The Joys of having CF

The Joys of having CF

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Slowing Down

There's a lot to update on so let's get started. 
First, I'm still on my steroid regiment for my sinus polyps. This has been for almost three weeks now. It was going good at first, then i developed a cough...bad cough. Coughing tons of junk up. The only thing I could think of was maybe I had some kind of infection and the steroid just irritated it. So for the last few weeks I've been dealing with that. 
Then comes last week. Monday i woke up at 3 a.m. throwing up every little bit. I figured I was just coughing up so much stuff that even though I tried to spit it all out, it was affecting my stomach. 
Any ways after Monday I just wasn't myself. But I went back to work...very weak, not feeling good, not eating much. Wednesday was a bit better. Then Thursday I woke up at 5:30 for work, and I had a huge shooting pain in my upper right shoulder area. It was so bad I could hardly get out of bed. After I got up I couldnt stop coughing and I started coughing up blood. Not just steaks, chunks. That's when I knew, this isn't right. I called into work, called my doctor, and was able to get an appointment. 
Going into this appointment I had no idea of what was going to happen, I kind of just wanted to make sure nothing worse was wrong. I got to the doctor, did blood work, did X-Ray, and saw my local nurse practitioner(the most wonderful lady ever). 
She then came into the room and said, "your white counts are a little high, there's new spots on the X-Ray, and I don't feel comfortable sending you home. Are you okay with staying?" 
My mom and I looked at each other, and I said "yeah". What am I going to say, no? 
This is a part of CF...things unexpectedly happen. You don't control it. So I came into the hospital, Friday I went down for a PICC line. I was promised the procedure would only take 10 minutes. Since last time was 3+ hours. They told me they have this new doctor, and he also specializes in veins. I was apprehensive but was on board. When I went down for the procedure once they started they discovered I had a blockage in my arm(likely the issues from last time), so he asked me if I was ok if he fixed it. I said of course...and he assured me it wouldn't hurt...so then I had an angioplasty. It worked, didn't hurt, and after that the PICC took 10 minutes. Start to finish less than an hour. The doctor felt bad and said if I would have had an angioplasty a few times before I probably wouldn't have that issue. He was amazing. 
So here I am, it is Tuesday night. Waiting to hear back on culture results(possibly tomorrow) then I get to come home on home IV's for 2-3 weeks. We've been trying to get the correct IV meds, and the best plan of attack before I bust out. 
We've also adjusted a few medicines that are resistant of a few bugs I'm growing. 
I've been extremely happy with my hospital stay, the care and concern is amazing, especially for not being a CF clinic. They really care about making sure the best plan is in place all the way around. 
I can honestly say I haven't really felt this good in months. I must have had something growing and just didn't realize. I am so excited to continue the next few weeks and get my lungs healthy. 
And in honor of CF awarness month I made it 10 months without an admission. 
In the end as I finish writing tonight, I really think this is Gods sign to me to stop and slow down. The last few months have been a little crazy, and at some point you have to just slow down, and I think this is Gods secret plan...and its exactly what I'm going to do. I'm stopping, relaxing, slowing down, and focusing on my health. My number one priority. 
I will update soon! Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers! 
~God Bless