Ahh Mondays

It's Monday once again, but who cares?? I'm still on break! Life's good.

So I don't think I'm getting sick (*crosses fingers*). My GI junk is better. Who knows what that was, but I'm glad it's over. However, my cough has steadily gotten worse. Not really bad, but I can tell. It's more productive and wet, not that dry cough or the clearing of the throat that all CFers do. But that serious "lung" cough. It came to my attention, days after it should have, that my boyfriend's dad thinks he may have had a return of his walking pneumonia. WHAT?! Contagious or not, I don't think I need to be around it. I learned this after being there 3 days in a row. "This cough just won't go away!" he says. akjsdlakdf then why am I over here?! They are normally really good about remembering my "issues" but this blew me away. However, I think it may be more contributed to his smoking habits than pneumonia. Either way, I'm a little bit upset.

The Indy Bowl is today! Louisiana Tech is not playing this year, but I'm still going. Gig 'em Aggies!

I can hardly wait to get back to college-town and have the gym be open again so I can go running inside. It's very obvious how much running affects my health, but I cannot run outside. It just doesn't work. I have no idea how I did it for four years in the cold (and 14 in the heat!).

2009 is almost over!! I'll do a year's recap soon.

-Annie

Confession

A tradition that appeared unintentionally, and is still going strong: I forget enzymes on with Christmas breakfast.

It just happens! I do it every year and don't notice it until it's too late. However, I DID take them with Christmas lunch, which is very very important. I did not eat dinner this year, a twist on the normal routine. I still felt full. Well, kinda. I did feel full, but it was a "bad" full. That full where you can eat, but your body is going to h.ate you for it later. Either way, my body is mad at me today for whatever reason. Something's wrong. It seems to be way worse than just missing breakfast enzymes. Something bigger. I'm hoping I'm wrong and something just didn't agree with me, because I held Carter for over an hour yesterday and I really can't be "sick" sick (as opposed to "CF" sick). Aside from urgent bathroom runs (sparing you the details, you're welcome), I feel fine. My GI gurgles much more loudly than usual, but no other serious symptoms. I figured that if I have a stomach bug, I'd be throwing up too. I have a lot planned these next few days! I can't be "sick" sick!!! *sigh*

I usually don't feel well around the holidays (change of patterns, visitors, change in eating habits, large portions, less sleep, etc.). But this... ugh this is annoying.

We'll see what happens with all this junk.

Merry Post-Christmas!

-Annie

"No Excuses!"

And yet... still not running. And my running buddy just left for Illinois. *sigh*. The cold outside takes my feeble motivation and stomps it into the ground. And the stationary bike was put up in the closet to make room for family. So I sit.

I've noticed a change in my level of coughing, and so has my mom. THAT'S NOT GOOD because now she's worried I'm either getting sick or CF sick and I have a Dr. appt in January. Fantastic. I'll be up and running starting around Jan 4 (since I'll be back in college-town) but it's going to be another tough start from the beginning.

On a lighter note, it's Christmas Eve! Today will be a good day with going to the grandparents' for the traditional pizza lunch and then to a family friends' house where every year they host the after-dinner party. The dinner was at another family friends' house, but they've had a busy year with 3 weddings and sick parents, so no annual Christmas Eve chili dinner. So the after-party people this year are picking up the slack and serving dinner too. Life's pretty great around here around this time of year.

So my dog is strange sometimes. In her crate, she has a water bowl that is attached to the metal door. We fill it every night. We also always give her her pink blanket (that her birth owner gave her as a parting gift). It seems by every morning, the pink blanket is put in the water. And not usually just a corning, but stuffed in there. And this morning, I think she tried to take a bath in it, and was pretty successful. One side of her face, her belly, her tail, and all four paws were sopping wet. And as soon as I let her out of her crate, she heads for my bed. *sigh*

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a great morning. :]

-Annie

Rough Running Day

Ouch. Today was a very difficult day for running for me. I went out with Alissa to go run, but I didn't make it very far. Bad bad bad...

I think it was a combination of a few things:

1- I had NO concept of how far a mile was on this track. No markings or anything.

2- It's cold outside! More importantly, it's OUTSIDE!

3- Talking/laughing while running

4- Running with someone who is way better at running. We probably started off faster than I normally do.

5- Hills.

All of these things put together resulted in me coughing until I felt like keeling over and me saying "Alissa, I HAVE to sit down." My lungs felt like they were getting punched. My legs, however, felt fine. Ugh. If it's not one thing, it's another, right?

But, on the plus side, that difficult run produced a lot of mucus. Those really good coughs got plenty up and out, believe me. So while I was disappointed with my short distance, the ultimate mission was still accomplished, so I guess it evens out.

The rest of the day was pretty good though! I saw New Moon with my Dad, and it was good even with the movie stopping at a very tense part. Stopping = the film stops, the lights come on, and the screen moves back to the "pre-movie" position. This was happening right after Jacob cuts his hair and says, "This is me keeping that promise Bella. Now go home." As he turns to walk away, the movie cuts. Classic Dad, he says loudly in the theater, "Well that seems like an odd way to end the movie." The lady 2 rows in front of us laughs even louder. Oh Dad.

This evening was pretty epic, I must say. It was the Christmas scavenger hunt with my friends from high school!! We all met up to eat a cheap buffet dinner (we are broke college kids after all) and then go to our starting/ending house, form teams, get the list, and GO GO GOOOOO!!!! The list included things like: the Black Santa, snow, kissing someone under the mistletoe, caroling to someone, employee in an elf hat, ghetto Christmas decorations, Christmas underwear, etc. We had to take pictures of us with this stuff (and a video of the caroling) and meet back at the house by 9:30. It was a crazy and fun night!

And now, as I do my last dose of TOBI for this 28 days on (and smile!), I say goodnight!

-Annie

Perfect Timing!

I had been thinking all morning about how much I was dreading running in my neighborhood, or even outside at all. Running outside, in the cold, on hills, by myself, with shin splints is not my ideal running conditions. I was beginning to get discouraged about running over break, and was about to surrender and only use the stationary bike. But, you know how God likes to step in an take a seemingly hopeless situation and make it all work out? TA-DA!! I *just* got a text message from a dear friend of mine, Alissa, who enjoys running (well, at least it looks that way since she runs all the time!). We have played soccer together for many years. She just text me asking if we could have running dates while we were both in from college. YES PLEASE!!! So Alissa, I know you occasionally creep on my blog, and if you are reading this: THANK YOU!!

I think today, unless we work out a running date, I'm sticking to the stationary bike today to give my legs one more day of healing.

Oh look! Another text. Running date set for tomorrow. :] Love her!

-Annie

Shin Splints: You win... for now

Ok. Today I'm taking a break. My shins are so incredibly painful. Walking across campus and back felt like I was having my leg broken with every step. Plus my calves are still in constant "cramp" mode. I'm going to ice my legs when I get home (HOME home!) and run again on Saturday, Sunday at the latest. We have a stationary bike at the house, so I'll do some of that tomorrow if I still can't run. Hopefully it won't hurt quite so much. Besides, my mom is always a huge help when my legs are in pain, so going home for Christmas break will really help me out.

Speaking of, I need to pack!! I haven't even started packing up the apartment, and the boyfriend will be here soon to load up Dora (my car) for me! I haven't started yet because I'm waiting for a friend, a marine, to call me back on if he can help me (or get someone else) move our Sigma Kappa letters inside over break. They are WAY too heavy for me to move.

Oh, and my biology test today? Piece of cake.

-Andrea

Three days strong

I am so proud of myself. I can't even describe it. I don't necessarily feel "better" yet, but I know I'm doing good things for myself by running every day. In between two classes (tests) I have in the same building, a gym to be exact, I took the initiative to go running in their indoor track. How convenient! I ran roughly the same time as yesterday, which I'm proud of. Today's run was really hard, so a consistent time is good. My legs are KI.LLING me and my shin splints decided to return. I had to talk myself through the run, but I got it done. I'm already making arrangements for running over break (which starts tomorrow!) but it will be done outside! This cold air and hills are difficult! But I will do the best I possibly can.

Trying to stay strong!

-Annie

YAY!!!

I ran a 10:14 mile today! That's a whole minute faster than yesterday!! That was all I could do, but a faster mile > a longer run, at least for now. I'm so proud of myself!!! Going running again tomorrow before lunch, instead of swimming later.

My legs HATE me right now though. They feel like they are in constant "cramp" mode but I'm pushing through it.

:]]]]]]

-Annie

It's definitely time for an update!

Hey friends, family, fibros, cystas, and strangers-

Here are a few things I have to update on:

1- Both of my brothers are officially CF tested and CF free. Neither are carriers.

2-Mom told me my other gene... i'm a DeltaF508 and 1078 Deletion T.

3- I went swimming again today, but didn't do much swimming because....

4- My legs are tired from the 1.5 mile I ran today! It was for class, but running is running!

5- I ran my mile in 11:15 (with walking only one lap) and my 1.5 mile in 16:28.

I'm really really proud of myself. I wanted to keep roughly an 11 min/mile pace and I did! I wanted to go running on Monday but the boyfriend went without me because he had evening plans. I was in class. Lame. I'll be running with them tomorrow and I might skip the swimming and go running after class on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the inside gym where I have class instead. This might work out! I really am ready to be back in shape. My VO2 max rating is "Poor". I learned that after my run today. *shrugs* Got to start somewhere!

I think my prof was impressed that I was running so successfully. She asked me afterwards how I felt, and I was great! A little salty, but great. :]

WHOA!!! Listen to me?? It almost sounds like... no.. can't be... that I like running?!! Maybe not "like" but it's up from "dislike with a burning passion from deep within."

We'll see where it goes from there, but I'm kinda excited. If I start enjoying running, my health might just make a leap in the right direction even faster. I kinda hope so. :]

Almost time for Christmas break! Only a few more days!

-Annie

Weekend!!

It's Friday folks and that means the weekend is starting!! I haven't been feeling too great today, but hopefully that will pass in the next hour or so. I have a party tonight!! It's a gi.rls-PJ-game night-party at one of my sorority sister's apartment. It's going to be fun! I can't wait. Hopefully I'll be feeling at the top of my game!

I went swimming on Tuesday! I'm pretty proud of myself. I'm also going tomorrow morning (ugh) and hopefully will start working out with the boyfriend and his friends regularly. They go to the gym MWF and swimming TR. Whew. 5 days of workout, but it's what I need! So, swimming. I started swimming a little bit when I had to quit suddenly thanks to that chlorine burn. And not the usual burn that last a few seconds. Oh no. This was chlorine that decided to explore every nook and cranny of my sinuses. It BURNED. So I stopped swimming for a bit and ran in the water, which is way harder than it sounds. While the guys swam laps, I ran the same distance trying to beat them. In the end, I tried swimming again and it wasn't so bad. Hopefully it will work out.

My gym days will be spent running and either doing weights or machines or both. And then abs. I would love to have the toned body I had last year, and all during my high school soccer seasons. I've lost a significant amount of muscle, and I h.ate that. I also h.ate my lost of lung capacity. I was right about these kines classes getting me motivated. It's just what I needed!

Once I get my routine set and I'm actually sticking to it, I'll update here again on it.

-Annie

Winter Quarter; Day 4

This is the fourth day of 8am classes.... and I love it. No, I haven't lost my mind. I don't love waking up early, but I love being done early! Wednesdays and Fridays, I'm done by 9:15am. How awesome is that??! I go back to the apartment, clean, do homework, nap, run, anything! Tuesday/Thursday I'm done by noon and Mondays I have a noon-3 lab. I love being a "stay-at-home" mom (without the mom part). It's fantastic. I'm surprisingly productive.

I think my two Kinesiology classes will be the key for me to get back into running. With both classes pinpointing the importance of changing "negative" behaviour (mine is not running) and giving steps to overcoming the behaviour, I really do believe that I can do it. I don't want to run but I want to feel better. I'm also talking with the head coach of a local girls high school soccer team to see if I can help out there too. I think playing/coaching soccer again will get me running more.

I'm also babysitting now again! I hadn't done much of it since going to college, but my professor's kids (two boys, of course) need a babysitter a lot. Their previous babysitter has class when my prof needs her, so I took the opportunity to make some money and spend time with kids, which I love. It probably doesn't hurt that these kids love me!

When I first offered to babysit, she told me that her kids were just getting over sinus infections and colds. My first thought: "CRAP!!!!" My greatest weakness! Sinus infections, sigh. So I explained to my professor that I had CF. Her eyes widened as I gave a brief reason why I was telling her (not only because of her kids but also because it was an activities class, and anyone with "disabilities" were to let her know). I told her that it won't restrict my activity level in the class, but that she might want to be aware. She asked a few basic questions: when were you diagnosed, how old are you, do you still do breathing treatments, have you had a transplant, etc. Turns out, her best friend from high school has a daughter with CF and goes to my prof with questions. Now those questions are going to be relayed to me! Unfortunately, the daughter is 12 and has never been in good health. They are contemplating transplants right now. I think it was encouraging to see a 19 year old girl that is a high-functioning CF patient doing well in all areas of life. I would have stayed longer to chat, but I had another class starting. Since this is the same professor I babysit for, I'm sure we'll chat more.

On a side note, I find it amusing that non-CF people have this notion in their heads that only "sick" CF patients do breathing treatments. They always seem shocked when I tell them I have to too. It's not only a medicine we use to get well, but a medicine to STAY well.

As for the sinus infected children, they cough like they're dying (and sometimes on me...) but so far I'm doing pretty well. Really tired yesterday, but that might have been because of Saturday and Saturday night. I was out until about 2:30am, but it was well worth it. :]

Wow! It's almost 11 and I've been to class, cooked food (and ate it), done treatment, showered, prepared for my lab this afternoon, and wrote a blog post. See what I mean about being productive?!

-Annie

Back "home"

Back in my college town, nothing too exciting has happened. I was going to go to a basketball game, but that got all messed up, so I didn't. I'm really tired and will be going to be in the next 2 hours or so. *yawn* Good thing too, because I have 8AM CLASSES EVERY MORNING. I must have been suicidal when I planned that.

Today has not been a good day overall. It started when I woke up late and has kinda gone downhill. That's probably part of the reason I'm tired. I'm just drained from all the negativity of my day. Tomorrow can only be better!

I'm going to miss being tackled by my puppy early in the morning tomorrow. Even though she always woke me up earlier than I wanted, I loved every time she did it. And especially when I fell back asleep and woke up with her curled where my knees bend, fast asleep with me. That's something to wake up to. :]


-Annie