Cheriz: My life with Cystic Fibrosis

A Small Town Raising $22,000: Should I say I'm shocked? No, its not the right word. I'm blessed, humbled, happy, over-the-moon about raising $22,000 yesterday at the CF Great Strides Walk in my hometown. To think it started as an idea I had and it has grown into this amazing event! Last year was our first CF Walk (but we weren't technically a Great Strides Walk for the CF Foundation, we just donated the $13,000 we raised to the CF Foundation. But it was enough to become an official Great Strides this year! I can't say I'm shocked, because even though the amount is quite high for a town of 7,400 people, I know it's a very giving, supportive, and loving community!  It was similar to last year with registration from 9:00-9:40, speakers, walk at 10:00am, with a lunch, dessert to follow after. We had Unique Twist making awesome balloon creations, Chariss did face painting, we had Hit Clips Karaoke & DJ service playing tunes, and tons of raffles & silent...

Busy, But Amazing Weekends: This past weekend Andrew & I had a friend's wedding in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I actually really enjoy out-of-state weddings. Why? because Andrew & I make lil weekend trips out of them. See, we have never been on vacation together, Thesse wedding weekends are the closest we have been. And those are usually 1-2 night & 2-3 days. But long vacations are expensive, and most ones we find cheaper we don't have interest in going to those places. PLUS, traveling is BEYOND stressful for me. All the meds I have to pack, planning meds into the day, making sure I don't get sun sick or get dehydrated. Making sure I eat enough and keep my calories up. Andrew is pretty good at noticing when I'm slowly down and need a snack. But still the only way I would do more than 2-3 days away is IF the PLACE was worth it. Like out of the country or something... We went to the dells ( read about that mini-trip here ), during Amanda & Jake's Weddin...

Regular Doctor Visit: As you may remember I'm doing a clinical trial right now.  Today was my 3rd week/ Appointment for it and it ends next Wednesday. Shortest trial ever! It was a simple one too. It's just a new breathing nebulizer to try out. I wrote about my diet and GI issues in the past and yes, they have been solved. But now I'm losing weight like crazy because I can't eat anything that has decent calories. So sadly, I am below 100 lbs. In fact, now my low weight, energy, etc is effecting my lungs too a bit ( I think), since my lung function dropped more. I'm at 50%. Not 53, 55, but 50. Which is okaaaaay, as long as it doesnt go lower. We usually have to take action with meds or IVs or something when its below 50%. AND since IVs didn't work in January, I really need to get these numbers up. Picture: Me chilling, reading a magazine I've been getting delivered to me since, well over years... Ha, ever since a friend got me the subscription. I keep r...

Getting Some Answers: My wedding planning is over and the wedding is coming up soon. We get married in 2 months! Also, the CF Walk I'm in charge of is on June 27th, so two weeks and that is done (if you want to donate to it, here is my page: http://fightcf.cff.org/goto/CherizKunkel  ). The Clinical Trial I'm on has two more weeks as well and its done! Life has been so busy lately, that even though I love everything that has been going on... I can't wait until life is a little simpler. But I guess life isn't really ever simple. The clinical trial is going pretty well. I miss being on hypertonic saline, but it's only a four week trial. The actual breathing treatment/ trial med doesn't take that long to do. So that is nice. However, the trial med has a more rigorous cleaning/sterilization process after each use. That takes time to do and makes traveling a bit harder. That didn't stop me from going to visit my sister for a few days. She moved to a new pla...

My Much Needed Health Rehab: As you know, I've had a lot of health issues in the last year. Liver being elevated, pancreas not working as well, which resulted with me now being on a permanent low-fat, therefore, low-cal diet. So of course, I'm losing weight. But also, I'm struggling breathing wise more. My lung function has been fluctuating between 48-60 since 2012. However, I've have really struggled since last year to keep it at mid 50s. I didn't respond to IV antibiotics in Jan-March this year. I'm now currently at low 50s. Which would be okay, if I couldn't tell the difference it has made on my body. Because of my lower lung function and energy, I haven't been able to do simple things like carry laundry or groceries.  As I've talked about in a previous blog here , I'm wanting to get back to my 60% lung function, 110 lb self, the girl that had energy to work part time, do theatre at night, and still come home to jog 1 mile before bed. I w...

My Break From Chaos: I know my life isn't as chaotic as some people's lives; But lately, it's one thing after another. To fully understand the clinical trial, weight & Gi issues, and the potassium scare make sure to read my last post HERE . But, finally some GOOD NEWS: the re-do test I got drawn at the local hospital for my potassium came back in the normal-ish range. Which means that it WAS a fluke and some of the red blood cells did rupture when they drew it in the office. So yay, good news! The only bad part of it came later when Doc's office called, the clinical trial researchers won't accept the local hospital's sample. So I have to do the test a third time and on Andrew's day off tomorrow we will be spending the day driving 2 hours one way to get one blood test done at doc's office and then driving home.... I'm a lil annoyed.  Seriously, why didn't they figure this out before I spent a whole day calling & registering at the new...