The Day After

Today is the day after we all gave thanks, surrounded ourselves with loved ones and filled our bellies with delightful food. So what does that mean? It means the hustle and bustle of the holiday season has begun. During this busy, time let's not forget everything that we were so thankful for yesterday.

I had a great Thanksgiving Day. Brian and I headed to my sister, Tonya's house. The food was great but the company greater. During the meal, we had a lot of great laughs. Nothing was rushed. Everyone just went with the flow. I think it was the most relaxing Thanksgiving Day that I have had in a long time. Of course, I couldn't help but laugh when the meal done the woman were in the kitchen cleaning and all the men were on the couch watching football. How typical!

For me, today the festivities continue. Brian and I have been invited to another Thanksgiving day celebration and then I plan to take ride to visit Kim and Diana before Diana heads back to Ohio.

I am so amazed how fast a weeks vacation flies by. In a few more days, I'll be back to the grind. Trying to get everything done in a day that needs to be done. I was really hoping to be rested before going back to work but I have not slept well the past few nights. So I guess I'll go chill out.

Thankful #10

Today, I am thankful for all my amazing friends. I don't want to name any names because I know I will forget someone very important to me. I am truly blessed with a great circle of friends. The out pouring of love that I have received since I found out that I needed a double lung transplant has been incredible.

I have friends from all over. Friends from childhood, grade school, high school, college, my home community, my current community and my work place. I have also blessed with a great community of Internet friends that I have met from cystic fibrosis and transplant networking sites that I have belong to since 2005.

Each one of my friends bring something unique in to my life and I am glad that I am friends with each and everyone of you!

Here are a few fun pictures!

Thankful #9

Today, I am thankful for my wonderful sisters. They are not just my sisters but they are my best friends. I know if I need anything either Tonya or Melissa would do what ever they could to help me out.

Tonya is such a beautiful person inside and out. I know I can tell her anything and she is not going to judge me. I hope she feels the same way. I love that she is willing to take a day off from work to sit at a boring transplant appointment with me to make sure that I am telling the doctors everything they need to know.

Melissa makes me proud. She has come so far in her life given the challenges that she has had in front of her. She is always willing to go out of her way to help me out. I love that she is willing to bring my bags of groceries in to my house while it is pouring out and she does it with a smile. I also love that she will come by the hospital (which is out of her way) on her way to work and bring me drinkable coffee.

I know whatever I am faced with my sisters will always be right by my side to help me get through it. I love you both more than I could ever express.

Thankful #8

Today, I woke up not really thinking about what I was thankful for today but while I was watching the Today Show it hit me. Today, I am thankful for my mom and dad.

You are probably wondering why this hit me while watching the Today Show. Well, it was the story about the 5 year old missing girl in NC that was found dead and her mom is in jail for selling her for child slavery. As I was watching this report, I could feel my blood starting to boiling and then they announce that the mom is in protective custody in jail, not just to protect her from the other inmates but because she is also pregnant. Wow! I started shaking from anger.

Okay now back to why I am thankful for my parents.

Reason #1: They have never given me or my sisters anything thing but unconditional love.

Reason #2: They would give any one of their daughters the shirt off their backs if that was what we needed.

Reason #3: When we found out that I had Cystic fibrosis at age 12, they never treated me any differently than my sisters. They never held me back because of my CF. I think it only make them push me harder.

Reason #4 They are not only my parents but they are also my friends.

I could go on and on about why I am thankful for my mom and dad but I don't want to get too sappy. I have been blessed to have such great parents. After seeing so many reports on the TV about ungrateful and unloving parents, it makes me see how lucky I am to have the parents I have. I love you mom and dad!

Thankful #5, 6 & 7

I am not on the computer much on the weekend so I didn't have a chance to blog my #5 and #6 so today I will do those along with #7. Drumroll please...Today I am thankful for Tucker, Tess and Ruby. These are my adorable german short haired pointers. I love them for putting a smile on my face everyday. The each have their own unique personality. Tucker is goofy and fun. Tess is the serious hunter that loves to give kissses directly on the lips. Ruby wants all people to herself. She is an attention hog. So here are a few pictures of my #5, 6 and 7.


Tess

Tucker

Ruby and her pups

Ruby

Tucker

All three and Brian

Tess

Thankful #4

After reading http://runsickboyrun.blogspot.com today, it was easy to write about what I am Thankful for today. I am thankful for Mr. Brian E. Briggs AKA my husband. We recently celebrated out 10th wedding anniversary but from our first official date, I knew we where meant to be together.

We have been through so many things together and we never lost faith in our love. Anyone that is married or has been married knows it is not always a walk in the park. No matter what we have faced we have tackled it together. My favorite thing to hear is "Brian loves you so much." He wears his love for me on his sleeve which can make him very vulnerable at times. I wish I showed the rest of the world how much I love him as easy as he shows his love for me.

I remember clearly the first conversation we had about my cystic fibrosis. I brought up that I had CF and his replied "That doesn't change the way I feel about you. I like you for you." He was the first boyfriend that didn't run away. Five years later, we where happily married.

Thankful #3

Today was an easy day to come up with something that I am thankful for. Good Health Days! Anyone with CF or a chronic disease can tell you how important these days are. It gives you hope that there are more good days to come.

Today, I woke up and I knew it was going to be a good health day. I was up at 5:30am and felt rested. That is a great feeling. I drank a cup of coffee. Did my albuterol and put my oxygen (3L) on to get on the treadmill. I went down stairs and did 7 minutes on the treadmill at 2.5. I felt great. I was not winded or exhausted. I actually felt energized.

So today, I am extremely thankful for good health days.

Lot on my mind today

I felt I needed to blog to get stuff off my chest. I am going to just post random things that are on my mind so I can stop thinking about them.

*Insurance!!!! Our insurance at work is going through some big changes. Right now I have no idea what these changes are. I am stressing out. I cannot be worried about my health insurance.

*PT! I just had a physical therapist come do an assessment on me. I cannot believe how things have changed physically. I walked on the treadmill for 5 minutes at 1.8 speed. To me, that is just pathetic! Our goal for this week is to repeat this 2 time a day every day and try to increase to 3 times a day.

*Iron! I am still very tired. I just want my iron levels to go up! This sucks.

*Vacation! I decided today to take the entire week of Thanksgiving off. I didn't take any time off during my IVs to rest so I am taking time off for Thanksgiving. I feel it is well deserved.

*Winter! I am dreading winter already. I hate the late of sun light. I hate all the colds and flues and germs. I hate the cold and snow. Can we just skip winter and go right to spring?

*Cabin Fever! I just realized I have not left my house since Halloween. How depressing is that?

Here are some good things:
*I got my H1N1 shot
*Diana is coming home the week of Thanksgiving
*I am done my IV antibiotics and Bactrum as of today
*It is nice out today
*My lungs feel better than before I started the IVs

Though my post sounds bleak, I am still looking at things positively. At least I have insurance. I am on the right track to get back in to physical shape. I got all my flu vaccines so in 2 weeks I can feel more comfortable leaving the house. Winter is only 4 months long. And the best part...in a week and 1/2 I will be on vacation.

Thankful #2

Today, I am thankful for our armed forces. I am thankful for all the men and women that put their lives on the line everyday to keep us safe. Enough said. Happy Veterans Day!

Thankful #1

I am going to follow the trend of the month and try to post everyday until Thanksgiving. My daily post will contain one thing that I am thankful for. These are not going to be in any order, so don't get your panties in a twist if you are not first.

Today, I am thankful for my home health nurse, Ann. She is so dedicated to her profession. She truly care about each and everyone of her patients. She often goes above and beyond her job description. She comes in my house every day with a smile on her face. She patiently sits and waits for me while I finish up whatever I am doing. She will check and make sure my dogs have food and water. She spends a few minutes every day giving each one of my dogs attention, which they absolutely love. Last winter, I have to leave for an appointment. She would not let me clean my car off. She went and removed all the snow off my car. She also won't let me get away with anything, health wise that is. If I have been really sluggish or running fevers on consecutive days, she puts a call into my CF nurse as soon as she gets to her car. She tells me all the time, I am not allowed to get sick on her watch. She comes everyday and pounds on my chest for an hour. She never complains that this is not part of her job. Trust me other home health nurses have. She pounds away for an hour while entertaining me with stories. So for these and many other reasons, today I am thankful for Ann!

That time again-long post

I just realized I haven't posted in a while. I am such a bad blogger. I have no excuse.

Lots have happened since the last time I blogged.

• Brian and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary. We went out for a nice dinner together. He bought me a dozen of red roses which are my favorite and was also the flower of our wedding. It was a great day.
• I started running unusually high fevers like 103.2 high. The fevers continued for days so I called the Doctor. With the help of my port, I started home IVs the same day. My home health nurse came and accessed my port at 2:00pm and my home medical company had my IV meds here by 5:00pm. Got to love home health care!
• When ever I go on IVs they run a bunch of blood test to see what is going on. Of course my white blood count and inflammation proteins were high. That is no surprise. My hemoglobin level were low. Levels should be over 12 and mine were 7.7. So more blood work ordered to check my iron. Iron levels should be 65-125 and mine....12! Not good. So I am on iron supplements 3 times a day to try to bring up my levels. If that doesn't work, I'll need to get some IV iron. I have not heard good things about that so trying my best to be good about taking my iron pills and eating high iron foods.
• Monday, after a week of IVs and bactrum, I started running a fever again. This time 101.7. I was threatened to be hospitalized but said give me a day to see if it goes away. It did! 5 days no fever.
• I have had horrible headaches for the past 2 weeks. A lot of things could be contributing to theses: IVs, low, iron, dehydration, low blood pressure, stress from coughing. Take your pick.
• Today, I am missing a bridal shower. I really wanted to go! Unfortunately, my health did not agree. I just can't physically drive for 4 hours. I am very weak. I am sure my iron levels are not helping the cause. Plus, I need my nursing visit which couldn't be scheduled around the shower.
• I got a call at 8:00am this morning from my sister to tell me that my Nana had a heart attack last night and is in ICU. What great news to wake up to. Of course, she is also 2 hours away from me. I am hoping they move her to CMMC, which is only an hour away from me so I could go see her. She is not coherent. She didn't even know who her daughter was. I want to call her but I don't know if I could handle it if she didn't know who I was.
• I am scheduled to get my H1N1 vaccine on Tuesday. I haven't been able to have it because of my fevers and IVs. My home health nurse has been saving it for me. She is great. She also saved a regular flu shot for my husband. The best piece is she comes right to my house to give them to us and no waiting in line!
• A CF friend that I met online several years ago passed this week. This hit me hard. She was just starting to be evaluated for a transplant. She went down hill to fast and passed. It is scary how fast CF can take a life.

I guess I didn't realize how much I had on my mind. No wonder I have had headaches. My IVs are scheduled to end on Monday. So this weekend, my plan is to take it easy so my body can rest and catch up. Please keep my Nana in your thought and prayers.