"Do I Have a Purpose in Life?" by Devin Wakefield
Do I have a purpose in life? What’s the point of life anyway? Will I have a legacy? Am I gay enough yet?
These are important questions, especially that last one (it sure takes hard work to be gay enough! I’ve got firm standards). At the end of the day, we’re all going to die (with or without CF) and lately I’ve been pondering these questions because of some good health developments. With better health, I feel more powerful and I want to do something with it.
Last February, I caught COVID for the first time. My clinic prescribed Paxlovid. Paxlovid can interact with the metabolization of certain medications, and so you may need to adjust your medication doses -- Trikafta is one of those medications. Paxlovid can keep Trikafta in your system much longer, so I was told I should take the two yellow pills the first day I start Paxlovid, hold for 3 days, take the two yellow pills on the fourth day again, and hold for 3 more days (even though Paxlovid only lasts 5 days). After that, I could take Trikafta normally.
Even with Paxlovid, I had a horrible headache with COVID and completely forgot to hold Trikafta the second day. (Honestly, I find it hard to intentionally skip meds. I developed deeply ingrained habits for a reason!) My lungs felt so clear, and my gut seemed to be able to digest the fattiest pot pie I could eat with no problem. I even had a mucus purge, very similar to when I started Trikafta for the first time. Wow! These drugs rock.
After I recovered, I told my clinic about this and asked if I am not getting the correct dose of Trikafta. A new blood test could measure how much Trikafta was in my blood, and the results came back saying I had about 50% of the expected amount in my system. What! I always thought it was stupid that Trikafta only had 1 dose level, and now I have proof.
With these results, my doctor had me try Fluconozole or Clarithromycin to see if they bump up my Trikafta numbers (these drugs similarly keep certain drugs in your system for longer, however they aren’t as strong as Paxlovid). So far, these drugs have increased my Trikafta numbers, and I’ve felt great on Fluconozole. I cough up less mucus, haven’t had an exacerbation for over a year (I had 2 last year), and have generally solid bowel movements. I recently got COVID again this October, and wow Paxlovid still does some good shit for me – literally! It really seems to help Trikafta enable me to create the most beautiful, formed, glamorous bowel movements with fewer enzymes (and less mucus in my lungs). Clearly, I still need to up my dose of Trikafta. Make it happen, doc!
Back to my existential ponderings: what the heck can I do with this mortal flesh on this huge rock Earth? What the f- am I doing? I have hope and confidence that these medications and my habits can give me a long and full life. I want all of you to have that as well. I want us all to feel free and powerful. I don’t know how to make that happen yet, but I’ll find out. And if you readers know any hunky guys who can help me make that happen, please introduce me! I bet we can all figure this out together.
