At my age, most people with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) are in the hospital on the lung transplant list, and most new lungs aren't much better than the ones that are barely functional. At my age, most CFers are dead or dying, and everyday their condition worsens. Yet, I am one of the healthiest CFers in the world, and have escaped that common fate. I don't exactly know why I'm so healthy, but I think it's a mixture of things.

My parents hardly ever let me forget a pill or treatment. My parents never held me back from doing what I loved, which included going to a regular school with regular kids, exercising almost daily, and just being a kid the best way I could. Unlike a lot of parents, my parents never sheltered me from the world. They wanted me to gain an immunity and to be like any other kid. I just had some extra stuff to do at home to stay that healthy. My grandparents and mom prayed often, and later on, my mom looked into more alternative treatments and diets to keep me healthy and happy.

I don't really care that there's no one else like me in the world, and I've been lone-wolfing it for most of the time. In fact, if anything, I take pride in being like that, but I stay humble and elusive. I don't want to become well known. I don't want my name to be associated so closely with CF. If anything, I just want to be left alone to hunt, ride dirtbikes, and go on whatever adventures I want without being harassed and/or embarrassed by the public. I don't really identify myself with my disease. Yeah, it's special and interesting, but it doesn't define who I really am.

That isn't to say CF hasn't had a big part in shaping me, it has. I wouldn't be a hunter if I didn't need wild game. I wouldn't be super adventurous if I didn't have less time on earth than a lot of people. I probably wouldn't even be a Christian if CF didn't allow me to experience the inexplicable miracles I've experienced. I'm super stubborn, logical, and skeptical of everything until it's proven, or at least clearly evident. (Make some sort of statement addressing the claims here). 

It's true that CF does dictate a lot of my life. I have to wake up before noon to do my treatments, which is a half hour of shaking up my lungs and breathing in medication. I also have to eat huge meals to achieve my 7,000 daily calorie intake, and also absorb certain medications I have. Those meals can't be super rich either, since it will slow me down and make me pretty sick. I can't swim in pools or stagnant lakes unless I want to risk getting Pseudomonas. Dust is a major enemy of mine, as is anything hotter than 85 degrees or colder than 30. And even now with the wildfires, I'm having a little harder time catching my breath, and the dryness in the air is causing an annoying dry cough.

While there are clear limitations, I do a lot of things most CFers can't do. I don't let my CF control my life, and I don't regret the things CF prevents me from doing. 

Lots of people question my motocross riding. I don't really race or even ride on a track. I like to ride on trails and backroads, then go out and do some tricks and stunts on some random hills in a random field. I'm more of a freestyle motocross rider (FMX), and enduro rider (trail riding). Anyway, people have told me it's bad for my health, but it isn't. People say not only will the two-stroke fumes destroy my lungs, but the dust will too. If I crash and break a rib, many people think that would be the end of me, but I'm too healthy and tough to think so.

I make sure to wear a bandanna under my full-face helmet every time I ride to protect myself against the dust. If I know I'll be riding somewhere new and unfamiliar, such as a new mountain trail or rough field, I'll wear all of my gear, including motocross boots, torso armor, arm guards, shin/thigh guards, gloves, neck collar (So if I fall, I won't break my neck), cinch (also known as a kidney belt), motocross pants (which are usually made of leather and nylon), a motocross jersey, my helmet and goggles, a bandanna, and layer on the hoodies depending on the weather.

In the last few years of riding dirtbikes, the fumes haven't affected my lung function or performance in any way. I still have the same stats that I've had for the last 5 years, but I'm just stronger and taller, and I continue to get stronger and healthier. I must admit, my favorite smell in the world is two-stroke smoke, and I'm pretty sure dad and I got kinda high when we were working on my bike in the warehouse and revving up with the doors closed. That would logically explain why my dad thought it was a good idea to dump 1.5 gallons of old dirtbike gas down the warehouse toilet, and I just laughed and didn't even try to stop him. It still smells a bit like gasoline in there to this day.

If I crash and break a rib, it wouldn't kill me. I'd just have to modify some treatments to avoid making it worse. There is a machine that I used for awhile, that forces air deep into my lungs, and brings the bad stuff up when the air rushes out. I never want to break myself in any way, but I have plans just in case I do. I'll probably never stop riding dirtbikes until I get too old to ride. There's just a freedom in riding that isn't like freedom found anywhere else. I'm free from the world and my thoughts. I'm free from my disease, and I'm truly wild and free. I can't think about my future when I'm gunning it close to 70 miles an hour down a county dirt road. When I ride, I don't think, I just react.

People think that motocross riders have to think about their actions. From the outside looking in, it does look complicated. I mean, my heel has its own rut around turns, and I have to remember what gear I am in, but somehow I don't really recall the gear I'm in, or really when, where, or how I lay down the bike on my foot when I'm turning. I just know. In fact, a lot of good dirtbike riders will say these things.

Anyone can ride a dirtbike, but not everyone knows how to ride. There's a huge difference, but it's almost impossible to put into words. I guess you can just tell who knows what they're doing, and who doesn't know. Those who don't know how to ride tend to have way more fails than wins, and they almost always overestimate themselves. Those who actually do know how to ride, don't always have a lot of confidence, but don't fail often either. Take me, for example. If I didn't second-guess and doubt myself all the time, I'd be winning races right now. But I don't like crowds, and I especially don't like busy tracks, and I always think of the worst case ever. Last time I rode on a track, there was a collision on a nearby track that sent two people to the hospital. I guess one guy jumped over a hill and landed on another rider. At least, that was what I heard. That image has stuck with me.  

Anyways, when people say motocross is bad for my health, I tell them their attitude is bad for their health. That tends to shut people up pretty quickly. I promise I'm the nicest and most loyal friend you could ever have, but I have boundaries, and when people cross those boundaries, I use my sarcasm and wit to get them away. 

While CF can't be cured today, it can certainly be held back and healed to an extent. That's a reason why I go to insane lengths to go hunting when I can, even if I'm not in the best condition. (Talk about hunting here)

I also eat a lot of food, but remain a stick since almost none of that goes into storage. Now, as I'm desperately trying to pack on the pounds and gain some muscle, I'm struggling since my body spends so many calories fighting Cystic Fibrosis. But I'm healthy, happy, and energetic. 

Of course, while I'm healthy now, I still have to be smart. If I'm smart enough to outsmart an illness, that apparently hasn't been outsmarted by western medicine being led by the top medical PhDs in the world, then I better be smart enough to avoid getting sick like that again if I can. This is where the line between letting CF control things and not letting CF control things gets blurry. 

I look and act like any normal healthy person, yet I can't go to a school building or go swimming anymore, unless I want to play a dumb game called "let's see how sick I can get before I'm admitted to the hospital". It's not a fun game, and I really don't think going to a school building or a swimming pool just to act normal is worth risking my life. I've been going to school and swimming in pools for years, but I have to remember that as I age, CF progresses whether or not I feel it, and illnesses evolve and multiply as well. 

So, while I'm forced to stay home from school, and can't go on epic water slides unless they let out into some ocean or river-fed lake, at least I can breathe and live without the taste of infection in the back of my throat. Plus, I don't have to go to a school building or swim in public pools to live a fulfilling life. I'm very happy with life right now, even though this year has been considerably harder on me, and I've found ways to fill my time and make sure I will survive. 

I'm doing my best to live a full life without getting bitter over the things I can't do, or letting CF completely dictate my every move. It's pretty hard to balance everything, since I take about 50 pills everyday, have treatments I need to do, and I have to be cautious of where I'm breathing. Yet, I still find things to do and places to go without letting Cystic Fibrosis control me. If I was totally worried about the air, I wouldn't have a two-stroke dirtbike, and I certainly wouldn't go to motocross events equipped with a bandanna so I don't suffocate to death on dust.

I try to not let weather dictate my outdoor activities. Unlike a lot of CFers I know, I'll play out in the snow even if it's less than 30 degrees outside. I can't pass up an epic snowball fight or sled race. I'll play outside in the heat even if it's over 90 degrees, which sometimes ends with me curled up against a bunker with a paintball gun until the game ends, since it's not fun anymore when I can't function properly. And I'll go outside even if it's dusty and windy, since I can shield my nose and mouth with a sleeve and be just fine. Sometimes I'll have a gnarly coughing fit, but nothing a little water can't help. It's actually pretty rare for people in the CF community to hang out outside when conditions aren't great, since doctors always tell us how bad certain weather conditions can be for our health. In my mind, whatever doesn't kill me makes me stronger, and so far, weather hasn't killed me or made me very sick. 

And if I was totally worried about illness, I wouldn't visit crowded places. Yet, I still end up in places like downtown Boston, Seattle, Minneapolis, Omaha, Des Moines, LA, London, Los Cabos, and my hometown Denver, etc. I just know I can't go to those crowded places everyday, since if I do that, I'll definitely pick something up within the first month or two.

It sucks sometimes, but it is what it is. It's just life, and I'm doing extremely well for having the issues I have. It would be terrible if I was bitter and angry over the things CF prevents me from doing, especially since there's so much I can do, and there's even more to be grateful for.