Jordyn, 26, was born and raised in Narrogin, a country town located in the Wheatbelt. Diagnosed at ten weeks old, Jordyn has spent her whole life in and out of hospital, fighting chest infections and receiving treatments to manage her Cystic Fibrosis.
Cystic fibrosis, commonly known as ‘CF’ is a life-limiting progressive genetic disorder that affects the whole body, but mainly the respiratory and digestive system.
In her early years, Jordyn had a relatively normal childhood, growing up on a hobby farm just outside of Narrogin with her parents and sister. Weekends were spent knee boarding on the dam, camping in the paddocks with her family, dog, and pet sheep, watching movies in the backyard cinema, playing netball and spending time with family and friends.
As Jordyn got older, living with CF became more problematic and everyday tasks were slowly getting more and more difficult. Treatments were getting longer, and time spent between hospital admissions were getting shorter. The reality of living with a chronic disease was starting to take a toll.
Navigating life whilst undertaking daily physiotherapy, multiple medications, three-monthly specialist appointments, hospital admissions, a constant cough, fatigue, and a continuous decline in health presented many challenges and impacted Jordyn’s ability to juggle work commitments. From working in a hospital bed between airway clearance, IV treatments, specialists, physiotherapists, and nurses to working in a commercial kitchen as a cook while receiving IV antibiotics through a pump, Jordyn was adamant she wasn’t going to let her health get in the way of her chance at a successful career or her independence.
After a few years of multiple hospital admissions, Jordyn found herself stuck at a crossroad. Jordyn wanted to pursue a meaningful and successful career and to enjoy life. However, the CF life expectancy was playing on her mind which caused Jordyn to make the difficult decision to cut back to casual/part-time employment.
In early 2022, Jordyn was admitted to Hospital with a lung function of 30 per cent and put on oxygen, IV antibiotics and a nutrition plan to help her body fight an aggressive chest infection. The realisation that Jordyn’s health was out of her control and a lung transplant could be on the horizon was terrifying and impacted Jordyn’s mental health. However, with the support of her family, friends, partner, and a group of CF girls, connected via social media due to the six feet apart rule for individuals with CF to minimise cross-infection, Jordyn knew she would be able to tackle any hurdle that CF threw her way.
“Living day-to-day life, I didn’t realise the severity of the decline in my health until I noticed myself having to take breaks while walking due to shortness of breath and everyday tasks were becoming more and more difficult”.
Fortunately, after years of advocating a prescription medication used for the treatment of CF in patients was finally approved in Australia. The medication helps the defective proteins work more effectively and contributing to an improved quality of life and an increase in life expectancy of an individual with CF from 35 to 80 years.
Since starting the medication in June 2022, Jordyn’s lung function has improved to over 70 per cent and she has been able to decrease her physiotherapy and medication regimes. Even better, Jordyn has increased energy levels and is back on the netball court and living a life virtually symptom free of CF. Although, to be clear the medication is not a cure, but it has increased Jordyn’s quality of life and allowed her to plan for her future.
Recently, Jordyn got engaged to her partner and they have built a house together to hopefully bring up a family of their own one day.
Jordyn is pursuing a career in the mental health and wellbeing space and is passionate about working towards improving the outcomes of individuals residing in regional and remote areas. Jordyn knows all too well how RRR people face complex challenges and barriers in accessing essential health services. As her health is no longer impacting her ability to pursue a successful career, Jordyn hopes that one day she can make a positive impact in the health and wellbeing space whilst also having her own food truck to share her love of food with other foodies in the Wheatbelt and beyond.
If you wish to know more about the medication Jordyn is referring to, please reach out to Jordyn directly on jordyn.drayton@outlook.com.