Alive at 25: How I’m Beating Cystic Fibrosis
Andy Lipman

Alive at 25 is a book about a boy- not just a boy who has cystic fibrosis, but any boy. And later, it’s about a man – a man whose life just happens to be complicated by CF.

This may be author Andy Lipman’s most important message of all: Boys/men with CF are just like boys/men without CF. As children they seek their father’s approval, hope to be chosen first for sports teams, and strive to be like everyone else. As grownups, they pretty much still want approval, to be chosen first, to fit in.

Like most little boys, sports play a major role in Andy’s life and later become a giant metaphor for CF. Clearly Andy’s competitive nature and athletic discipline have everything to do with why he is alive at 25. Being physically fit better prepares him to fight back, allowing him to protect himself against that to which he otherwise feels helpless.

We first meet Andy at a softball game. He is having a difficult time keeping up with his teammates, who don’t know he has CF. Later, we learn his lung capacity has declined by 30 percent and doctors surmise it may be due to Pseudomonas. This is terrifying to Andy; waiting for culture results is agonizing. We learn that he feels very alone in this fear, in this quagmire of doubt. It is when this fear is at its worse that Andy has a recurring dream that brings him some comfort. He realizes the dream is significant but for years cannot make sense of it. The most poignant part of the book-which comes toward the end-is his final interpretation of the dream.

Andy’s sense of feeling alone can be attributed in part to his family’s way of dealing with CF, which is by not dealing with it (his words, not mine). They keep him relatively protected not only from other people with CF, but the truth about the disease itself. We find out in the end why they made the decisions they did. And while he never seems to question or blame his parents for this “CF-induced isolation,” we can only guess how life might have been for Andy had things been handled differently: Would he have been plagued with suicidal thoughts and depression in college? Would he have used CF as a reason not to excel? Would he have used the abysmal predicted life expectancy as an excuse not to live? Thankfully, these low points do not last, and Andy always finds the inner strength to overcome whatever obstacle lies before him.

For women, especially mothers, sisters, girlfriends and wives, Alive at 25 offers insight to what it’s really like to be a man with CF. While I just assumed that emotionally it was probably worse for men, it is hard to imagine what it’s like to endure a cruel disease that mocks all that’s masculine. It is more acceptable for a woman to be frail and weak, even infertile. Although the emphasis on sports and the role athletics played in Andy’s life became a little trying, I was glad to see that, like Andy, the book matured and the end was worth the read.

Reviewed by Dawn McGuinness

Editor’s Note: To purchase this visit:
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=
1562128&sourceid=0100000030140613102498 (US$ 15.72)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1563526816/
inktomi-bkasin-20/002-6704192-0586447 (US$ 17.47)

ISBN: 1563526816

Book Update

Cystic Fibrosis in the 20th Century: People, Events and Progress (as reviewed in Issue 2 of the CFW NL) has come down in price to US$19.50 and the maximum shipping charge will be limited to $18.00 with the aim of making it more available to those outside the USA.

In addition, Dr. Doershuk is agreeable to providing signed books on request.

To make a purchase or to print up an order form, visit www.ronaldhousecle.org (click on Family Resource Center) OR ring Barbara Disterhof: +1 216 229 5757

This publication will also soon be available to purchase via E-bay.com.

ISBN: 0-9717064-0-9