Cheriz: My life with Cystic Fibrosis

No IVs for me, thanks! First off, Let's clap, BECAUSE it has been 2.5 years since I have needed antibiotics, oral or IV (other than my bi-weekly dose of zithromax). Literally, I have not been ill enough to see my doctor in 2.5 YEARS! That's amazing. I used to get really sick every couple months, but thank goodness, that hasn't been the case. Although I have been working my butt off these past two years to get healthier, guess it is working. BUT... I was really nervous Dr. B would throw me in the hospital because I've beeen sick for a week and lost quite a bit of weight. However, he is having me take Cipro instead! I'm taking the usual (for me that is) 1,500 mg daily for two weeks! If I'm not feeling better & eating better by Saturday, he is going to add prednisone;Which I have never taken before. My mother was on an extremely large dose after she went through Chemo for a while and seeing the side effects kinda freaked me out a bit, but my dose will be s...

Last week: Sorry, I haven't blogged in a week! Last week was Thanksgiving! Which is my favorite holiday, I love it. This thanksgiving was really fun (like usual), I got to see all my family and I went to 3 different thanksgivings all together! I worked during the morning on Thankgiving and was very happy to see that there was still lots of food left for me at the church when I got there!  Last week on Wed and Saturday nights (sat night was at a CF Fundraiser). I got to see a lot of good friends I haven't seen in a while. It was nice catching up with everyone and I had a lot of fun. It makes me realize how much I miss seeing everyone! I was going to blog about something different, but this blog is about my CF and that includes when I'm sick or anything goes wrong, and of course when things go amazing. So here is my new topic for today:  I kind of noticed that over the last week I have been coughing more. I figured it was due to weather being weird...

Winter, is coming, oh no! I love that in the winter I get to see my family and friends alot. My family gets together for holidays and most of my friends come home for a couple days at least. I love catching up and seeing everyone, BUT along with winter comes the COLD! I'm cold a lot, probably because I'm tiny and have very little insulation. It becomes freezing outside, add that to shoveling my sidewalk, driveway, and coughing more, and that is why I don't always enjoy winter. When I start to cough more I know that I have to increase the number of meds I do a day/night. I do that to make sure to fight off whatever lung infection has started, so it doesn't turn into something I have more trouble with (something I have to go see Doc. for). So I can usually catch when I'm getting sick before it turns into pnuemonia, thanks to my cough. So I guess I'm a little thankful for my cough. It's like the warning alarm. In the warmer months no problem, I don't g...

My Results: I went down in lung function 2% points and lost  a couple more lbs. So I'm at 102. I was really disappointed with myself. I know that I have been doing  my meds and I have been doing my stomach feeding most nights too.  I have been making the right decisions and all my friends have been very supportive. I bring my nebulizers over to their houses to do them if we are hanging out, etc. It just wasn't enough this clinic. I really thought there would be a slight increase. However, I haven't been jogging since it is cold outside. And I know waitressing has been making it hard to gain weight. Plus, its winter. It is always harder for me to stay healthy in the winter. Dr. B was still pleased. He said "I should give myself a break, I have been doing everything he asked, I ran a 5K, and I'm still doing well." And that is true 2% increase isn't a huge decrease, only if I continue to decrease then there is a problem. Dr. B told me that I need to focus...

The Holidays are sneaking up! My sister called me tonight and discussed Thanksgiving weekend, and yipes, it came fast! But, I'm very ready for it to be Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is my favorite Holiday! I have lots in my life I am thankful for, I'm very lucky. Lucky that I have such amazing family and friends :-) Plus, I get to spend Thanksgiving with my family every year! I love it! I'm not sure what all we are doing this year. But, in past year we have had Bingo, board games (with prizes to choose from if you win), plus we did a "turkey egg" hunt (with easter eggs) in the yard! We just always make it fun! Not to mention everyone in my family can cook, so we have an amazing buffet of food! It is amazing! I just eat and eat all day long! I hope Uncle Pat makes deviled eggs! Then later that evening we look at Black Friday Ads and plan out the next day. We spend all of Black Friday together too, shopping for the deals. I ususally bounce around from my Aunts...

My unproductive/productive day: depending how you look at it! Sure, I didn't run errands, or even make my bed today. I sat around and watched a marathon of movies all day with friends. And when I say all day, I mean 8:30-9pm... But it was a blast! I got there a lil late, because of a breakfast date with a friend. We decided to watch all three Lord of the Ring Movies and then go see Wreck It Ralph in the theatre. By the way, Wreck It Ralph is flippin' adorable and I loved it! I may not have cleaned, cooked, grocery shopped, worked, had class, or did anything remotely productive; however, I did do my meds. Yep, I brought all my machines (well not the Vest, it’s too big and heavy). I did two albuterols, 2 hypertonic sols, and two Caystons. Now, while blogging I am doing what I have left for the day, albuterol, pulmozyme and last cayston. It was nice to do all my meds. I didn't do many on Saturday or Sunday, since I was gone all day on Saturday. I came home on Sunday a...

Tonight's lil adventure: I have jogged very little since my 5K in Sept. I've been really busy with my new job and haven't had much time. I was thinking tonight how disappointed I was in myself for not sticking with Jogging 3 x a week. What's another half hour to my medical routine. So I did it. I went out and jogged tonight, for first time in probably almost a month. It's cold out now, which is horrible. I got about 3 blocks and realized my lungs were already hurting. Oh well, Turn the music up, breathe into my shirt sleeve off and on, and repeat in my head "MUST BRING UP LUNG FUNCTION, MUST BRING UP LUNG FUNCTION" I hate giving up and I hate letting CF define what I can do. So I kept running. I jogged a mile tonight. Its not 2 or 3, but at least it was 1 mile. I probably jogged 95% of it. I did it in roughly 10 minutes. It is a good starting point to getting back into the swing of jogging. I need to get it through my head that jogging is JUST AS IMP...

De-Hospitalize your room: Random fun story: Here is one my favorite moments a friend has done for me: I have one friend when I go to visit, they know to move the living room coat stand next to my bed, so I can use it as an IV pole to hang my stomach feeding on. It makes me smile. -Also, note CFers, coat hangers sticking out of drawers, off doors, window sills, etc all work just as well! I ditched my IV pole years ago and couldn't be happier. My room looks like a bedroom and less like a hospital now. Once I get my new vest machine that will be 1/3 the size of the one I have, then I will be REALLY happy. Plus, there is a company that makes decals/covers for the machines, so we can personalize them/change the color. I keep pills and feeding pump pushed behind picture frames, and keep my therapy machine under my desk. My supplies I keep in the closet. I'm little bit of an organizational freak. I guess I sort of have to be, so that way I keep track of my meds, supplies, ...

Update Time! I have CF Clinic on November 17th and I'm very much excited about it! First of all, we always shop and eat out at one of my favorite places in Glenveiw! We (my uncles and I, or Ryan and I, or Mom and I- that is who I always go with) pretty much make it a whole day affair! This Clinic will be extra exciting, since I will have stories to share. Snce my last Clinic I ran my FIRST 5k (and finished it- read about it here to read my blog about the 5K I did! )! So I'm taking Dr. B this picture in, along with a story about my journey (getting to point where I could run a 5K) to put in the newsletter! AND I did the CF Walk with a TEAM this year (where we raised $1,200 -so proud of everyone!)! The coolest part about the walk, was seeing all my family and friends coming together, even lots of them hadn't met (friends from high school, youth group friend, theatre friends, family, and college friends)! Also, I'm pretty proud that my weight has plateaued at 1...