved one has been harder?

    My husband and I met in 1977 at a singles’ party in our apartment complex. We had our 40th wedding anniversary this past August. CF has been a big stressor in life, not really on our marriage, as was infertility (already explained). My husband, Skip, is a kind and gentle man and has always been very supportive of my health issues. Now it’s my turn. He’s a year younger than me, and he has significant health issues, but mine are primarily CF issues. I go to the CF Clinic , but he sees many doctors. One of his issues is painful arthritis, and he has been to doctors and pain clinics and on pain meds (which didn’t help) for years. I definitely feel dealing with health issues makes life harder. Skip worked in a nursing home for about 23 years, and the constant lifting, pulling, and tugging to move residents in bed, etc. has contributed to the pain, I think. He has had some cancer scares, too, which are not easy to deal with.

    Share a takeaway from Judy’s story that struck you, below!

    judy-moreland replied 2 years, 11 months ago 3 Members · 3 Replies
  • 3 Replies
  • jenny-livingston

    Member
    April 6, 2021 at 12:14 pm

    This is awesome! It’s great to get to know you more, @judemoreland! My family is of Irish decent as well (my maiden name is Carmody). I really enjoy reading about your relationship with Skip and your struggles with infertility struck a chord in my heart. Thanks for sharing all of this, and thank you for putting it together, Bailey.

  • judy-moreland

    Member
    April 6, 2021 at 7:03 pm

    Thank you, Jenny and Bailey.

  • judy-moreland

    Member
    April 6, 2021 at 8:15 pm

    I wish I had thought to add that the hospital personnel at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and my present CF Care Team at University Hospital in Syracuse were (and are in the case of University Hospital) made up of very committed and compassionate people. That’s definitely what a CF Care Team should be.

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