Rain Showers and Orkambi

"Maybe we will see a rainbow" my 3 year old shouted with eyes wide at the thought.
My dad and I exchanged glances. While smirking I replied, "Maybe" not believing it one bit.
It hardly rains in the summer. We haven't seen rain in four months or so, but a recent drizzly day made its way into the end of summer leaving my daughter with the optimistic belief that she would see a rainbow. It was true the rain had stopped, but the sun was still hiding behind dense clouds and evening was quickly approaching. My daughter had a date with my father that evening and I was hoping the excitement from the date would be enough to make her forget the disappointment of a rainbow that would never be.

I started Orkambi today. The day I found out that Orkambi was approved, my application was accepted, and the pharmacy was preparing to ship my pills to me I was filled with a multitude of conflicting emotions. I am an optimist by nature, but a realist by life experience. My heart kept shouting, "This is a dream come true! Your body will be functioning more normally than it ever has before. This is what you have been waiting for" But my brain kept shouting just as loudly, "But the benefits are minimal and your lung function is already so low." My heart would rebuttal, "Improvement is not the point, stability is what matters. " The fight between my jubilant heart and my practical cautious mind roared on throughout the week

This morning I woke excited and anxious for the postal carrier. And once the meds were in my hand around 9am I suddenly felt nervous in a way I haven't felt in so long. This was the moment of truth. All the potential benefits and all the potential let downs were running through my mind. I wanted so badly to let my optimism take over my cautious mind, but I was equally concerned about being disappointed. I sat there for a long time before swallowing my first pill. It is okay to hope for the best, I kept telling myself. It is okay to be optimistic for once and believe that good things, no matter how small, are coming your way.

I could hear the giggles and high pitched voice of my little girl running up the front steps. I greeted both her and my dad at the door with a big smile. Before I could even ask how the date night went my daughter, hardly able to contain her excitement shouted, "We saw a rainbow, mommy! We really did!"