A Fall Preparation Guide: Entering the Season With an Attitude of Gratitude

I’ll admit it. Fall has never been my favorite season. The falling leaves carry with them a very heavy weight for me. The end of summer typically means the end of feeling my healthiest. The warm weather and sunshine seem to keep viruses and bugs away from me and my family.

I feel my best in the heat and spend much of my summer outside, even if it’s only to sit in the shaded area of my porch. All summer, I reluctantly flip my calendar pages from May through August, feeling more and more attached to each month.

Despite my dread, the summer is over. Fall is here, and this year I’m dedicated to practicing a better outlook on this colorful season. Maybe fall doesn’t have to send me into survival mode. Maybe I can find just as much enjoyment out of the falling leaves and cool weather as everyone around me. I’ve prepared a checklist of ways to help prepare myself for fall.

Get your flu shot

As easy as it is to access a flu shot, it can just as easily be forgotten. Along with the annual flu shot, I take the time to ask my care team if I’m due for other immunizations. I’ve noticed that because I don’t see a primary care physician as often as I see my CF clinic, my immunizations can go unchecked by both parties. This means that I need to be on top of my game when it comes to my preventive care.

It’s easiest for me to get everything caught up in the fall, because it makes it easier to keep track of and minimizes the risk going long periods of time unprotected.

Create a wellness day

While medication and breathing treatments are a part of my daily regimen, I try to create a day to take a little extra time to help manage my wellness through the fall and winter. My wellness day is on a Wednesday.

Every Wednesday, I complete my daily care routine and begin to take care of other business: filling pill boxes, nasal saline flushes (which I try to do weekly, regardless of whether or not I am experiencing nasal congestion), and bullet journaling about my health.

Wednesdays are my days that I aim to schedule port flushes, check-ups, conversations with my health insurance company, pay medical bills, and other various health-related tasks, as needed. Using this one-day-a-week system helps break up overwhelming tasks into bite-sized weekly responsibilities.

Editor's note: This article was wirtten by Kynsie Riedel's and originally appeared on Cystic-Fibrosis.com.