At your Fingertips

Check out these Jazz Hands

Take a moment and look at your hands.  Think of every little thing your hands do for you during the day.  Do your hands reflect the years of life you have lived? What do they say about you?

Different

I remember being a small child and always looking down at my hands and noticing they were different.  At that time I didn't know why.  I remember seeing my brother's hands and noticing his were like mine as well.  Why did they look so different from everyone else's hands?  They looked different because we had CF.

When I first met Mark he told me my fingers looked like that of the 198O's character, E.T.  I still look down at my hands today, think of that moment, and how my hands look different.  

Why?

Clubbed Fingers

One of the prevalent physical signs of CF is clubbing of the fingers: severity ranging.  This is where the fingertips become swollen and rounded looking, becoming very bulbous like that of a gecko.  Along with rounded fingertips, the nail itself becomes more rounded as well.  Nails affected by severe clubbing depict that of an upside down spoon.  Clubbing can easily be seen by looking at the hands of someone with CF from the side or by looking at their palms.  

Spoons

I catch myself looking at my hands daily and judging their shape.  Are they more clubbed today than they were yesterday?  Do people notice my E.T. fingers and are they frightened by them?





What those Hands Can Do

Regardless of what my hands look like or your hands look like, we each have the world at our fingertips.  In the course of my life it doesn't matter if my fingertips look like upside down spoons, or that they look like E.T.  What really matters is that I reach out and grab onto every opportunity life has to offer with both hands; not letting anything slip through my fingertips.  I am so grateful for every little thing these gecko hands do for me: helping me out of bed in the morning, washing my face, playing the piano, driving my car, eating supper, holding a friend's new baby, playing fetch with my boys, and holding my love's hand.  I am grateful for all the hands that have made such an impact on my life.  Love to you all.



The world is at your fingertips: do something extra memorable with them today.