Home

I got home yesterday afternoon. On my way home I and got some fresh fruit so I could make a fruit salad when I got home. It hit the spot.

As hard as it was to motivate myself, I got on the treadmill for 27 minutes yesterday. Of course today was even harder because it is the weekend and I am home alone. But I did it! Today, I did 31 minutes. I can already feel my muscles returning. After the treadmill today, my lungs felt great. I think I got some junk out of the left lung. Breathing is smooth and easy right now. I wish this feeling would last.

The one thing I need to focus on when I exercise daily is calorie intake. I loose weight very easily. So as I type this I am eating almond. Nuts are a great source of healthy calories.

Brian is up working on the camp so I am here alone for the weekend. I had to stay home for my Chest PT visits. Plus he is ripping apart the walls and I don't need to be breathing that in. I am thinking of going to my sister's for pasta. This will get me out of the house and I will not need to cook.

Tomorrow, i am debating going to my nephew's 2nd birthday party. I can ride with my sister so I won't need to drive. I hate driving. I just need to see if I can work my Chest PT around going.

Well, things are looking up. Let's hope it keeps getting better.

Good Test

Some times it take a test to let you know you are really feeling better. I just did a breathing test where they test the FEV1 (amount you blow out in first second) and the FEV (full capacity of lungs). I did the best I have in several years. Wow! My highest FEV1 was 44% OR 1.26 LITERS. The FEV was about the same as always. Every test I did, my numbers got better. Normally, my numbers get worse as I go.

Last week, my FEV1s was 35% (1st try), 31%(2nd try) and 32%(3rd try).
Today, In order of tries, 41%, 40%, 41%, 44%, 44%. Yeah!

What does this mean? It means, I had a bunch of junk and inflammation in my lungs and what ever we have been doing in the past week...is working.

I bet I will be out of here tomorrow.

Life in lock down

A lot of people ask what they are doing for me while I am here. The first day or two, they take a bunch of tests to see what is causing the fevers and try to start me on the right IV antibiotics based on my last sputum culture. Then they wait to see if a new culture shows anything. While we wait, I have Chest PT twice a day until I do my 6 minute walk test. This is the test they use to get the perimeters for me to use the treadmill. It also measures how far I can walk in 6 minutes. I went 1754 feet. I have done better but this is still really good with someone with my crappy lungs.

Today, I am still waiting for cultures to come back. I also get to go on the treadmill. This should make me cough up a bunch more crap. I haven't tried to walk the halls today to see how I do. I use 3 liters of oxygen when I exercise. Which helps keep my heart rate at normal levels. I get really short of breath when I cough because it causes inflammation.

Everyone seems to think my lungs sound a little better. My Doctor will be in tonight and will let me know what he thinks. My plan is to escape before the weekend and then do the rest of my treatment at home.

Well, that is it for now.

Bored to tears

As most know, I am stuck in the hospital. I tried the home IVs for 3 weeks and apparently they didn't work. I was very short of breath and kept having fevers. I have been here for 4 nights so far. Does anyone else hate the hospital as much as I do?

My life is very uneventful right now which is the reason I haven't been blogging. I need to find something to kick start things in my life. Health wise summer is always my worst time of year. Yeah, I know that makes no sense.

Our camp is one big construction site so I have a hard time getting excited about going there. I was suppose to go there this weekend.

I am starting to feel a little bit better. I am not short of breath sitting here. The real test will be my 6 minute walk test tomorrow. I need to get off my duff and walk around the hospital or something. This hospital bed is becoming a permanent fixture. That can't be good.

Well, hopefully I will keep feeling better everyday and be able to go home soon. It would be nice to stay healthy for a while and be able to enjoy some of the summer.