*****
I GOT MY FIRST TATTOO!!! On January 26th me and Liberty went to Freaks & Geeks Tattoo Sideshow in Asheville (www.freaks-n-geeks.com) and got matching tattoos! I'll post a pic soon. It's finally done healing and peeling (though it still itches! ack!) so I should be able to get a good pic of it soon. The next 2 tattoos that I plan to get I have artwork of in my gallery already. One is title Princess Aries Eyes (for lack of a better name) and one is Unico Cute (just the artwork, not the poor handwriting underneath it....). Just SO EXCITED about it I wanted to let everyone know! Mwahaha!

Now back to your regularly scheduled blog entry....
*****

Well, I went to my appointment for CF Clinic on January 24th. My lung function was down to almost as low as it was when they put me on IV last year. They really wanted to admit me for IV meds right then, but with everything else I had going on I wasn't really prepared to go into the hospital that day. So they put me on cipro, augmentin and Tobi for a week to see how I did. Well, I got worse. So, on Thursday the 31st I went back and they admitted me at UNC Chapel Hill. They got my PICC line in on Friday and sent me back home to finish my IV meds on Saturday. I go back on February 22nd for a follow-up. I'll keep everyone updated.

~C~

I found this on a friends blog. I know she got it from another friend, but not sure who so I can't site the exact source. But I just loved it so I wanted to add it here.

Subject: inside the life of a cfer !
Body: What I hate about CF...

I am a "trooper" and a "positive thinker" too just like you and it doesn't seem to make it easier when things get bad or just whenn you just get tired of having CF. I still cry and scream and want it all to go away when I get tired of doing treatments, tired of going to club med, tired of taking medicine, tired of being stared at when I cough a lot, tired of doing I V's, tired of hurting, tired of being tired...lol, and much much more!!! I "love" it when people talk about how I don't "look" sick and "act" sick, well folks I have news for you, looks can be deceiving. They don't see the waking up at 3am coughing and doing a breathing treatment and then trying to go back to sleep sitting up so that I can breathe. They see me right after I have done a treatment so that I can last just a few hours without coughing up a lung or two...
cf is a bitch..."It ain't for sissies"

1. Just when you think you are doing well, you get a flare up

2. The wonderful occasions of COUGHING up junk for hours on end, or
the sudden explosion of mucous when you have no tissues nearby

3. The TOBI-induced raspy-voiced, junky-sounding throat noises

4. GAS - especially when I have to be in a public place or social
situation

5. Diarrhea (or our typical stinkiness) when there is only one stall
or when you are at someone else's house

6. You are somewhere else (visiting, or at a wedding) for a meal and
there is nothing that you can eat that WON'T make you sick

7. Looking sick in the face even when you aren't particularly "sick"

8. Taking handfuls of medication pills at a time. The only cool thing
about it is showing my hubby how many meds I can take in one mouthful.

9. Being a trooper makes other people think what you are going through
isn't so serious, and they put expectations on you because they don't see
the real CF stuff

10. Having to keep size 4-6-8 jeans ready in case I have a "belly day". I
never know what's going to fit me based on bloating.

11. Everytime I'm at a store or restaurant I get "oh you must have the cold going around huh?"

12. To lose a loved one to CF.

13. To have CF turn our whole world upside down.

14. To let every decision made,depend upon how the CF was treating my
children.

15. To have our calendar fill up with appts. that had to do with CF clinic
visits, this test, that test, etc. instead of fun filled plans with our
child.

16. People always telling me they look up to me because I have been through so much and am so strong. That's because you only see me when I'm at my best.

17. When FAT ass people make comments about me being skinny and imply that I'm anorexic. No, Fat LAZY ASS I just get to eat what I want & stay thin because I'm dying from Cystic Fibrosis. Don't get jealous because you can't control your eating habits.

18. Waking up feeling really sick once again and wondering, will I ever feel better or is this my new normal?

19. I have to spend most of my day with breathing treatments, insulin shots, countless oral pills, CPT, and exercise just to fight CF for one more day

20) I get to wash my hands a million times a day because everyone is so sick in the winter and won't stay home when their sick. So, my hands feel like an 80 year old woman's hands...just to prevent the common cold.

21) I get to have people judge me for things I "can't" do rather than admire the many things I CAN DO DESPITE CF!


21) I hate it when I'm out in public and I have to take enzymes, and then insulin shots while people stare at me like I have the plague

22) I hate it when pepople smoke those F*&*ing cigarettes in a restaurant. Then I can't even enjoy my food because the smell takes my breathe away. I guess they really DO want Cancer & emphysema! What morons!

23) When all the meds make our teeth off color..

24) When your driving down the road and start coughing, and in the process shoot a lung rocket onto the windsheild

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What are the great things..that's right great things...

1) I have made many friends that I never would have known

2) I have strength that I didn't know I had

3) I learned early on that life is precious and I should honor each moment I get of it

4) I learned to swallow about 10 pills at once

5) I get to teach people about something people do not know about

6) I learned to sit for long periods of times at doctor's offices (patience)

7) I get to appreciate when I have a great day and can run up stairs.

8) Getting to eat a high fat, high caloric, high protein diet while everyone else counts calories (Amen to that!)

9) Being able to help someone else through it because you can truley say "I've been there".

10) People who judge you just because you have CF & want to make you feel bad about it just because they're the ones with a low self esteem in the first place

10) Being able to encourage others with CF.

11) I've learned that life is precious and there's more important things to stress over than material things.

12) I've learned that if someone can't handle me having Cystic Fibrosis then I don't want them in my life anyway.

13) I've learned that I only want positive people in my life and the negative people as far away from me as possible

14) I've learned that the people who love me will stand by my side when I'm feeling good and when I'm really sick. The people who haven't been here for me when I'm sick are worthless to me.

15) I've learned that I can accomplish most things any health person can do. It's just that I have to work three times as hard than they did to accomplish them. But, atleast I'm trying!

16) I've learned to get things done in a very short time because I recognize life is precious and short so have fun and do everything I want while I can.

17) I've learned to cherish everyone I love because at the end of the day I want them to know that I really care about them.

18) I get to educate others about CF who otherwise wouldn't know about the illness....then later I get to ask them to donate to CFF LOL

19) Playing pranks on nurses in the hospital.

20) If it weren't for CF I wouldn't know alot of the great people I know today from other CFers to the many great nurses, therapist, and doctors. I also feel like CF has made me a better person when it comes to caring for others and valuing life.



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