Nov. 14, 2011

Dear readers/glancers/everyone:

I apologize for being absent for about a month and a half. I either never knew what to say or didn't have time to type or just didn't feel like sitting at my computer any longer. I don't even really think I know what to say now, but here I am.

I had my doctor's appointment on Oct. 19. It went alright. My weight was up about 3lbs so that was fantastic. I go in for PFTs and after one blow, the machine breaks. So to be honest, I have no idea what my PFTs are right now. That makes me a little nervous, but since my first try was around my baseline, they didn't fret about numbers and sent me on my way. *whew*.

I think ultimately I will phase the blog out of my life for future employment reasons. I don't want it to negatively affect if/where I get a job. My thoughts and feeling about my health/disease are becoming more solid and detailed and I don't feel like they all need to be posted here. On that same note, I don't feel like my personal life should be available for all to read either, so I don't feel the need to post about it either. It's the same reason my facebook page is more barren than it used to be. Those who need to be informed, or who I feel should be informed, about my life will be. Everyone else will find out through the ever-informative grapevine.

I love my blog, don't get me wrong. I'm actually really proud of it. However, I just don't have the "bug" to keep up with it. I wish I did, but I have so many other things going on that are important to me or are demanding of me that typing up my feelings and thoughts and memories just aren't in the top tier of priorities. I would much rather be spending time with the people who are important to me.

I do have one more thing to write about, and I may be back from time to time, who knows. I wanted to write on the experience of moving in with 3 girls I did not know and trying to slowly introduce them to and explain to them my health "stuff" without being blunt or awkward or weird. It's an art. And while I have no real advice on how I did it, somehow it worked. I think the funniest moment was when one night I was doing the Vest and one of my roommates realized what I was doing. She knocked on my door and I shakily yelled "come in!" While she stood in my doorway she made a comment that made me laugh: "I want to touch you!" She then proceeded to dive onto my bed to feel the Vest and how it shook me. My other roommate then realized what was going on and ran into my room too saying "me too!!" and came to feel the Vest as well. After a few seconds of that, and some time of them begging me to talk while being shaken, they left. Still regularly, that first roommate likes to come in my room while I do the Vest and begs me to talk to her. I think overall my roommates have acclimated to me having multiple machines in my room and a million meds to take quite well, thankfully. I was really nervous at first, but alls well.

It's final week so I may or may not post again soon. I'm really not sure to be honest. We'll see.

-Andrea

This week

This week, my last week of school:
4 tests
4 quizzes
2 projects due
1 homework assignment of 40 problems
and only 2 classes.

Pray for me.

See you on the other side.

-A

Benefit of having CF

So of course the most obvious main benefit of the common CF patient is the ability to eat whatever and not be the size of a house. My body and I decided to take full benefit of that "gift" from CF and I eat WHATEVER I want at any hour, and fight to put on the pounds. However, that "gift" sits at the top of my list tied with another: my abs.

I have mentioned this before, but it becomes ever more obvious during swimsuit season and since I've been coughing more lately. My abs and my back are ripped and I love it. If I'm wearing just a sports bra and some sweat pants, I look like I should be in a work-out video as the trainer. Y'all, I'm PROUD of my body. Ask 100 other 20 year old girls that and see if you can ever get that answer again. Having CF has definitely gifted me with a strong and healthy-looking core body that I'm proud of.

Also, school ends WEDNESDAY then I'm home for until the start of July. Then back to school.

See you on the other side of finals!
-Andrea

The Vest: Friend or Foe?

There are days when I finish the Vest and I want to give it a hug or a high five (if it had hands, of course). There are other days where the "minutes left" section seems to almost go backwards. Today is one of those days. I've had to stop it multiple times because my coughing is so extreme, I'm about to bring up the fantastic dinner I had. That, my friends, is a MISERABLE feeling. And I ate 2 hours ago. This was not a "somebody didn't wait 30 minutes after eating before swimming!" situation. This is just a "my Vest hates me" kinda day. Happens. Doesn't mean I shouldn't still use it. It just means today, I won't be smiling afterwards because I feel better, but more likely because I'm done! (2 more minutes.... almost there....)

Two weeks from today, so on May 18, I will be DONE with my sophomore year of college. :) But with every silver lining, there is a dark side: some of my best friends are graduating and moving away. :( Luckily, Skype exists so we can still help each other with what to wear when going out!!

(DONE WITH THE VEST FOR TONIGHT!!!!!)

So with summer so close, it just means finals are even closer. Oh boy. I can't wait. lol

Hope all is well with you. Have a fantastic day!
-Annie

3 Finals down + pictures from the weekend

I just breathed a HUGE sigh of relief after those first 3 finals jam-packed into today. Even though I still have 2 really hard tests left (one Tuesday, one Wednesday), I feel so much better now that those first 3 are behind me!! I felt it was time for a post!

Teaser: some exciting news with Gilead Sciences (makers of Cayston) and some of their partners and me are underway, but no details until later! Just get excited, because I am!!

As of late, I've been devoting almost every free moment to studying for all of these tests. It's been really difficult, but somehow I've managed. My treatment schedule was really off though. For example, I normally do the Vest at night, but I'm doing last night's Vest right now, and will another evening one before I leave to go study. It's crazy, but it's only for a few days. Then HOME HOME HOME AGAIN!! I can't wait, seriously. I just want to pack up and drive home now. If only I didn't have those 2 more tests....

I went home this past weekend for about 24 hours to spend time with my brother/sis-in-law/niece/huskies from Austin, TX, and my in-town family who all gathered for my nephew's 1st birthday party!! Has it really been a year already?! Wow.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

Look who showed up! It's me and the boyfriend.
My two brothers with their kids!
Precious, precious niece. I think they look so much alike in this picture.

Such a sweet moment; a mother and her child.
She was so tired!! This picture is just too cute, I had to post it.

And last, but not least, the birthday boy and his mama!!!

Hunger has taken over anything else I can think to type about. Time for food!

-Andrea

MIA-- sorry!

Long story short:

Next Monday, I have 4 tests. 3 finals and a make up exam.

Next Tuesday, I have 1 final, a lab final, which is harder than the final in the class.

I have been MIA due to studying and this will continue until quarter break (after I finish my last final).

Otherwise, here is a quick announcement for those of you using Cayston, requested by some folks who work with Gilead:

DO NOT THROW AWAY YOUR ALTERA PIECES!!!! Save and reuse.

Also, SAVE YOUR EXTRA SALINE FROM THE CAYSTON DOSE! You never know when you might need them later.

I will make this announcement later too, just to make sure it gets across.

Signing out for another week; thank you college.

-Andrea

Freshman year of college.... *check*

Dear readers: I am a very happy happy person right now. All of the stress of finals has been released. My freshman year of college is over with. The summer has hit me. It's time to RELAX.

The last few days has had some serious ups and downs. Let's recap

Ups:

Finished my chem & biology final, both on good notes

aka the stress of finals is GONE

Finished my dose of Bactrim!

KEPT MY A IN BIOLOGY!!!!!!!!!!

Actually got an adequate amount of sleep during finals

Erin, Anjea's sister, had her baby girl!!!

I got a 98% on my biology lab final! So I got a 99.5 in the class.

Downs:

Chris left for the summer

I've felt more sick than healthy

Didn't finish my OWL (chemistry homework)

I fight when I get stressed so stupid little fights with Chris over nothing.

My room looks so barren now that all the stuff is gone. It echoes when I cough. Kinda weird.

I could have made a 100% or a 58% on my psych final and kept my B. I did.

I got an 89 B in math. So annoyed.

So left to do is final packing/loading, CLEANING the apartment with the roomie, playing some Scrabble (for fun with friends before the summer) and going home either today or Friday (haven't decided...)

It's been a great first year and I'm ending with a pretty great GPA. :]

So long college! I'll see you again soon enough.

-Annie

Is it over yet?

Seriously. Make this week end. I'm so ready for Thursday after 9am or so. Then I can pack up, load up, play some mad scrabble with friends, and GO HOME. Currently, at 12:37am on Wednesday "morning", I have 2 finals remaining.

Please.

Let.

This.

End.

Very soon.

I miss my family, and real food, and my puppy. No, I'm not in a depressed mood, I'm just ready to be home. The sad part is Chris leaves Wednesday afternoon/evening to go back home then he's away more than home until early July. Then, the day after he gets back, I leave to work the Gear Up camp. So I won't see too much of him this summer, and that makes me sad, but it's part of life. He's busy, I'm busy, and unfortunately, we're not busy at the same time!

Ok. It's bed time. Ragan is coming by at 9am to study more. *yawn* here we gooooo

-Annie

Finals week... here we go.

Well it has finally arrived. This is week I dread every quarter. Let it begin...

We initiated our Sigma Kappa seniors into alumnae this evening. It was bittersweet.

This evening I coughed until I threw up. That wasn't fun. At all. But, despite feeling sick. I'm doing my Vest right now. *sigh* Ready to turn it off though, but I won't.

Bought a bunch of junk/study food (at Mom's orders) to last me through finals week. Here's to the Dr. Peppers, Propels, Whoppers, Junior Mints, Nerds, and Zapps jalapeño chips to get me through finals!! Cheers!!

Saturday morning was the Kickin' Grass for Alzheimer's disease that Sigma puts on to raise money for the Alzheimer's foundation. It was a huge success! But I was tired.

Oh! I had a Pop-Crawfish boil on Saturday. "Pop" because it was like a "pop-quiz": I check my email and it said "Crawfish boil at [church college leader]'s house from 1-4!!" and it was 1:15 at the time. You can bet I White Pages her address, Google mapped it, printed it out, dried my hair, and practically ran to my car to get to her house. I was there before 1:30. I *love* crawfish and I can't stress it enough. The crawfish were SPICY and BIG! They looked like lobsters! And all this with great company made for a wonderful Saturday afternoon.

Time to finish treatment, get some food, and get back to studying. Ahh finals. ONE MORE WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Annie

1 more week

Wow. A week from May 13, I'll have taken my last final. HOLLA!! And, facebook doesn't have to be shut off until Aug. 1st assuming everyone follows the rules all summer. *crosses fingers*

I know I did well on my bio lab final, even though I haven't gotten the grade back. I felt really good about it. Not sure how things will go for the rest of my classes (good I hope!) so we'll see.

I've done nothing but MATH homework for the past 3 days. Literally. All of my free time was spent on doing Web Assign (the online math homework program). Miserable. I even brought my math teacher problems today that I couldn't figure out to save my life. So as I'm working on them this evening, I decide to check my grades online. My math homework grade had already been posted. *stomach flips* I didn't finish. I still had 3 sections with 0% finished. Other sections with 9% finished.... I looked at my grade... and i got a 102%! No, that's not a mistake. We got in-class bonus the other day for working hard on an assignment, and the 100% was for seriously putting forth effort to get the work done. While there were a few sections undone, the majority of it was complete. So yay for stressing, hard work, and getting the grade I wanted even if I didn't actually "deserve". I still need to do well on Test 3 to get an A (take the test May 14) and to not have to take her final. Wish me luck!

Then comes finals week! Tuesday- psych, Wednesday- math (optional)/biology Thursday- Chemistry.

THEN I GO HOME!!!!!!

But for now, bed time! G'night

-Annie

2 more weeks

Only 2 more weeks of school and only 2 more weeks of Facebook. Then FB gets shut down for the summer thanks to Sigma Kappa's rush rules. I've already started packing up stuff and taking it home. I'll continue to pack stuff and send it home with Dad, but I'm not going home again until school lets out.

Finals start this week with my Biology lab final tomorrow. I'm not stressing. I have a 100% in there and the final is a practical. Identify this, label that, etc. I am studying for it with a friend tonight, so don't think I'm ignoring it either. Just not worried about it. As our TA told us, don't stress. Most people have a high enough grade they only need to make a 28% or so to keep their A.

But I am worried about my math/biology final seeing as they're both on Wednesday, May 19th. And back-to-back. So not an 8am and a 2pm, but a 12:30 and a 2pm. I think my psych final is Tuesday, May 18th and I know my Chem final is Thursday May 20th at 8am. So, I will sleep the rest of Thursday away, pack some, and finish packing Friday and head home. We'll see how all that works out. I need an A on all of these tests (except the lab final of course.. the one I actually have TIME to study for!)... let the stressing commence in 6 days...

-Annie