Snowman dishcloth.

Probably the only snowman I'll make this winter. The snow in downtown Toronto doesn't stay clean very long so any snowman around here would be quite yellow and brown thanks to everyones dogs. It's actually pretty gross and despite the condo building's clever posters, the owners don't seem to motivated to walk to the park across the street. Smarten up dog owners! I don't want to walk in pee just because you find it cold out. Should have thought about that before you bought a dog. Or a condo. I wonder if it was just as bad in the fall but I just wouldn't have notice it then because there was no snow. Gross.

It will add some fun to doing dishes!

Everyone is ignoring the sign. Maybe it needs a few more pictures on it. 

Books books books!

The books made it to Halifax and Petty. Yay!!

Aaaand all the extras have sold. Already. Before they could actually be removed from the box. The support I'm getting is outstanding!

I will be doing another order this week so if you missed the first order, let me know and I'll make sure a copy is held for you. Don't miss your chance to get your hands on what all the cool kids will be reading this winter!

Here is another poster from my ad campaign!

E-version is actually available now! Just click on the 'I wrote a book!' tab to download your copy today!

Pulse Oximeter.

My pulse oximeter arrived today! Now I won't have to fight people at the gym for the ones there. Not that I really fought with people...more like grabbed a  oximeter and tried to prevent anyone else from using it while I was there. Now I'll be in with the cool kids who have them hanging around their necks. I really got it so I can check my oxygen levels at home. I had no way of knowing before as I don't get dizzy or feel lightheaded when my levels drop. So most likely, I'll end up wearing the oxygen more often (if not all the time) as I'll be able to actually tell when  my levels are low.

It works! I'll compare it to the expensive ones at the gym tomorrow to see if it's right.

I enjoy punny cards.

It was Isaiah and I's anniversary on the weekend. According to the internet, it was our anniversary of wool and copper so I gave him a card and 7 pennies and he heated up some leftovers and made dessert. I think it is the biggest celebration we've ever had (we aren't big on anniversaries).

Hehehehe

I am not my disability.

On Friday, one of the physio assistants called me 'a cf'. Not a 'cf-er' (which I've heard a plethora of times), a cf. She looked at me standing in the doorway, turned to her colleague and said "we have a cf at the door."

Argh! How many times does it have to be said? "I AM NOT MY DISEASE!!"

(No, I didn't say anything to her because I have to still see this person three times a week and rely on her for stuff like 'getting my weights' and 'cleaning the room.' Let's save the 'people being uncomfortable speaking up to professionals on whom they rely' conversation for later.)

I know that she probably didn't mean to dehumanize me with the comment. She was probably just commenting on the fact that I have CF which meant that she needed to figure out which side of the room I should be on and whether or not she will have to clean that side before I enter the room. However, at that moment, being called 'a cf' reduced my identity and person-hood to my disease. Nothing else about me mattered.  

I know there are people out there who use the word 'cystic' or 'cf-er' to describe themselves in certain situations (note the 'er' attached to the 'cf', if nothing else, at least there is a 'er' to attach the disease too). That is a personal decision and one that each person get to decide. Not you. You do not have the right to define me by my disease. I am a person first, a disability last. I do not like being referred to as my disease any more than you would enjoy being called a 'acner' or 'dandruffer'.

When we call each other by a medical label, we reduce that person to their disease. We are saying that we see that person as first having a disease or illness and second as being a person. We reduce each other to a condition on which we then use to base all of our future interactions. Calling someone 'a cf' or 'epileptic' or 'autistic', reduces that person to one characteristic about their lives over which they had no control. Why would anyone have the nerve to assume that the other person wants to be defined by a medical diagnosis?

Look, I understand that we, as humans, are lazy when we talk and it is faster to say 'cf-er' or 'disabled person' over 'person with cf' or 'person with a disability' therefore the former seems to be the go-to option. But when doing so makes a person feel dehumanized and as though they are being reduced to their disease, we have to get our butts in gear and start treating and calling each other people first and foremost.

Language is important. Let's be more aware of how we use it.