Natalie Daoust says she has a tough time keeping up.
“They all want to do these things and I want to tell them that I can’t,” she said.
You see, Daoust suffers from Cystic Fibrosis, which is a genetic disease which causes various effects on the body, but mainly affects the digestive system and lungs.
The 23-year-old was diagnosed at two years old but did not start feeling the impact of the disease until she was 12. That’s when her treatments began.
The treatment started with two-week treatments every six months in a hospital.
“That would be a regular two-week admission get some IV, and antibiotics and then I would be good to go for another six months,” she explained.
But more than 10 years later, now Daoust is down to 15 percent lung capacity and trips to the hospital and down to Toronto are much more frequent
She says it’s lonely being sick.
“I spend a lot of time by myself, there is a lot of medication, a lot of treatment,” she admitted.
“I spend a lot of time in the hospital. and that is pretty much like my second home.”
Daoust is on a list to get a lung transplant, which is likely her only way of getting better.
But that search is on hold right now as she awaits the results of tests on her liver.
“So now I have to wait for the results for that and I don’t know how long that will take and then once the results are in then we find out if i need a liver as well or just lungs,” she said.
While much of her treatment and travel are covered financially, the community is coming together for Natalie and on May 5th, her friends and family are running a Spaghetti Dinner and Silent Auction at ecole secondaire Algonquin from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
“It means a lot to me and I don’t have the words to express to the people that want to help,” she said.
“Some people that don’t even know me or anything about me are coming together to do all of this, it is overwhelming.”
Daoust is thankful and appreciates the solid support system she has to help her get through these tough times.
