Birthdays and Pumpkin Guts

Today is my 19th birthday!! Yay! Finally!

Yesterday, I carved a pumpkin with the boyfriend. My job: gut it. His job: cut it.






The final product:




-Annie

Sinuses Vs. Annie

Guess who's winning...

They are kil.ling me right now! Today was initiation and I had a headache the whole time. :[ It was still wonderful though.

Oh, and last night... ooooh last night. 3 or 4 times between 2-4am, I got up and ran to the bathroom because I thought I was going to throw up. Every time I prayed to God to not let me throw up because I h.ate it and I couldn't be sick for initiation. I had to be there. Eventually I drifted back to sleep until I few minutes before my alarm went off so I got up anyway.

My mom brought albuterol!!! About to do a treatment now. I don't feel like I need it (not coughing a bunch, not short of breath) but I know I need it for the long-term affects.

Love,
One of Sigma Kappa's newest Actives. :]

And now I'm sick...

This is just fantastic. I'm sick now, and it's not even what the boyfriend has. I just picked up something completely different at the same time. klasdjalkxf!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's not a really bad sick, but it came at the wrong time. I woke up the morning with a raw throat and a stopped up nose. I've been coughing like crazy for the past few days but blamed it not on being sick but on my 60% lung functions. Unfortunately, it came right as I ran out of albuterol. Yep. I'm out. Isn't that great?? Thursday night I realized I only had 3 vials left. I used one for that night, Friday morning, and then Saturday morning, trying to stretch it out. My mom is coming to town on Sunday and I've requested multiple times for her to bring me some, so I'm pretty sure she will. If we have some at home.

Also, I have initiation into my sorority tomorrow (the reason my mom, my aunt, and my grandmother are driving in) which is a whole day event and I *cannot* be sick. Grrr!!!!!!

-Annie

He's still sick..

So the boyfriend went to the doctor where they told him that he did NOT have the swine flu (yay!) but he has a bacterial infection of the lung (noo!!!). So, he's still in quarantine from me. And my birthday is in less than a week. That will be the first day I will see him, but I don't even get a happy birthday kiss!! :[ Darn that bacteria.

Today I slammed my left middle finger in a very heavy door. It really hurts, even 5 hours later.

Today was Sigma Kappa new member retreat. All us new gir.ls hung out together with all the actives. It was a TON of fun. I love them so much.

No more Oct. 23, 2009 posts.

-Andrea

Boyfriend + Swine flu =.....

...me freaking out.

The boyfriend woke up this morning and called me. We had been trying to make plans to hang out after my 11am test. He called and said, "I'm not going to be able to see you. I'm really sick."
Symptoms listed online for swine flu:"If you or a member of your family has a fever or high temperature (over 38°C/100.4°F) and two or more of the following symptoms, you may have swine flu:

• unusual tiredness,
• headache,
• runny nose,
• sore throat,
• shortness of breath or cough,
• loss of appetite,
• aching muscles,
• diarrhoea or vomiting."

Boyfriend symptoms: cough, chest pain, chills, fever, achy body, feels like he's going to throw up.

I'm thinking he's right in his guess of the swine flu. He's not one to admit that he's sick even when he is, so the fact that he called me to tell me he was sick and is going straight home and to the doctor is HUGE. "This one has knocked me to my knees" he said.

BLESSING: we were both super busy yesterday and therefore didn't get to see each other at all. I'm not super worried I have it too.

The part that bothers me the most is when he's sick, my natural "motherly" instinct kicks in and all I want to do is help him get better. I want to bring him soup, change the temperature when he needs it, etc. Nurse him back to health, but I can't. I have to stay away from him when he needs help the most.

*sigh*

I feel kinda selfish staying away. I UNDERSTAND it's for my health and that he doesn't find it selfish because he wants me to be well, blah blah blah. Doesn't change the fact that he's sick and I can do anything about it.

There is no confirmed diagnosis yet, but he's sick with SOMETHING bad and it sounds like the swine flu. Awesome. Poor boyfriend. :[

-Andrea

Dr.'s Appt

Not in much of a talking/typing/blogging mood, but I said I would post after my next doctor's appointment with updates:

FEV1 is a little low, but nothing to be alarmed with yet. ~64% of predicted.
The peak flow meter was high though! 505
And my weight was up ~4 1/2 pounds. Almost a third of the way to gaining the freshman 15.

They didn't talk about my PFT results too much because they were excited about the weight and my lower scores aren't yet a red flag. My reasons for the lower FEV1 are: less exercise and exposed to more smoke on a weekly basis.

I've had a really really long day, so hitting the sack pretty soon here.

Night !

Hope from a glowing cat

Reneau, my lab mom from when I worked in a research lab, visited New Orleans the last few days and posted this on her facebook:


"this is MR. GREEN GENES.....lsuhsc-new orleans scientists cloned the green fluorescent protein i use for my cells into the genes of the cat!!!! this type of knockout gene therapy is being used to help discover treatments for cystic fibrosis and diabetes!!"


Reassurance that people are working to help us. And are making progress.

-Andrea

The gym, and such.

I was supposed to have an Intramurals soccer game today, but our competition didn't show. That frustrated me because I was really pumped to play soccer. I've missed it so much! So, already dressed for physical activity, I decided to go to the gym. *huge sigh*

Needless to say, I still don't like running. Sorry, but I don't. But I still went to the gym. On my way to the track, I glance into our blue gym and see some guy in the very back kicking a soccer ball against the wall. I shuffled through 2 different basketball games to get to this guy. I called him over. "Hey, do you want someone to just kick the ball around with?" "No." Wow. Shot down. "No, I mean, my game was canceled and I just really want to play." He half-smiled and nodded and gave me the ball. "Your game cancel?" That's when I understood he was a foreign exchange student and didn't quite understand me, not a really rude kid. He looked like he was from the India area, but it was hard to tell. We spoke very little, but ran drills (ugh) that involved long sprints (UGH!!). After a few minutes of that, I was tired so I sat and stretched (that's what all the good soccer players do when they don't want to admit they're tired. "I just need to stretch, hold on.") After that, we just repeatedly kicked the ball at the gym back wall for about 10 minutes. He finally said "I think I'm done." I shook his hand, said it was nice to meet him, and watched him walk out.

I have no idea what is name was or where we was from. We spoke very little, but communicated very well. It's crazy how sports can connect people from across the globe together. After that, I called the boyfriend to see if he wanted to work out, but he was going later with a friend. So it was just me... and the track. *siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh*

I was already a little tired from playing soccer, but I ran. I am not sure how many laps around this track is a mile (I've heard 10, I've heard 16) but I ran 12 in 7 minutes (which makes me think it's 16...). I sat on the track afterwards and coughed so much and so loud, I had the rest of the gym staring at me (it's a raised track above the part of the gym with all the weights and machines). I'm pretty sure everyone thought I was about to keel over.

I can't run very far yet, but I'm trying. I am. I pushed myself today, and that makes me angry that I can only run that far. I'll keep running...

Oh, and just as a side note, I was so zoned out from running and walking back to my apartment that I tried to open my apartment door by using the clicker that unlocks my car. *sigh*

-Andrea

Win-Win situation

Today, I walked into a hair salon to get my (really long) hair chopped off. "I'd like it gone, please." The lady washes my hair, wraps it in a towel, and sits me down in her hair-cutting chair. She combs it out, thinks for a minute, and asks me a question I wasn't expecting: "Do you want to donate to Locks of Love?" I reply with a question of my own: "How short would that make my hair?" She points to my shoulder. "Around here." "Cut it."

So today, I donated 10 inches of my long, brown hair so some child will have a wig. The nice lady evened out what was left of my hair after exclaiming "Wow! You still have a lot of hair left!" *HUGE sigh of relief*


I'll be honest, that moment when she was adjusting the ponytail to the right length, right before she cut it, I got nervous. "What am I going to look like?" "This is totally outside of my comfort zone!" "What if I look funny?!" Then, once she started cutting it and it was a no-going-back situation, my thoughts cleared and I realized that the kids who are getting my hair, the kids who go through Chemo, are asking the same questions and saying the same things. "What am I going to look like? "This is totally outside of my comfort zone!" "What if I look funny?!" Then I knew I had done the right thing, and whether I loved my hair or hat.ed it with a passion, I helped someone else.

Turns out I *LOVE* my hair. So we both win. :]

-Andrea


From a few inches longer than this....

......to this!! 11+ inches cut off!

Article day

This was a great, quick article. The sinus infection part made me laugh; me with chronic sinusitis. And the percentage of people who don't stay home when they're sick makes me FEEL sick.
LINK

5 Reasons Why It's a Good Idea to Call in Sick

Do you dread calling in sick? Whether it's the fear of a judgmental boss or just concerns about missing out on important happenings, health experts want to put you at ease. There are times when making the call is a must. Confused about whether staying home is a good idea? Here are five signs that a sick day is in order...

According to a recent Glamour.com poll, only 21 percent of readers say they make a point to stay home when they're sick. The rest of you do sometimes or not at all.

Guys! The world will not end if you stay home and a.) rest and recover so you can get well again, and b.) prevent the spread of your germs to others.

But, I know it can be confusing about whether a sick day is in order--especially at 6 a.m. Here are five signs, from the experts at WebMD, that you need to make the call to your boss and head back to bed:

1. If you wake up feel pretty icky with a sore throat and the sniffles (which weren't there yesterday). Health experts say that the first few hours/days of a virus tend to be the most contagious, so spare your co-workers your germs and keep your sneezy self at home until the following day.

2. If you're taking medications that may (even slightly) impair your ability to do a good job. Whether it's a prescription medication or just over-the-counter cold meds that makes you feel like a space cadet, if the medicine you're taking is impairing you in any way, it's best to stay home.

3. If you have a bad sinus infection. Experts say that sinus infections can cause yellow or green nasal discharge, jaw pain, facial pain, and headaches--all of which are a major blow to concentration. Your best bet? Stay home and use your neti pot, and maybe venture out, but only to see your doctor.

4. If you have pink eye. The majority of "pink eye" is viral and clears up on its own in about 24 to 48 hours. Other cases are bacterial pink eye, and you need antibiotic eye drops from your doc. Both, however, are extremely contagious, so unless you want dirty looks from your office mates, better stay home!

5. Bad back pain. You may feel like a wimp calling in sick because your back hurts, but don't! Experts say sitting at a desk all day can actually aggravate your back and make the pain worse. Instead, after a mega back spasm, spend the day at home taking it easy.

Do you abide by these "rules"? Or do you tend to dread calling in sick?

-Annie

A Concert Epiphany

I went and listened to the Cypress String Quartet yesterday when they visited my college. If you ever get the chance to hear them, do it. They are fantastic. That's not the point of this entry though. While I was listening to their concert, I did a bit of thinking too. Music does that too me. I contemplate. So as I'm sitting there, thinking about nothing in particular, I was hit with something big for me: I get to listen to this beautiful music. (Deep, right?) I started thinking of all the great things I get to experience in life: this music, soccer, friends/family, my puppy, sorority life, college, ETC.! Then I tried listing things I didn't get to do because CF held me back: very few soccer games, a few classes (OH DARN....), a birthday party here and there, Thanksgiving dinner one year...

When comparing the lists, I realized my life is not as affected by CF as I like to imagine it is during my pity parties. Like the reaction when I told one of my friends: "Oh no! I knew a girl who had that. She almost lived through her second lung transplant... she was 17 and a week from graduating high school..." Newsflash Andrea- that isn't you. At all. You're a few weeks away from being 19, in college, and are quite healthy!

This recently epiphany, the looming doctor's visit on Oct. 20, and a recent desire to work out have contributed to my recent good health. And I'm excited to announce that it should stay that way. I'm running, working out, piggin' out, sleeping lots (usually), and am overall pretty happy about life and the stuff that's in it. And a positive attitude is a large part of our overall health!! And it doesn't hurt that today is Friday.

-Andrea (Annie)

We can get away with mur.der....

So really, this probably shouldn't be funny, but I literally "LOL"ed, if you will.

From this article, came this quote: "A second man, cystic fibrosis sufferer Brian Shivers, 44, from Magherafelt, Co Derry, has also been charged with the killi.ngs. He was granted bail because of his condition."

I'm sorry? What was that last line? "granted bail because of his condition." BECAUSE the man has CF, he doesn't spend the rest of his life in jail (probably like his accomplice will) because of CF. Let's just make a list here of the good things about CF:

• most of us are encouraged to eat lots so we can gain weight
• some people get to skip out on gym classes in middle and high school (not me though)
• we can get away with mu.rder!
  

How crazy.
-Andrea

Nasal Vaccines

I heard a rumor awhile back that if someone gets the Nasal Vaccines for the flu/swine flu, that I (as a CF patient) cannot come in contact with them for ~2 weeks due to a risk of getting to flu. I know I'm not "allowed" to get the Nasal Vaccines myself, but I can't find evidence of the risk of getting it from someone else.

This is the best I've found so far:
"Can people receiving the nasal-spray flu vaccine LAIV (FluMist®) pass the vaccine viruses to others?

In clinical studies, transmission of vaccine viruses to close contacts has occurred only rarely. The current estimated risk of getting infected with vaccine virus after close contact with a person vaccinated with the nasal-spray flu vaccine is low (0.6%-2.4%). Because the viruses are weakened, infection is unlikely to result in influenza illness symptoms since the vaccine viruses have not been shown to mutate into typical or naturally occurring influenza viruses."

Source

Maybe Ronnie or CG can help me out on this?

Needless to say, I've gotten the regular flu shot and will be getting the H1N1 shot ASAP. But I'm just worried about everyone else putting me at a higher risk than I should be at.

-Annie