Let me do my little happy dance... *does happy dance in seat
I had a checkup today, and I was expecting it to go so-so. I got sick, most likely with some sort of virus, two weeks ago. My only symptom was drainage, it was so odd. My symptoms went away within a week, which is amazingly quick for me, and I wasn't doing all that bad. Again, for me, it was a pretty mild whatever-it-was illness. But I have some lasting effects from it, primarily this really deep wheeze in one spot of my lung. Long story short (not really...) I was expecting my PFTs to be lowered due to this wheezing and maybe I'd come home on some oral meds.
Nope. Not the case!
Turns out, my PFTs were AMAZING! Not only have I maintained my levels since I got out of the hospital, but I have improved! And not just a tiny bit, but a GOOD bit! I went from a 0.90 to a 1.01! Usually we rejoice with small gains; like if I was at 0.95 I'd still be excited. But a 12% change?! That's really good.
So yeah, since I'm doing so well I definitely don't need meds right now. I just need to keep working at getting the gunk out of there with airway clearance and exercise.
I wanted to celebrate tonight so we went to Imo's and got a bacon cheeseburger pizza. :)
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Monday, February 2, 2015
The NYC Trip That Wasn't
I can't believe its been a week since we tried to go to New York City. I never wrote the specifics on here, but we were set to take a vacation to NYC to see Cabaret on Broadway, go to the WTC museum and memorial, go to the Met, eat some great food, and a myriad of other little things.
My story begins on Friday, actually, because we hit our first obstacle with this trip which is: Jarrod got sick. Talk about the worst possible timing. As you can imagine, he felt so awful about it, even though he had no control over it. So to keep me from our house of germs, I went and stayed at my parents', and Jarrod loaded up on Dayquil, Nyquil, and the zinc things to get over his cold as quickly as possible.
Then on Sunday, there was the news of the blizzard. The forecast was difficult to pin down, as with all snow forecasts, but said it would start snowing Monday morning, but be light and minor, with snow increasing and picking up by the evening, with the worst and 'blizzard conditions' to happen overnight.
The second obstacle was our flight got cancelled ahead of the storm on Sunday evening. We were supposed to leave STL at 10:55am and fly direct to LGA and arrive at 2:30 or so, with enough time ahead of the of the storm to get to our hotel and settle in for the next couple days. Instead, we were switched to a flight to DTW (which is Detroit), that left at 10:25am, layover for about an hour, then one that headed to LGA at 1:52, arriving at 3:40. This was iffy because we knew we could make it to Detroit, no problem, but 3:40 was much closer to when it was supposed to be snowing steadily than even 2:30 (I know it's just over an hour, but every minute counted here.)
Our entire goal for the day was to get to NYC and get to our hotel. We were going to be getting there before the worst of the storm, so it wasn't a big deal. We knew exactly how we were going to get from the airport to our hotel, we just needed to get there. Once I knew we were settled in our room, I would breathe a sigh of relief and enjoy my first blizzard inside my room.
We had crossed our T's and dotted our I's in preparation for this trip, health-wise for me. I got a note from my doctor, in case there were any questions about the medications and stuff I was bringing along, got the portable oxygen concentrator cleared for in-flight use with the airline, and told the TSA people everything they 'needed' to know about medical liquids, my port, and whatever. It was no big deal, at all. They wiped down the oxygen concentrator and tested that, which is nothing surprising, and we were on our way. Luckily I didn't have to lug my vest along and was using other methods of airway clearance, ones that are small, handheld, and could fit in my purse if I wanted.
Our flight to Detroit went off without a hitch. I was getting butterflies in my stomach prior to taking off! We "pre-boarded" which is something you do if you need extra time or assistance boarding, and Jarrod admitted later that it was kind of nice being able to pre-board with me.
When we landed in Detroit, we were at gate like A71, and the terminal is REALLY long. We had to get down to 39 or something like that, for our flight to LGA, which in reality wasn't all that far from boarding. It sounds like you have plenty of time: there is one hour layover between flights. But when we who pre-board get to go first, there really wasn't much time at all. We walked at a good enough pace, and thank goodness for those moving sidewalks. I bought some snacks at a shop because turned out we weren't going to have enough time to get lunch.
Sure enough, we were sitting at the gate, eating my Goldfish crackers, and it was about 5 minutes and then we boarded the plane.
So as the plane starts to board, the flight attendant came around saying to keep your coats with you and anything else under the seat in front of you that will fit. And the whole reason she was saying this was because if we had to take a delay because of baggage, we might miss our time slot into LGA. We were one of the last flights out to LGA, and we were the ONLY flight out of Detroit to LGA, so this was it. All or nothing.
Anyways, as people continued to get on, a... "situation" developed a few rows behind us. I don't know how it all started, but I guess a man wasn't feeling good and called over a flight attendant to himself. He was explaining to her all of his health problems, which included, at least, heart palpitations and diabetes. They took his blood pressure and it was 220/110! I don't know how the guy wasn't having a stroke. They told him he was unsafe to fly like that—no kidding—and then called in medical. I don't know how many medical people, flight attendants, and the pilot walked back there multiple times. And he said how he hasn't taken some medication he needs for days, because he ran out. Great...
The anxiety and frustration in the room was palpable, you could have cut it with a knife. EVERYONE wanted to get out of there NOW, because we all knew we were operating on a time crunch here, with just barely enough time to get to LaGuardia, IF we even made it at all. We were supposed to have taken off around 1:52pm, but it was already 2:15. So all these people kept coming onto the plane, and really, they should have taken the guy OFF the plane. So this guy, Fragile Heart Man, was sort of Obstacle #3. Eventually he told them he was feeling better, which on the surface sounded like a good thing, unless the guy would have a heart attack in the middle of the flight and then we'd have to make an emergency landing.
Ok, so then we were about to be on our way. The pilot told us that the weather wasn't bad at the moment, but if anything was ever deemed unsafe, they would reroute us to Norfolk. It took awhile more, but we finally backed out of the gate. We taxied out towards the runway. Then we stopped, and Jarrod made a face. Turns out he made that face because he audibly knew they had turned the engines off. Sure enough, the pilot came on and said "Well, as you can see, we are nowhere near a runway. We have been ordered under a ground stop for one hour from LGA due to weather and low visibility. So after an hour, at that time, they will re-evaluate the situation and we will know more at that time."
Everyone, and I mean everyone, was disappointed and sighed with frustration. I hopped on Twitter and news sites and such, and turns out we were 1 of TEN flights left that were grounded! That's it. That was all that was left in the entire country, that hadn't been already cancelled, heading to LaGuardia. That is an insanely small number, considering ten flights probably take off or land at LGA in the matter of a minute or two.
Not more than 10-15 minutes went by and the captain came back on to say the flight had been cancelled. Everyone was super disappointed, yet I doubt anyone was shocked at that point. The biggest question was if Fragile Heart Man cost us our flight. Eventually, sitting there, I silently cried. We gathered up our stuff and left the plane. Another guy behind us asked the pilot if that whole "situation" made any difference, and he said it didn't. In reality, the Fragile Heart Man might have saved us from being mid-air, and then having to land in Norfolk.
So after that we were instructed to go to a few different desks where they would rebook us on another flight.
We waited in line for a while and when we finally got up there, the lady told us our options. Turned out, we had already been rebooked... on a flight to West Palm Beach, then to LGA the next day! So we would have left for West Palm Beach, from Detroit, at 8am, gotten there around noon, had a 4-hour layover until 4:50 or something, and then another 2.5-3 hour flight to LGA, finally getting there around 8:00 in the evening. It would have been another entire day of traveling, would have been a long exhausting day too, and it was a very shaky plan, as no one was confident LGA would be open on Tuesday. We asked if there was any way we could get out on Wednesday morning and she said "Yeah, there's one at 7:25... no... 8:20... no... 10:15." Everything else had booked up while we were standing there! We said we'd keep the Palm Beach flight and think it over.
With the 10:15 flight, arriving around noon-something, there was no possible way we'd make it to our matinee show of Cabaret on Wednesday (which was at 2:00.) So we seemed to have 3 options, all varying in levels of complications:
At that moment, it was over. I felt all of my plans, my hopes, and my wishes of returning to New York City slip out of my hands in an instant like water. Cabaret was the entire reason we even planned to go on this trip at this time, in order to see the show before it closes in March, and to see it with Emma Stone in the lead role before she left mid-February.
Jarrod then asked if we could get a refund, and fortunately we could. So the lady began to process our refund. I hope someone else enjoyed our seats as much as we hoped to.
Now it was time for the hotel. We had talked to them a day earlier, asking if they would give us a refund, and they would not budge and said no. On Monday, though, it was a little different and they agreed to refund us our money, which was a huge relief. After we got the theater tickets refunded, and the hotel was in the process of being refunded, I hopped back in line at the Delta desk to get on a flight back home to STL. There were two options, one at 5:40pm, and one at 7:25pm. It was already 4-4:30, so the 5:40 option was no good; there would be no way we'd get supper. And we hadn't eaten lunch, so we really needed a meal.
My story begins on Friday, actually, because we hit our first obstacle with this trip which is: Jarrod got sick. Talk about the worst possible timing. As you can imagine, he felt so awful about it, even though he had no control over it. So to keep me from our house of germs, I went and stayed at my parents', and Jarrod loaded up on Dayquil, Nyquil, and the zinc things to get over his cold as quickly as possible.
Then on Sunday, there was the news of the blizzard. The forecast was difficult to pin down, as with all snow forecasts, but said it would start snowing Monday morning, but be light and minor, with snow increasing and picking up by the evening, with the worst and 'blizzard conditions' to happen overnight.
The second obstacle was our flight got cancelled ahead of the storm on Sunday evening. We were supposed to leave STL at 10:55am and fly direct to LGA and arrive at 2:30 or so, with enough time ahead of the of the storm to get to our hotel and settle in for the next couple days. Instead, we were switched to a flight to DTW (which is Detroit), that left at 10:25am, layover for about an hour, then one that headed to LGA at 1:52, arriving at 3:40. This was iffy because we knew we could make it to Detroit, no problem, but 3:40 was much closer to when it was supposed to be snowing steadily than even 2:30 (I know it's just over an hour, but every minute counted here.)
Our entire goal for the day was to get to NYC and get to our hotel. We were going to be getting there before the worst of the storm, so it wasn't a big deal. We knew exactly how we were going to get from the airport to our hotel, we just needed to get there. Once I knew we were settled in our room, I would breathe a sigh of relief and enjoy my first blizzard inside my room.
We had crossed our T's and dotted our I's in preparation for this trip, health-wise for me. I got a note from my doctor, in case there were any questions about the medications and stuff I was bringing along, got the portable oxygen concentrator cleared for in-flight use with the airline, and told the TSA people everything they 'needed' to know about medical liquids, my port, and whatever. It was no big deal, at all. They wiped down the oxygen concentrator and tested that, which is nothing surprising, and we were on our way. Luckily I didn't have to lug my vest along and was using other methods of airway clearance, ones that are small, handheld, and could fit in my purse if I wanted.
Our flight to Detroit went off without a hitch. I was getting butterflies in my stomach prior to taking off! We "pre-boarded" which is something you do if you need extra time or assistance boarding, and Jarrod admitted later that it was kind of nice being able to pre-board with me.
When we landed in Detroit, we were at gate like A71, and the terminal is REALLY long. We had to get down to 39 or something like that, for our flight to LGA, which in reality wasn't all that far from boarding. It sounds like you have plenty of time: there is one hour layover between flights. But when we who pre-board get to go first, there really wasn't much time at all. We walked at a good enough pace, and thank goodness for those moving sidewalks. I bought some snacks at a shop because turned out we weren't going to have enough time to get lunch.
Sure enough, we were sitting at the gate, eating my Goldfish crackers, and it was about 5 minutes and then we boarded the plane.
So as the plane starts to board, the flight attendant came around saying to keep your coats with you and anything else under the seat in front of you that will fit. And the whole reason she was saying this was because if we had to take a delay because of baggage, we might miss our time slot into LGA. We were one of the last flights out to LGA, and we were the ONLY flight out of Detroit to LGA, so this was it. All or nothing.
Anyways, as people continued to get on, a... "situation" developed a few rows behind us. I don't know how it all started, but I guess a man wasn't feeling good and called over a flight attendant to himself. He was explaining to her all of his health problems, which included, at least, heart palpitations and diabetes. They took his blood pressure and it was 220/110! I don't know how the guy wasn't having a stroke. They told him he was unsafe to fly like that—no kidding—and then called in medical. I don't know how many medical people, flight attendants, and the pilot walked back there multiple times. And he said how he hasn't taken some medication he needs for days, because he ran out. Great...
The anxiety and frustration in the room was palpable, you could have cut it with a knife. EVERYONE wanted to get out of there NOW, because we all knew we were operating on a time crunch here, with just barely enough time to get to LaGuardia, IF we even made it at all. We were supposed to have taken off around 1:52pm, but it was already 2:15. So all these people kept coming onto the plane, and really, they should have taken the guy OFF the plane. So this guy, Fragile Heart Man, was sort of Obstacle #3. Eventually he told them he was feeling better, which on the surface sounded like a good thing, unless the guy would have a heart attack in the middle of the flight and then we'd have to make an emergency landing.
Ok, so then we were about to be on our way. The pilot told us that the weather wasn't bad at the moment, but if anything was ever deemed unsafe, they would reroute us to Norfolk. It took awhile more, but we finally backed out of the gate. We taxied out towards the runway. Then we stopped, and Jarrod made a face. Turns out he made that face because he audibly knew they had turned the engines off. Sure enough, the pilot came on and said "Well, as you can see, we are nowhere near a runway. We have been ordered under a ground stop for one hour from LGA due to weather and low visibility. So after an hour, at that time, they will re-evaluate the situation and we will know more at that time."
Everyone, and I mean everyone, was disappointed and sighed with frustration. I hopped on Twitter and news sites and such, and turns out we were 1 of TEN flights left that were grounded! That's it. That was all that was left in the entire country, that hadn't been already cancelled, heading to LaGuardia. That is an insanely small number, considering ten flights probably take off or land at LGA in the matter of a minute or two.
Not more than 10-15 minutes went by and the captain came back on to say the flight had been cancelled. Everyone was super disappointed, yet I doubt anyone was shocked at that point. The biggest question was if Fragile Heart Man cost us our flight. Eventually, sitting there, I silently cried. We gathered up our stuff and left the plane. Another guy behind us asked the pilot if that whole "situation" made any difference, and he said it didn't. In reality, the Fragile Heart Man might have saved us from being mid-air, and then having to land in Norfolk.
So after that we were instructed to go to a few different desks where they would rebook us on another flight.
We waited in line for a while and when we finally got up there, the lady told us our options. Turned out, we had already been rebooked... on a flight to West Palm Beach, then to LGA the next day! So we would have left for West Palm Beach, from Detroit, at 8am, gotten there around noon, had a 4-hour layover until 4:50 or something, and then another 2.5-3 hour flight to LGA, finally getting there around 8:00 in the evening. It would have been another entire day of traveling, would have been a long exhausting day too, and it was a very shaky plan, as no one was confident LGA would be open on Tuesday. We asked if there was any way we could get out on Wednesday morning and she said "Yeah, there's one at 7:25... no... 8:20... no... 10:15." Everything else had booked up while we were standing there! We said we'd keep the Palm Beach flight and think it over.
With the 10:15 flight, arriving around noon-something, there was no possible way we'd make it to our matinee show of Cabaret on Wednesday (which was at 2:00.) So we seemed to have 3 options, all varying in levels of complications:
- Easiest: Come back home to STL, forfeit our trip.
- Harder: The West Palm Beach plan, with the hope that the flight wouldn't be cancelled.
- Hardest: Stay at the airport hotel for two nights, switch our Cabaret tickets to Wednesday or Thursday evening, hopefully fly out Wednesday morning.
At that moment, it was over. I felt all of my plans, my hopes, and my wishes of returning to New York City slip out of my hands in an instant like water. Cabaret was the entire reason we even planned to go on this trip at this time, in order to see the show before it closes in March, and to see it with Emma Stone in the lead role before she left mid-February.
Jarrod then asked if we could get a refund, and fortunately we could. So the lady began to process our refund. I hope someone else enjoyed our seats as much as we hoped to.
Now it was time for the hotel. We had talked to them a day earlier, asking if they would give us a refund, and they would not budge and said no. On Monday, though, it was a little different and they agreed to refund us our money, which was a huge relief. After we got the theater tickets refunded, and the hotel was in the process of being refunded, I hopped back in line at the Delta desk to get on a flight back home to STL. There were two options, one at 5:40pm, and one at 7:25pm. It was already 4-4:30, so the 5:40 option was no good; there would be no way we'd get supper. And we hadn't eaten lunch, so we really needed a meal.
We finally got to the desk and I said "Hi again!" and smiled, trying to lighten the mood a little bit, you could tell she had some rough passengers to deal with. She remembered us, and we told her we changed our minds and would like to head back home to STL. She booked us on the 7:25pm flight. Then she said we would be able to get a partial refund, which was great. We were planning to ask anyway. She had to make a phone call, and I don't know what the deal was, but they put her on hold for a good 10-15 minutes. Finally she got approval of whatever she needed and printed us our new boarding passes.
So DTW has this awesome indoor tram that runs the length of the terminal (remember how I said it was a long terminal?), and boy was that nice. You could board at the far ends, and in the middle. So we took the escalator up and waited two minutes, at most, then got on board and rode down to the higher numbers where we needed to be.
We ate dinner at a brew pub of sorts, and both enjoyed a beer. But immediately when we sat down Jarrod said "Uh... can I see those boarding passes?" in a very concerned way. Our flight had already been delayed from 7:25pm to 9:00pm... yay. Also, our gate had moved to 51, so we had to go BACK to near where we were. We finished dinner and made the long trek back to gate 51, all the way from 80 (for reference, Terminals A & C at Lambert have 21ish gates total, this place had 81.) We sat down at the gate and they were handing out snacks, complementary because our flight had been delayed, which was a nice gesture.
The plane arrived on time, we pre-boarded once again, and things were shaping up well. We ended up getting out at 8:45, and I breathed a sigh of relief. They booked it home, too, and cut about 20 minutes off our flight time. We arrived at 9:00ish, so the flight was barely over an hour. I'd also like to add how happy I was we never checked any luggage. We were able to both pack in one carry on suitcase, and put extra shoes and all my meds stuff in a backpack. Thank goodness for that.
I was extremely disappointed we didn't make it to New York, but after we got our refunds squared away and it was a done deal, I was relieved to get a flight back home and know I was not going to have to stay the night in Detroit.
Clearly we were not destined to go on this trip. It was a bummer to wake up Tuesday and see that NYC, in fact, did NOT get the predicted amount of snow, surprise surprise. They barely got 8 inches, and everyone was complaining that they blew everything out of proportion so badly, that it's almost comical that the city was SHUT DOWN at like 11pm Monday night (all cars were ordered off the streets, and the subway closed at 9pm, which is a first in its 100+ year history [and that one really doesn't make sense... it's underground! that's half the reason it's there is to get people around when there is weather, they could have easily closed some above-ground tracks without shutting the whole thing down.])
So DTW has this awesome indoor tram that runs the length of the terminal (remember how I said it was a long terminal?), and boy was that nice. You could board at the far ends, and in the middle. So we took the escalator up and waited two minutes, at most, then got on board and rode down to the higher numbers where we needed to be.
We ate dinner at a brew pub of sorts, and both enjoyed a beer. But immediately when we sat down Jarrod said "Uh... can I see those boarding passes?" in a very concerned way. Our flight had already been delayed from 7:25pm to 9:00pm... yay. Also, our gate had moved to 51, so we had to go BACK to near where we were. We finished dinner and made the long trek back to gate 51, all the way from 80 (for reference, Terminals A & C at Lambert have 21ish gates total, this place had 81.) We sat down at the gate and they were handing out snacks, complementary because our flight had been delayed, which was a nice gesture.
The plane arrived on time, we pre-boarded once again, and things were shaping up well. We ended up getting out at 8:45, and I breathed a sigh of relief. They booked it home, too, and cut about 20 minutes off our flight time. We arrived at 9:00ish, so the flight was barely over an hour. I'd also like to add how happy I was we never checked any luggage. We were able to both pack in one carry on suitcase, and put extra shoes and all my meds stuff in a backpack. Thank goodness for that.
I was extremely disappointed we didn't make it to New York, but after we got our refunds squared away and it was a done deal, I was relieved to get a flight back home and know I was not going to have to stay the night in Detroit.
Clearly we were not destined to go on this trip. It was a bummer to wake up Tuesday and see that NYC, in fact, did NOT get the predicted amount of snow, surprise surprise. They barely got 8 inches, and everyone was complaining that they blew everything out of proportion so badly, that it's almost comical that the city was SHUT DOWN at like 11pm Monday night (all cars were ordered off the streets, and the subway closed at 9pm, which is a first in its 100+ year history [and that one really doesn't make sense... it's underground! that's half the reason it's there is to get people around when there is weather, they could have easily closed some above-ground tracks without shutting the whole thing down.])
Some vacation, eh?
But hey, Jarrod had never been to Michigan so at least he got to cross that state off the map, right?
But hey, Jarrod had never been to Michigan so at least he got to cross that state off the map, right?
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Cookie Season
It's once again Girl Scout cookie season, but this year comes with some changes. Most notably, the addition of online ordering and that the price of a box of cookies went up 50 cents to $4.00 per box. It's all for the kids, I know, I know... but I will agree with my mom in that they are going to price themselves out of selling cookies before too long; especially when you consider that you only get 16 or less cookies in most boxes. There will always be those people who buy them no matter what, but for those of us who don't have a niece, cousin, or relative selling cookies, it's a bit of a tough sell to convince me to buy cookies just for the heck of it. Jarrod and I don't plan on getting any this year because, honestly, we don't love those cookies that much. Heck, I still have Tagalongs from last year, that's how rarely I eat them.
In thinking about the price change, it doesn't seem all that surprising considering food costs for everything have risen over the past year. So I'm guessing the ingredients to make the cookies went up in price, thus they needed to raise the price.
I've never been a fan of the Thin Mints, which I am sure is still their biggest seller (take this from a girl who used to sell 200-250+ cookies a year [when they were $2-2.50 a box, mind you] the Thin Mints always outsold everything else by a landslide.) But if you are a fan of the Samoas*, like myself, I am here to tell you there is an alternative...
Not to rain on the Girl Scouts' parade, but you can get Samoas in the grocery store year round. I finally tried a package of Keebler "Coconut Dreams" cookies which, by the example on the front, looked to be like Samoas.
They ARE Samoas.
They are the same size and they taste EXACTLY the same. And I'm not speaking in terms of how some off-brand things 'kind of' taste like the name brand, enough so that you think to yourself 'Ok this will do, it tastes pretty much the same.' No, these are dead on; in a blind taste test, you'd have no idea which one was which. I even compared the nutrition labels: they have the exact same calories, same fat content, and the ingredients list is the same except for being in a slightly different order—but not by much.
And just for funzies:
*I'm talking about "Samoas", not the stupid "Caramel DeLites" our area was treated to a couple years ago because the region's chapter decided to switch bakers. The Caramel DeLites sucked, and I have no doubt it was because they were a "lighter" cookie with less calories and fat (it's true, they have less than Samoas.)
In thinking about the price change, it doesn't seem all that surprising considering food costs for everything have risen over the past year. So I'm guessing the ingredients to make the cookies went up in price, thus they needed to raise the price.
I've never been a fan of the Thin Mints, which I am sure is still their biggest seller (take this from a girl who used to sell 200-250+ cookies a year [when they were $2-2.50 a box, mind you] the Thin Mints always outsold everything else by a landslide.) But if you are a fan of the Samoas*, like myself, I am here to tell you there is an alternative...
Not to rain on the Girl Scouts' parade, but you can get Samoas in the grocery store year round. I finally tried a package of Keebler "Coconut Dreams" cookies which, by the example on the front, looked to be like Samoas.
They ARE Samoas.
They are the same size and they taste EXACTLY the same. And I'm not speaking in terms of how some off-brand things 'kind of' taste like the name brand, enough so that you think to yourself 'Ok this will do, it tastes pretty much the same.' No, these are dead on; in a blind taste test, you'd have no idea which one was which. I even compared the nutrition labels: they have the exact same calories, same fat content, and the ingredients list is the same except for being in a slightly different order—but not by much.
And just for funzies:
- Keebler Coconut Dreams: $2.50 per box, 18 cookies, 14¢/cookie
- Girl Scout Samoas: $4.00 per box, 15 cookies, 26¢/cookie
*I'm talking about "Samoas", not the stupid "Caramel DeLites" our area was treated to a couple years ago because the region's chapter decided to switch bakers. The Caramel DeLites sucked, and I have no doubt it was because they were a "lighter" cookie with less calories and fat (it's true, they have less than Samoas.)
Sunday, January 18, 2015
Feeling Better
I had a good PFT on Thursday. On the Friday I left the hospital, I blew out a FEV1 of 0.90, and on Thursday I was at 0.94! So a small, good improvement! My doctor called to say she was pleased with my results, and I finished home IV meds yesterday.
I was so excited, as always, to take a shower after two weeks of not having one. It was also exciting, as always, to wear normal clothes again—tshirts and sweats are only fun and comfy for so long, but they lose their appeal quickly and then you just start to feel a bit like a bum.
Yesterday and today have been nice weather-wise, so I took the dog outside and played ball with her. I know she loved it. It was nice for me too, to get out in the sunshine for a bit. Who would have thought I'd be barefoot and barely wearing a jacket in the middle of January?
Thursday, January 8, 2015
From the Worst to the Best
This week has been quite the week. It started out with some bad news, then good news, and finally news that I will most likely go home tomorrow.
On Monday I was dealt a huge blow. My doctor made her rounds, and when she stopped by she told me that my sputum culture results were starting to come back. But it was not good: my culture was coming back pan-resistant to all of the antibiotics so far. It wasn't completed, there were still a couple meds that maybe would come through as sensitive, but it was not looking good.
Before I continue my story, I'm going to do a little CF301: Sputum Cultures here to explain everything I'm talking about, as a refresher or in case you're confused. Every time I come in the hospital or go to a clinic appointment, I do a "sputum culture" which is where you cough up something and send it off to the lab. It takes 5 days to complete, because the ones they do for us CFers are very detailed. So once at the lab, they determine A. what bacteria are growing and B. the drug sensitivities of said bacteria/bugs. The two biggest players in the CF world are MRSA (staph, as everyone has heard of) and Pseudomonas. There are others bugs that are bigger concerns, but those two are the most common. There can be different strains of the same bacteria. Each one is different, each one can have different sensitivities. When I say "sensitivities" it means if the germ is "sensitive" or "resistant" to a specific medication. As in, a medication will work with something that is sensitive, but it won't if the strain is resistant. Ok, we good? Good. I shall proceed with story...
So the pseudomonas bug that I have was coming back pan-resistant... which means it was resistant to everything. Again, the test wasn't completely finished, but out of the meds they had tested so far, it was resistant to all but two. This is not good, and something to be feared. What it meant was that the meds I was already on were doing nothing, and there would be no meds I could take to get better... because it's resistant to everything. If you're thinking Well... how can that be, there must be SOMETHING right? Sadly no, there are cases where bacteria become resistant to everything and then, according to my doctor, you just hope and pray that things change and that what you're doing just maybe gets through and does a little damage to clear out some of the bacteria. This is what the medical community is concerned about and there are news reports every once in a while about anti-biotic resistance; this is exactly what they're talking about.
It honestly took a little bit for this news to sink it, but once it did it was really hard to deal with. Knowing there was a strong possibility that I was not going to be able to get better was scary. I called Jarrod to tell him what was going on, and he obviously had a lot of questions, as did I. Unfortunately, I knew I probably wasn't going to be able to see my doctor on Tuesday to clear up some answers, but would have to wait until Wednesday.
Tuesday was not the best day. I was trying to stay positive and hang on to some hope that maybe, just maybe, those last two meds would come back with an S showing they were sensitive, and we'd have two meds we could work with, and also knowing that my bugs switch up all the time as to what they are sensitive to, so maybe at a later time I'd regain some sensitivity. I had a few moments of crying throughout the day, and explained to one of the head nurses who stopped by how I was trying to stay positive with the news, but it was tough.
I prayed. I really tried to talk to God to help me through this, and when the eucharistic minister brought me communion that morning, I burst into tears. (As a side note, receiving communion in the hospital is so much more personal than at church. I know you place your hands out to receive the body of Christ and it's pretty much the same motions, but there is just something different about having a one-on-one experience when the person is right there, in your room with you, saying "Behold... the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world..." like the priest does at the altar but she's holding it right there in front of your face for a much much longer time than when you're at mass, and you're the only one responding. It can be extremely moving, and it was especially for me on that day.)
I talked to Jarrod in the afternoon and we decided I should ditch my anti-visitor rule, and he should come up here. So he did, and I'm so glad. It kept my mind off of things and it was just so good to have him here. We finalized our vacation plans, which I'll talk about another time, but it was good to get my mind thinking of something I'm looking forward to. He ended up staying the night too, so he could be here when my doctor came around to talk to me.
So on Wednesday around 1:30, my doctor came in and she said she had good news. My pseudomonas came back almost all sensitive! With the exception of like three meds that had an R next to them, the rest had an S. I was stunned. Two days ago, when I was looking at this same report, I was seeing all R's. But they somehow had all changed to S. And! This time I only was growing one strain of pseudomonas, and that's it. Last time I was here I had 3 different strains, plus my MRSA. But this time I didn't even have staph! No staph. Like... I can't even remember the last time I didn't have staph when I was in the hospital. I have cultured staph for a very, very long time, fairly consistently. I could not believe it, I was so speechless and on the verge of tears of happiness.
This whole incident was so unexplainable, I have no other explanation than that God heard our prayers. I know the test was not completed on Monday, but like I said, when I looked at it everything had an R by it and on Wednesday, those exact same things had changed and now showed an S. I have to believe that God is not done with my lungs yet.
On Monday I was dealt a huge blow. My doctor made her rounds, and when she stopped by she told me that my sputum culture results were starting to come back. But it was not good: my culture was coming back pan-resistant to all of the antibiotics so far. It wasn't completed, there were still a couple meds that maybe would come through as sensitive, but it was not looking good.
Before I continue my story, I'm going to do a little CF301: Sputum Cultures here to explain everything I'm talking about, as a refresher or in case you're confused. Every time I come in the hospital or go to a clinic appointment, I do a "sputum culture" which is where you cough up something and send it off to the lab. It takes 5 days to complete, because the ones they do for us CFers are very detailed. So once at the lab, they determine A. what bacteria are growing and B. the drug sensitivities of said bacteria/bugs. The two biggest players in the CF world are MRSA (staph, as everyone has heard of) and Pseudomonas. There are others bugs that are bigger concerns, but those two are the most common. There can be different strains of the same bacteria. Each one is different, each one can have different sensitivities. When I say "sensitivities" it means if the germ is "sensitive" or "resistant" to a specific medication. As in, a medication will work with something that is sensitive, but it won't if the strain is resistant. Ok, we good? Good. I shall proceed with story...
So the pseudomonas bug that I have was coming back pan-resistant... which means it was resistant to everything. Again, the test wasn't completely finished, but out of the meds they had tested so far, it was resistant to all but two. This is not good, and something to be feared. What it meant was that the meds I was already on were doing nothing, and there would be no meds I could take to get better... because it's resistant to everything. If you're thinking Well... how can that be, there must be SOMETHING right? Sadly no, there are cases where bacteria become resistant to everything and then, according to my doctor, you just hope and pray that things change and that what you're doing just maybe gets through and does a little damage to clear out some of the bacteria. This is what the medical community is concerned about and there are news reports every once in a while about anti-biotic resistance; this is exactly what they're talking about.
It honestly took a little bit for this news to sink it, but once it did it was really hard to deal with. Knowing there was a strong possibility that I was not going to be able to get better was scary. I called Jarrod to tell him what was going on, and he obviously had a lot of questions, as did I. Unfortunately, I knew I probably wasn't going to be able to see my doctor on Tuesday to clear up some answers, but would have to wait until Wednesday.
Tuesday was not the best day. I was trying to stay positive and hang on to some hope that maybe, just maybe, those last two meds would come back with an S showing they were sensitive, and we'd have two meds we could work with, and also knowing that my bugs switch up all the time as to what they are sensitive to, so maybe at a later time I'd regain some sensitivity. I had a few moments of crying throughout the day, and explained to one of the head nurses who stopped by how I was trying to stay positive with the news, but it was tough.
I prayed. I really tried to talk to God to help me through this, and when the eucharistic minister brought me communion that morning, I burst into tears. (As a side note, receiving communion in the hospital is so much more personal than at church. I know you place your hands out to receive the body of Christ and it's pretty much the same motions, but there is just something different about having a one-on-one experience when the person is right there, in your room with you, saying "Behold... the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world..." like the priest does at the altar but she's holding it right there in front of your face for a much much longer time than when you're at mass, and you're the only one responding. It can be extremely moving, and it was especially for me on that day.)
I talked to Jarrod in the afternoon and we decided I should ditch my anti-visitor rule, and he should come up here. So he did, and I'm so glad. It kept my mind off of things and it was just so good to have him here. We finalized our vacation plans, which I'll talk about another time, but it was good to get my mind thinking of something I'm looking forward to. He ended up staying the night too, so he could be here when my doctor came around to talk to me.
So on Wednesday around 1:30, my doctor came in and she said she had good news. My pseudomonas came back almost all sensitive! With the exception of like three meds that had an R next to them, the rest had an S. I was stunned. Two days ago, when I was looking at this same report, I was seeing all R's. But they somehow had all changed to S. And! This time I only was growing one strain of pseudomonas, and that's it. Last time I was here I had 3 different strains, plus my MRSA. But this time I didn't even have staph! No staph. Like... I can't even remember the last time I didn't have staph when I was in the hospital. I have cultured staph for a very, very long time, fairly consistently. I could not believe it, I was so speechless and on the verge of tears of happiness.
This whole incident was so unexplainable, I have no other explanation than that God heard our prayers. I know the test was not completed on Monday, but like I said, when I looked at it everything had an R by it and on Wednesday, those exact same things had changed and now showed an S. I have to believe that God is not done with my lungs yet.
The other good news I have is that I will most likely be coming home tomorrow. Barring some sort of unexpected bad PFT tomorrow morning, I am scheduled to come home on meds for the following week. I haven't done home IV's in a long time, but with the flu and everything here, I figured it would be best to come home as soon as was reasonable. We were thinking of waiting until Monday, but I am kind of anxious now that I know I get to go home soon.
God is good!
Friday, January 2, 2015
Writing to You Live from a Hospital Bed
So I'm in the hospital. Alas, Jarrod and I talked it over a lot last night and decided it best for me to finally check myself in. I've been contemplating the need to come in the hospital for well over a month now, as you may recall that one blog I wrote back in November when I was almost sure I would have to come back in soon after my previous visit. Well, I made it another month and a half or so, but I've also had to deal with two colds since that time. I am feeling 'okay' but I've been below my baseline for some time now. I'm hoping to get back to my baseline and feeling better.
Jarrod and I stopped for some hot toasty sandwiches at Pickleman's on the way in, and it was everything I hoped it would be (as a side note, Washington REALLY needs a hot sandwich place like Pickleman's or Firehouse.) Whenever I head home, I hope I get a chance to eat at Zaxby's on the way out, because I always forget they have one here—Zaxby's is a southern chicken chain with delicious chicken, and I can only assume they expanded up this way now that Mizzou is part of the SEC.
I didn't bring any crochet projects with me this time, but brought along three books—Jim Henson biography, a book about a Cairn terrier, and my study bible—and a puzzle book, plus I'll be able to watch things online on Netflix if I want to. I usually bring more than enough to do, then end up sleeping (or at least trying to) most of the time and it was all a wasted effort. So I tried to cut back a little this time.
So I ask for your prayers that I get to feeling better, back to baseline, but I really need your prayers for something else. By being here, I am most definitely at a heightened risk for catching the flu. Apparently, here they have had sooooooo many cases of the H3 flu (the strain that mutated and isn't much affected by the flu shot) and I am planning on taking even more precautions than normal. I always wear a mask outside of my room, when I walk down the hall for a snack or to treadmill, but this time I am also going to wear gloves, and maybe even a gown. We are also trying to limit how many people come to my room, and that is why I am also not wanting visitors this time. It sucks, but I just don't want to risk anyone coming here, potentially exposing themselves to something, or unknowingly expose me to something, or catch something and bring it home, and then when I come home... you get the idea. It's just for the best, and I'm just trying to be as proactive as possible.
Jarrod and I stopped for some hot toasty sandwiches at Pickleman's on the way in, and it was everything I hoped it would be (as a side note, Washington REALLY needs a hot sandwich place like Pickleman's or Firehouse.) Whenever I head home, I hope I get a chance to eat at Zaxby's on the way out, because I always forget they have one here—Zaxby's is a southern chicken chain with delicious chicken, and I can only assume they expanded up this way now that Mizzou is part of the SEC.
I didn't bring any crochet projects with me this time, but brought along three books—Jim Henson biography, a book about a Cairn terrier, and my study bible—and a puzzle book, plus I'll be able to watch things online on Netflix if I want to. I usually bring more than enough to do, then end up sleeping (or at least trying to) most of the time and it was all a wasted effort. So I tried to cut back a little this time.
So I ask for your prayers that I get to feeling better, back to baseline, but I really need your prayers for something else. By being here, I am most definitely at a heightened risk for catching the flu. Apparently, here they have had sooooooo many cases of the H3 flu (the strain that mutated and isn't much affected by the flu shot) and I am planning on taking even more precautions than normal. I always wear a mask outside of my room, when I walk down the hall for a snack or to treadmill, but this time I am also going to wear gloves, and maybe even a gown. We are also trying to limit how many people come to my room, and that is why I am also not wanting visitors this time. It sucks, but I just don't want to risk anyone coming here, potentially exposing themselves to something, or unknowingly expose me to something, or catch something and bring it home, and then when I come home... you get the idea. It's just for the best, and I'm just trying to be as proactive as possible.
Sunday, December 21, 2014
A Small Christmas Miracle?
Last weekend, Jarrod got sick. He developed a bad cough, along with headaches and stuffy nose-ish symptoms. Luckily, he wasn't running a fever or feeling achy, so it seemed he at least didn't have the flu, which has been going around here lately.
We went into action to keep me from catching it... wiping down switches, door knobs, various surfaces; quarantining ourselves to separate parts of the house—with the exception of eating, Jarrod stayed downstairs and I stayed upstairs; we wore hospital masks when we had to be in the same room with each other; we slept in separate rooms. But...
Despite all of our efforts, I still got sick :(
I started showing symptoms on Tuesday afternoon, and I was so upset about it. We had tried so hard not to get me sick, but it didn't make a bit of difference.
I had my usual bouts of endless coughing that I get when I catch a cold, but this time things were different. By 5:00 on Thursday (only 2 days later), things started to look up for me. My cold-cough subsided, and I honestly wasn't feeling too bad.
I don't know whose prayer list I ended up on, but I am just simply amazed at how good I feel right now. This is just... wow. Aside from my awful couple days of coughing, I've been managing life pretty well. My nose never got that stuffed up, and my exercise tolerance has not dropped off the deep end either, all things that I expect when I get a cold; today, I walked on the treadmill for 30 minutes at 2.8 mph, which is what I was doing pre-cold.
I'm not even a week out from catching my cold, and I can honestly say that I'm confident I might be able to kick this on my own. I was almost for sure that if I caught something again, I'd be going in the hospital, or at least needing antibiotics. But this time? I'm not so sure I need them, at least not yet.
I obviously have been in contact with my doctor about all this, and I picked up the meds they called in for me, but for now I'm holding off on using them.
There was one, maybe two, things I did differently. One, I started using those Cold Eeze lozenges very early on, which is the key to their effectiveness. Since I knew Jarrod was sick, I didn't hesitate to start treating my symptoms as soon as my throat started to feel a tiny bit 'off'. [The Cold Eeze things are one of those home remedies that is like: really? Does this really work? Or do you just think it does? I read up on them, and if you know a little about the pathophysiology of a cold virus, it makes sense that they would work. Zicam is based on the same principle. So maybe I need to just take them every time I start to feel funny.]
The second thing was that I took off two days from work to get over this. Since I was coughing so much, it meant little sleep, so I tried to get it any time I had a small break in coughing. And even if I wasn't sleeping, I was still resting my body so it could work on fighting off the virus.
And prayers. If you've been praying for me, I'd like to say thank you and keep it up. I can't emphasize enough just how different this cold has been, and how amazing I feel right now. I mean, I'm not like 100% better, plus I did lose my voice on Friday (all that coughing really started to irritate my throat something awful) but compared to how I usually feel right about now? It's really great.
We went into action to keep me from catching it... wiping down switches, door knobs, various surfaces; quarantining ourselves to separate parts of the house—with the exception of eating, Jarrod stayed downstairs and I stayed upstairs; we wore hospital masks when we had to be in the same room with each other; we slept in separate rooms. But...
Despite all of our efforts, I still got sick :(
I started showing symptoms on Tuesday afternoon, and I was so upset about it. We had tried so hard not to get me sick, but it didn't make a bit of difference.
I had my usual bouts of endless coughing that I get when I catch a cold, but this time things were different. By 5:00 on Thursday (only 2 days later), things started to look up for me. My cold-cough subsided, and I honestly wasn't feeling too bad.
I don't know whose prayer list I ended up on, but I am just simply amazed at how good I feel right now. This is just... wow. Aside from my awful couple days of coughing, I've been managing life pretty well. My nose never got that stuffed up, and my exercise tolerance has not dropped off the deep end either, all things that I expect when I get a cold; today, I walked on the treadmill for 30 minutes at 2.8 mph, which is what I was doing pre-cold.
I'm not even a week out from catching my cold, and I can honestly say that I'm confident I might be able to kick this on my own. I was almost for sure that if I caught something again, I'd be going in the hospital, or at least needing antibiotics. But this time? I'm not so sure I need them, at least not yet.
I obviously have been in contact with my doctor about all this, and I picked up the meds they called in for me, but for now I'm holding off on using them.
There was one, maybe two, things I did differently. One, I started using those Cold Eeze lozenges very early on, which is the key to their effectiveness. Since I knew Jarrod was sick, I didn't hesitate to start treating my symptoms as soon as my throat started to feel a tiny bit 'off'. [The Cold Eeze things are one of those home remedies that is like: really? Does this really work? Or do you just think it does? I read up on them, and if you know a little about the pathophysiology of a cold virus, it makes sense that they would work. Zicam is based on the same principle. So maybe I need to just take them every time I start to feel funny.]
The second thing was that I took off two days from work to get over this. Since I was coughing so much, it meant little sleep, so I tried to get it any time I had a small break in coughing. And even if I wasn't sleeping, I was still resting my body so it could work on fighting off the virus.
And prayers. If you've been praying for me, I'd like to say thank you and keep it up. I can't emphasize enough just how different this cold has been, and how amazing I feel right now. I mean, I'm not like 100% better, plus I did lose my voice on Friday (all that coughing really started to irritate my throat something awful) but compared to how I usually feel right about now? It's really great.
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
14 Books in 2014
I'm happy to say that last week, Monday night, I reached by goal of reading 14 books this year! I'm pretty much one month ahead of schedule too, so that's cool.
Last year I read 10 books, and this year I upped it to 14. Next year, I'm going to do 15.
Sadly, I didn't have any books that I felt deserved a 5-star rating. Most all of them I rated 3 or 4 stars. Although, looking back over things, the same can be said for the books I read in 2013, too. I'm just a tough critic.
So there, if anyone asks me in the upcoming month about a New Year's resolution, I guess I already have one: to read 15 books next year. Woo hoo!
If you're looking for something to read and find me a trustworthy book recommender, I'll add a few comments at the bottom about the books I read. :)
Crossroads—Written by the same guy who wrote The Shack, it was another story of reflection and thinking about your spiritual health. The Shack is better, though, read that one.
V for Vendetta—The second graphic novel I've read. Also heavily influenced by the same guy who created Watchmen, the illustration was spectacular. The story, however, differs from the movie version, which we are fans of. It was alright.
Bitter Brew—This book was really great! It is about the Busch family, and a well-rounded look at the history and scandal that has plagued their massive beer empire. I highly recommend this one.
Is This Tomorrow—This one was the most surprising. I read it on a whim and turned out really liking it. It's a fairly easy read, the story is about childhood friends dealing with a tragic accident that happened in their childhood but haunts them into their adult lives.
The Hunger Games Trilogy—For me, this series was good, but didn't really blow me away like I expected it to. After reading it, I'm kind of done with the teen trilogy thing for a while. It starts out really strong, but by the end I was just over it. The last book was a drag.
The Fault In Our Stars—Somehow, I only cried once. But this is a solid book with a less-BS approach to disease, dealing with it, and the struggles that loved ones face with you.
Steve Jobs—I've only been slowly reading this ever since it came out three years ago... but his life sure is a fascinating story. It's good, if you like biographies.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time—Really good book about a child with some sort of autistic-spectrum-disorder. The neighbor's dog is killed, and the young boy sets out to solve the mystery.
Orange Is the New Black—Part 'insider's account' of being in prison, part 'platform to tell everyone what she thinks is wrong with the prison system', this started to feel a little snobby by the end. The writer's concern for her fellow inmates started to feel less and less sincere. Also, this book is nothing like the Netflix show; the show is loosely based on it, and I mean very loosely.
Brave New World—I finally read this classic, and just like other futuristic dystopias, it is frightening how much this holds true in the present day. Great book. I never want to live in a brave new world.
Bossypants—Tina Fey's book started strong, simply due to her wit and jokes. The book was written almost like one long standup routine, and by the end it was getting a little boring. Who wants to read a standup sketch? Put it this way, if there's an audiobook version of this with Tina Fey reading it, listen to that. I guarantee it will be better.
Last year I read 10 books, and this year I upped it to 14. Next year, I'm going to do 15.
Sadly, I didn't have any books that I felt deserved a 5-star rating. Most all of them I rated 3 or 4 stars. Although, looking back over things, the same can be said for the books I read in 2013, too. I'm just a tough critic.
So there, if anyone asks me in the upcoming month about a New Year's resolution, I guess I already have one: to read 15 books next year. Woo hoo!
If you're looking for something to read and find me a trustworthy book recommender, I'll add a few comments at the bottom about the books I read. :)
V for Vendetta—The second graphic novel I've read. Also heavily influenced by the same guy who created Watchmen, the illustration was spectacular. The story, however, differs from the movie version, which we are fans of. It was alright.
Bitter Brew—This book was really great! It is about the Busch family, and a well-rounded look at the history and scandal that has plagued their massive beer empire. I highly recommend this one.
Is This Tomorrow—This one was the most surprising. I read it on a whim and turned out really liking it. It's a fairly easy read, the story is about childhood friends dealing with a tragic accident that happened in their childhood but haunts them into their adult lives.
The Hunger Games Trilogy—For me, this series was good, but didn't really blow me away like I expected it to. After reading it, I'm kind of done with the teen trilogy thing for a while. It starts out really strong, but by the end I was just over it. The last book was a drag.
The Fault In Our Stars—Somehow, I only cried once. But this is a solid book with a less-BS approach to disease, dealing with it, and the struggles that loved ones face with you.
Steve Jobs—I've only been slowly reading this ever since it came out three years ago... but his life sure is a fascinating story. It's good, if you like biographies.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time—Really good book about a child with some sort of autistic-spectrum-disorder. The neighbor's dog is killed, and the young boy sets out to solve the mystery.
Orange Is the New Black—Part 'insider's account' of being in prison, part 'platform to tell everyone what she thinks is wrong with the prison system', this started to feel a little snobby by the end. The writer's concern for her fellow inmates started to feel less and less sincere. Also, this book is nothing like the Netflix show; the show is loosely based on it, and I mean very loosely.
Brave New World—I finally read this classic, and just like other futuristic dystopias, it is frightening how much this holds true in the present day. Great book. I never want to live in a brave new world.
Bossypants—Tina Fey's book started strong, simply due to her wit and jokes. The book was written almost like one long standup routine, and by the end it was getting a little boring. Who wants to read a standup sketch? Put it this way, if there's an audiobook version of this with Tina Fey reading it, listen to that. I guarantee it will be better.
Friday, December 5, 2014
Friday Fast 5
Five quick things:
- I learned how to make scrambled eggs this morning! [Ok, you can laugh at me now.] Last month I learned how to make an omelet, and now I know how to not make one. You could say I learned this a little backwards, and I would agree. It's like we're rediscovering eggs at this house—I think we've ate more eggs in the past 2 months than we have in the past 2 years. Omelet night has become a thing here when we want something easy, yet fresh and healthy.
- I got my tree up this week! My mother-in-law helped me with it, especially the ribbon. I decided I wanted to use ribbon this year for a more updated look, and I'm really happy with the way it turned out. However: so... much... glitter... everywhere. The ribbon is pretty, but it sheds glitter more than a lab sheds hair. I'm sure we'll still be finding glitter around the house in June. Josie was trying to help and ended up having a blast attacking the used ribbon spools (she also got glitter all over her muzzle, haha.) At one point she had one in her mouth like a bone and it was hilarious.
- This year is definitely the earliest I've ever gotten my Christmas cards done, the earliest I've ever gotten the tree up and decorated, and the earliest I've ever had the whole house decorated. And I've got a good jump on shopping too, which is nice. More than ever, I'm realizing I just need to do what's right for me. I know it's only the 5th right now, but as it gets closer to the holidays there are always more and more things going on, making it harder to find spare moments of down time. There is no reason for me to go go go and run myself down (and my health) in the process.
- Yesterday Josie knocked off one of my S'mores ornaments—it was the lumberjack guy haha. She wasn't chewing on it, but was just sitting there with it. I got after her, so hopefully she doesn't think the ornaments are toys.
- I discovered the iHeartRadio app this week, and it's been one of those "Why have I never used this before?!" kinds of experiences. You always hear it advertised on stations like 103.3 or K-Hits, but it's basically an app to listen to the local radio stations via the internet, and this week I've started listening to the radio thru the TV. It's quite nice, because my iHome radio in the kitchen has proved a buggy disappointment; for one, the antenna doesn't get a great signal, and it will go from clear sound to fuzzy with no apparent change in the house, and two, it's got a weird thing where after some time of listening, it turns the volume down, while keeping the volume number the same. But if I move my hand right near it, it turns it back up, and as soon as I walk away, it gets quiet again. It's kind of like how your phone dims after inactivity, except it makes absolutely no sense why or how a radio would "dim" the volume, and it makes listening to it quite annoying. I promise you all of this is true and it is weird and makes no sense. Anyways, not all radio stations are on it but the app has been a nice find and I could see it being useful at the gym or anywhere else wifi is available.
.JPG "Christmas tree plus Josie")
Monday, December 1, 2014
It's Advent! And so far, God's gift to me is...
...the gift of feeling better!
It seems that the burst of steroids has helped me out, and I have been able to exercise and work on getting back to where I was.
Last Tuesday, after I had already published my blog post, I was able to return to the gym, walking and finally lifting weights again. I can't do as much as before, but I don't care; I'm lifting weights again! Then on Wednesday, I was able to do the rowing machine for 12 minutes, so that was awesome! I walked on the treadmill here last night, and was able to push my speed to 2.8 for a little while, which is great news too. After a bit it got to be too much, but that's okay. :)
Since the steroids opened up my airways, I was able to exercise more.
Since I've been able to exercise more, I haven't been as short of breath.
Since I haven't been as short of breath, I'm hanging on and hoping to keep pushing off a hospital stay as much as I can.
It seems that the burst of steroids has helped me out, and I have been able to exercise and work on getting back to where I was.
Last Tuesday, after I had already published my blog post, I was able to return to the gym, walking and finally lifting weights again. I can't do as much as before, but I don't care; I'm lifting weights again! Then on Wednesday, I was able to do the rowing machine for 12 minutes, so that was awesome! I walked on the treadmill here last night, and was able to push my speed to 2.8 for a little while, which is great news too. After a bit it got to be too much, but that's okay. :)
Since the steroids opened up my airways, I was able to exercise more.
Since I've been able to exercise more, I haven't been as short of breath.
Since I haven't been as short of breath, I'm hanging on and hoping to keep pushing off a hospital stay as much as I can.
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