Skip to main content

CF and Winter

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 get sick much. However, its nice to know when it starting to happen in the winter, cuz it is harder to fight off stuff then. I've been doing pretty good for the last two years (no IV anitbiotics since 2010)! [knock on wood] ....Did you knock on some wood? I did.

The cold weather and my lungs just don't like each other. Thankfully, I have a mom who crochets every second of the day, so I have a billion scarves to wear (one to match every outfit..lol). I love my scarves! Breathing in the cold air doesn't always bother me, but when I'm sick or coughing more, it can hurt, but my mom's scarves are awesome! Right now she is creating a really cool one that will stay on, but allow me to breath while jogging (which I can't do right now, but hope to still be able to somewhat in the winter).

I always think the CFers that live in the warm states are quite genius. But even though I don't like how it feels to breathe in the winter, I still think the snow and Christmas Lights are beautiful! So to see the Christmas Lights and the snow together I can deal with it! Plus the holidays and seeing all my friends that come home (Chariss, seriously counting the days!) makes it pretty special! :-) Plus, tis the season for Hot Cocoa (yum)!

Comments

  1. I have been living in a warm climate for 16 years now after living 12 back East and I have yet to get used to Christmas without snow. Last year I decided to go to the mountains to visit the snow and my lungs felt awful the entire time. My CF went crazy in the cold :( I guess a white Christmas just isn't for me.

    Snow or not I love hot chocolate too!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Today's BIG Appointment

 I discussed last week about my recent struggles & goals. I have been dealing with a lot all at once! Family planning (update on that in 2 weeks), my Grandma's funeral, lower lung function. Through it all I have remained very compliant with my meds! My health is VERY important to me. So this last weekend I took my vest machine, wabi sterilizer system , and packs of ensure to my parent's for the weekend. I wanted to make sure I did everything. While it was a sad occasion, it was still pleasant seeing almost all of the family together again. Actually 27 out of 29 of the cousins made it to the funeral. Grandpa is in the middle of the picture (can you find me?) LOL   On top of my medications I have been doing some dancing & walking, but no jogging or anything. I'm still counting calories on my fitbit (hitting over 3000) a day (& 40 grams of protein, 50 grams of fat at least). I knew I was feeling a bit better than before, but wasn't sure what to expec...

Beginning of the Year Troubles

Normal "beginning of the year" troubles for Andrew and I only really consist of one topic: Our Deductible [please no Obama, or government bashing] I've always had high deductibles ALL MY LIFE (no matter who was president). The problem is I hit my deductible within the first week of January. In the past I have always prepared for this and since I was still on my father's insurance (up until last year) he typically paid the bill (at least for medical stuff). And in the future Andrew & I won't have such an issue with this. We will be able to save and plan ahead for the $3,000 (for my deductible, his is another $3,000). However, this year was more difficult. We saved all 2013-2014 for our wedding & honeymoon, plus had our deductible saved too. But Real Estate was a pricey career to start, I've put almost $5,000 into it (classes, dues, licensing, exam, advertising, etc). So needless to say our deductible disappeared, thanks to my new career. Wh...

Orkambi & the Hospital

I haven't really felt up to blogging or doing anything since I got sick. I have been having a few breathing problems and more asthma attacks the last two weeks. I had my regular Cystic Fibrosis Clinic check up on Tuesday of last week. I knew it wouldn't be great, but I had no idea how bad it really was... At clinic we found out my lung function dropped majorly from my "baseline" of 58% to around 38%.  My Respiratory therapist responded "Dang, that's transplant range, we gotta get those numbers up." It's scary to think one sickness, one medication and my lung function can go from 58% to 30s. Where I struggle to breathe and could be listed for a transplant. But I have faith, hope, and trust. This is why. My doctor(s) at the CF Center are very proactive! My doctor told me I had a couple options: 1. be admitted 2. Stop Orkambi 3. Keep doing Orkambi, but switch up some of my meds at home and call in a few days for update Of course... I decided...