I had a checkup in Columbia today, and it was great! I'm so happy and really proud of myself and my hard work.
Last time I was there in August, my lungs were not so hot. I was having FEV1's of 26%, which is not cool and not where I want to be. In addition to that, I wasn't feeling that great either. I didn't have a ton of energy, at least not the normal amount I was used to, and I got short-of-breath easily. Of course, it was to be expected with numbers like what I had.
Despite having such low lung numbers, I just didn't feel sick. I hadn't caught anything, neither did I feel it necessary to do antibiotics at the time. My doctor agreed, and I resolved to try and beat this on my own. I knew it was going to be tough, since I didn't have a lot of wiggle room per se.
The other problem I had was my weight was down, which could have very well contributed to my lower lung numbers. I've experienced that before when I was at Cardinal Glennon. There was a time my weight was down and I was basically told "Either you get your weight up on your own or we're going to really get serious about a g-tube." I put the pedal to the metal, ate a bunch of ice cream, added in extra calories, and gained weight.
But for the past two months I've been really struggling. I would gain a couple pounds, then lose it immediately the next week and be right back at square one. It was hard. I know I've said it before, but it is exceedingly true, gaining weight for me is just as hard as it is for others to lose. So if you know how it feels to lose 2 pounds, then gain back 3 in a week, just put that in reverse and you have my situation; it is just as frustrating and hard to deal with.
I've been working really hard to get more calories in my day. I was also working to keep up with walking on the treadmill to get my lungs breathing better, and a couple weeks ago I finally started going back to the gym on a regular basis. And things were starting to improve.
Finally in the past couple weeks, my weight started to come back up. And when I hopped on the scale today in clinic, I was glad to see it hadn't changed; even went up a little.
Then I did my PFTs and was so relieved that my numbers were back in the 33% area, and I even reached 1.00 (as in one liter of air in the first second [FEV1]).
In addition to that, it was time for my yearly oral glucose tolerance test, which I completed last Friday. The results were good and my blood sugars are normal, so once I again I have avoided diabetes for another year! So that was a relief.
So yeah: my weight is up, my lungs are better, I'm not so short of breath, my blood sugars are in check, I got my flu shot (Did you get yours!?), all good news all around! I am elated. I realize that this won't always be the case, and there will be times—as there have been in the past—where despite everything you do, things just don't work out and CF messes up your life. But for now, I'm going to bask in the joy of today and my good news.
:-) :-) yay!!
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