24 days and a funny video!

24 days until my next doctor's appointment?! I feel like I just went! That's kinda how these things work I guess.

My weight is down a little bit, according to the gym scale, due to some stress, but I'm eating lots again and I expect it to jump right back up!

Next week... study study study. 2 tests, 2 quizzes, and a paper due. Oh hi college. I forgot you were there...

Last night my cousin Louis was born!! Another baby in the family, oh boy!! I can't wait to meet him this Easter!

So last week was Greek Week and part of the points your sorority/fraternity gets is from giving blood. On Thursday I went with 4 of my sorority sisters to give blood. I was moral support. I got asked about 10 times by friends who "know" if I was able to give blood. To be honest, I'm not sure. I take an antibiotic MWF for inflammation, but otherwise I don't see why not. This time, I couldn't have given because of my recent tattoo, but other times I've never had a sure answer. When I had asked my mom in the past, we had decided that I shouldn't because 1)some of the meds I'm on, 2)I "donate" plenty to my doctor every year, 3)I have had terrible needle experiences in the past, 4)I just now hit the weight requirement. I've heard some CF patients who give and others who have been turned down, so I haven't tried. The only reason I would is because I'm O+, the universal donor. You can never have enough of my blood! I don't think I'll ever give, but everyone else should! And I'll gladly be there to hold your hand! :]

Time to study. A quick video to make you smile/laugh until you cry (like I did!)
http://comedy.video.yahoo.com/?l=3774740&v=8745428
(Dad, and you thought MY dog has problems!!)
-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

Doctor's Appointment Update, and other stuff

Good news or bad news first? I'll do bad so we can end this section on a good note.

Bad news:

My fluctuating feeling of being sick never went away.

My lung capacity dropped 3%.

One of my airway's (big, I'm pretty sure) capacity dropped 1%

I'm "on the verge" of getting sick.

Good news:

They put me on new meds to feel better.

I gained almost 2 lbs!!!

They put me on antibiotics to cut the sickness short.

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Let's talk meds. I took Pancrease MT20 for a long time. They switched me to Zenpep on Wednesday to help continue the weight gain and to try to clear up these newly developed, but not unusual, gastro problems. I don't do "new meds" very well, but I'm willing to try them. The only thing I don't like so far is that they are warm all the time. It's a weird feeling on my tongue. However, since I'm on the antibiotic (Bactrim; never had a sulfa before..) and it's making all GI problems worse, I'm switching back to the old enzymes and I'm going to wait to try the new ones again after I'm done with the antibiotic. That way, I can tell if the Zenpep is making things better, worse, or not affecting it really.

Also, starting June, I will be using this new inhalant, Cayston(2nd link). It will take the place of TOBI in my regimen. It only takes 2 minutes, 3 times a day. While waiting to be called back into an exam room, my mom talked to the rep for Cayston and got a lot of good information from him. I'm nervous about using it, but I am excited to be near the end of potentially my last TOBI session ever. :]

This week was GRΣΣK WΣΣK and it was tiring. I have one more event to go to at 4pm today then that's it. Week OVER with. DONE. FINITO. And I can't wait. 3 tests, Greek Week, and a doctor's appointment made for an unpleasant week. However, I made a change on Monday that has caused me to be less stressed: my room has stayed clean all week (GASP!) because I pick up things immediately (shoes, clothes, trash, etc) instead of waiting until a big clean-up day. I have also stayed on top of school work (doing things early) and that has helped keep my stress levels down. If you read the post from Sunday about caring about my things and how I immediately cleaned things up then? It has been a change I've kept up. Yay! I love coming home from school and seeing a partially made up bed (I pull the sheets up, but I don't worry about the pillows too much), nothing on the floor, and a clean desk. It's really nice. Next, I will fit in swimming and/or running into my schedule again because I need to get those FEV1s and the overall lung capacity back up. In time, in time.

-Andrea

Stressed is an understatement

Short post because I have no actual free time-

I'm stressed. Words honestly cannot express how stressed I am. I can't even try. It's that bad. I'm missing mandatory things for other mandatory things. I have tests and homework that are being backseated because I literally don't have the time. LA GEAR UP is driving me nuts. Sigma Kappa is being backseated because of this. So I guess if SK is being backseated, school is being thrown in the trunk. I'm stressed so I take it out on others (aka Chris) and in turn ticks him off which stressed me out even more. I had to skip class to go to this GEAR UP thing on Friday that ended an hour and a half later than I thought it would. Then tomorrow, I'm going to be with them from 8-5. Then study or something if I have time. Then I have formal which I'm going to because A- I paid for it and for my date. B- Chris stayed in town instead of driving to help some people move into an apartment from Mississippi. C- I'm DDing. D- I already have a dress. I plan on making an appearance and leaving to try to get homework in. But alas, on Sunday, I have church from 9-12, nursing home at 2 (which I want to go to but probably won't) mandatory street cleaning at 4, mandatory Rush clothes trying on at 5, and mandatory meeting at 6. Oh look, then Monday rolls around and I have a test. I'm sorry Dr. Sellers, I didn't have time to study. *FAIL*.

And, not her fault nor am I mad at her in any way, shape, or form, but Liz went to the ER today because she's been really sick. So I stayed with her at her apartment for a while instead of studying because I felt she was more important. When her kicked in and she was almost as high as a kite and ready to watch a movie until she passed out, I left. But I only left to duke it out with Chris some more. Now I'm too exhausted from the long day to really focus on school. But I'm about to try.

So this post wasn't as short as I thought. I guess that's what happens when you need to vent. And Chris and I are fine. I just get mean when I'm stressed.

I highlighted all the mandatory things because it made me feel better somehow. And while "church" is not technically mandatory, it kinda is in my book, but there's a chance I might not make it this week. And "formal" is highlighted for the reasons listed.

-Annie