One Month Later = :)

Here's a pic of the line...surprisingly a lot of people asked to see it. Gross eh? ;)

On February 14th I was admitted to the hospital and tested positive for the flu. I had no idea how bad it would get. One month later, March 14th I am IV free as of 9:30 am!! Goodbye to Mr. Jugular line, and thank you for getting me back to being me again. I was terrified that I may not see that again. I still have a little ways to go (not much) but I'm working very hard and my FEV1 is getting back to baseline. Tomorrow, for the first time in a month I am going running!!! Ahhhhhhhh!!!! So excited!

I am BEYOND words of gratefulness!!!!

The best news I've heard in a month!

It's been quite an adventure these last few weeks to say the least. Each day is getting better and I think I can say I feel, well, GOOD!! So happy to be able to be functioning without feeling short of breath and like I'm struggling. It was no doubt, the sickest I have ever felt in my entire life. I don't think I've ever been so scared.

Last week I had a follow up appointment at Hopkins and I knew it wasn't going to be great. It was only 2 weeks post flu, and they said it would take a while to feel better. So, no real surprise but still disappointing. My IV meds weren't really doing the trick, so we did a little switch-a-roo ;)

I'm happy to report that it's working!!!! I feel a ton better and couldn't be happier. Yes, I still have work to do to get back to baseline, but I will do it! I've already been back to the gym and on the treadmill. I'm only walking for now since I don't want to over do it, but my plan is to be back to running by next week. I miss running so much and know my lungs will be happy with me exercising again. It's been like nails on a chalk board for me not to be active at the gym.

So that brings me to today. My CF Nurse called me to check on me and see what our plan is going to be. We decided to do my antibiotics through the weekend (fine with me) and....DRUM ROLL PLEASE......Remove the Jugular IV on Monday @ 10 am!!! WOO HOO!!!! Best news I've heard all month long!!! Could this flu/exacerbation be hitting the road?? I think so! ;)

Exhaustion after IV's?

The best way to describe me for the last 2 weeks is EXHAUSTED. I don't know if it's coming off of the IV's, or what but that's how it's been. I pretty much have come home each day after working at least 9 hours this week and took at least a 2 hour nap. Obviously my body is tired, so I'm listening and resting.

However this exhaustion thing has bummed me out, having no energy means not a lot of running. That is not me at all! And quite frankly it sucks and I hate it :( Maybe I'm being too hard on myself (no surprise there). It also means I've been a blogging slacker too. I'm not sure If coming off IV's does this to people or what? It feels like the energy has been sucked right out of me.

Last night was our first night out in a while, and it was so needed! We had plans that got messed up, but decided to still have a fun night. We went up to an old historic city near us and did a Ghost tour. Pretty cool to do on Friday the 13th. We also had dinner, and went to a haunted bar for a drink. It was a much needed fun night out for sure.

On that note I've decided to get back on track, tired or not. So I went for a great 20 minute run today and it felt nothing short of AWESOMELY GREAT!!!!! I also decided to have a fresh start, and on Wednesday got a mega haircut. At least 6 inches cut off to be exact. My hair is just above my shoulders now. I was scared, but I'm ready for a change and so I put my big girl pants on and did it :) Thanks to my Best Friend who took me there and made me do this!!

The pneumonia has been a HUGE motivator for me, well except for the tired stuff ;) I'm kicking it into high gear today! I've cleaned the house, did all the laundry over the past 2 weeks, put the Halloween decorations away (could you hear Scott cry from where you live? ;) tackled miscellaneous tasks like cleaning out old papers, getting rid of the huge boxes from the IV meds, re-organized the pantry, etc. I'm on a roll! And I made a loaf of Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter bread, and am working on Pumpkin Bisque too.

Goodbye Exhaustion, please be gone for good! And Hello back to normal!

Apparently I'm an Alien

So I'm on these IV's 4 times a day and they are working wonderfully. However... My dogs clearly look at me as If I've turned into an Alien when I hook them up. It cracks me up every time! So here's my new picture of what I think I must look like to them, roughly 4 hours a day ;)