Leave Your Mark

Pick a color.  Now, imagine everything your fingertips touch is left with a brightly colored fingerprint.  Think of all the things you touch during the day: doorknobs, your computer keys or tablet screen, your phone, books, a coffee mug, the hand of a friend, the steering wheel of your car, and so on.

You get the idea.  Imagine everything you've touched today covered with your colored fingerprint for the world to see.

What's my color? 

A frosty white, and I actually do leave a visible fingerprint on everything I touch. A person with CF has 3-5 times more salt in their sweat, so as a result we may have a type of salty frosting on our skin.  Parents often comment how their children taste salty when they kiss them.  I can feel and see the salt on the palms of my hands and fingertips, on the tip of my nose, my legs, and eyebrows.  I am like my own personal salt shaker.  Salt, anyone? Just kidding, that's disgusting. 

Because people with CF lose a large amount of salt through their sweat, they must strive to stay well hydrated and replenish low salt levels. 

What my glass usually looks like.

Why are you so salty?

Cystic Fibrosis disrupts the chloride balance within the epithelial cells that are found in the lining of the lungs, digestive tract, and sweat glands.  This means there is an imbalance of salt and water in my epithelial cells.

Salty White Fingerprints

What's a good thing about leaving salty white fingerprints on everything? I never lose my glass at a party.  Any type of glass, smooth, or reflective surface I touch is left with a frosty white fingerprint.  I often wonder what it would be like to touch something and not leave a mark.  I can clean my ipad or phone screen in the morning and by night it is covered with smudged, salty fingerprints. 

My Ipad - can you see the frosty white fingerprints?

Thank you to everyone who has left their unique and beautiful fingerprint on me! Love to you all.

Where are you leaving your mark?