[andrew-tyrrell]

Personally, I feel content with my body at the moment, both internal and external. Routine has always been such a major part of my life so exercising three times a week and eating at the same times each day helps to retain a balanced body. Make no mistake, Kaftrio has been such a big enabler of this healthy routine. In the past two years or so I have been avoiding weighing myself too frequently and this has really helped me to focus in on how I feel rather than have my self-esteem and general happiness be determined by numbers. CF practitioners put so much emphasis on these numbers and I think this creates a false picture of what happiness really is.

This is something I experienced a lot when I was younger when I had a low BMI, low FEV1, poor walking test number etc. With maturity comes perspective, which I find to be the biggest truth of all. I feel it is important to look at the bigger picture and when you start to think deeply about how you look, find something that will keep you busy and take your mind off it.

Nowadays, the only time I feel conscious about how I look is when I feel like people are staring at me in college. I know I look different to them (I appear much younger than I am) but I choose to take pride in the fact that I have faced adversity the likes of which they may never face and have become a more resilient and strong person as a result.