College students bring a LOT of stuff to move in, but if you have CF you have to think of even MORE things to bring and mentally prepare for. Here’s my little check list.

1. Vest: I’m lucky enough to have my new small, portable vest which makes it a lot easier to bring to school. With my old big one we would have to wheel it up the wheelchair ramp or find a strong guy to bring it up the stairs, all the while getting strange looks as to what this contraption was. Now, my vest fits snuggly in its bag which just looks like a suitcase!
2. Nebulizers: I have the E-flow for my study as well as a regular nebulizer. Along with this you need a spare neb cup. 
3. Sterilizer: Some people boil their nebs or wash them. Well in college, we don’t have our own sink ( and the one we share can be gross), and we don’t have our own stove to boil water. I have the baby bottle sterilizer which works great. All you need is a bottle of distilled water, you turn it on, and soon you have nice clean nebs! In between sometimes I’ll rinse them with sterile saline that I have.
4. Stuff for nasal irrigations: I do the NeilMed sinus rinse which works best with warm distilled water. At our school, we aren’t even allowed to have microwaves so I also need a way to warm the water. We found a nice, small plug in tea pot with a safety switch for that soul purpose. I turn it on for about 30 seconds and soon I have nice warm water for my sinus rinse! Where I usually do it in the sink at home, at school I do it in the shower. That way no one is grossed out and I have my own privacy. Plus it becomes routine since I obviously take a shower every day. 
5. Pills, Pills, Pills: I have a weekly pill container for all of my various pills. Before I leave, I have to make sure I have refills of all of them and that I didn’t forget anything. I have a green bin that I found at Bed Bath and Beyond that I stuff all of my pill bottles into. It keeps them all in one place, fairly organized, and out of plain site. I wouldn’t want to freak out people too much when they come into my room and see 10 or more pill bottles lined up on my dresser! I *try* to keep tabs on when I’m running out, and I have my mom get refills shipped to our house then drop them off since shes only 15 minutes away.
6. Something to bring your enzymes in: At college you’re not always (or ever) in your room when you eat, so you need to bring your enzymes along. Last year, I had a vera bradley keychain wallet attached to a lanyard. Not only did it hold my school ID and my room key, but inside I put a little baggy of enzymes. That way, I always had them on me (since we bring our ID’s and keys everywhere). When I ran out, I tried my best to remember to refill them, or have my friends remind me, otherwise it meant running back to the dorm for my pills.
7. Nebulizer Meds: I usually take about a 2 or 3 month supply of my medication for nebulizers. That adds up to a lot of room which brings me to #7
8. Refrigerator: And one thats big enough to fit all of your meds plus your food and drinks. I have a fairly big fridge with enough room for everything. So all my medicine is cold like its supposed to be! 
9. Somewhere to plug it all in: I’ve mentioned 6 things that need to be plugged in: Vest, Nebulizer, E-flow (when batteries die), sterilizer, tea pot, and fridge. And that’s only in addition to my computer, alarm clock, hair dryer, straightener, etc. There are not enough plugs in half a dorm room for all that so I have a pink power strip that I got at Best Buy for about 10 bucks. This also helps with power surges when I have the vest, fridge, and computer all running at once!
10. Space: Where do all of these things fit?! I was lucky enough to have a dorm room with a longggg double desk and big shelves on the wall, last year.  But this year I will have to improvise without as much shelf space. The vest can always be tucked under the bed (thanks to risers!), desk space becomes neb space, and the top of the fridge can double as a shelf! 
11. Time: With classes, activities, and homework, it can be tough to find the time to fit in all the stuff we need to take care of ourselves. I wake up almost 2 hours before class so I can run, do my treatments, shower, get dressed, and go to the dining hall for breakfast. Where some people roll out of bed and go to class, that’s not an option for me. I get used to waking up earlier so I can fit everything in. Multitasking helps a lot too, I will do my treatments while reading or studying and at the gym, go on the elliptical with a book in my hand. I also switch my classes around when I can to give me time in the morning (for example I switched from a 9:30 class to a 10:30 class in the morning, meaning I have to wake up at 8:30 instead of 7:30). I try to give myself time in the afternoon if I needed a nap, and long enough breaks to fit my other nebs in.
12. Good Friends: I have a very understanding roommate and a group of friends who I feel comfortable doing my treatments in front of. When you have people who understand, its easier to get everything done without being uncomfortable with people in the room. I’m glad that I am open with my CF to my friends because that means I’m not trying to hide what I’m doing, which would make compliance very difficult! 
13. Flexibility: The location of my school makes it easy to be flexible with my care. I know that if I ever get sick, home is just a 15 minute drive away, and my clinic is just a drive to boston. Last year, I went home for 2 weeks with an IV and was still able to go to classes. Talking to your professors makes it easier to miss class when you’re sick, and they are often more than willing to meet with you or help you to do your best when you have to miss class.
I begin my packing next week (both physically and mentally preparing), and I already got a lot of stuff to get together. I hope this list will help out some other college CFers (especially new ones), give older CFers some memories of your CF college days, or maybe just open up your eyes to the complexity of  going to college with a chronic illness. Though it can be a lot of work, it is 100% worth the experience that I’m getting!
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