Thursday, December 18, 2008

Hospital time again

Well, I am back in the nut house. i caught a cold and of course it went into my chest. Not that all the stress of loss isn't affecting me too. So I caught it early, and I am in getting started on IVs, so I can be well for xmas. They are being very supportive in here, which is nice. The outside, clinic is the problem these days. i miss my old doc so much. I can't even explain how much I miss her. Oh well... life goes on. Another crazy thing in here is Larry the pharmacist guy... he was nice, and didn't lecture me!!! HE EVEN LEFT MY INSULIN IN MY ROOM. he did point out that it should be in the lock box, 20 feet away, but he just left it bedside, and i didn't even have to ask. It was amazing. I hear that he got a talkin to because he told off an MD. So hahaha.... that is great. The big bummer is that my port isn't drawing blood, which means i have to get stuck. POO. but oh well. they want to try it again, but i think i don't want to... i dont' want to take the tape off and risk ripping my skin right in the beginning. We will see, one blood draw isn't too horrible. Ok, time to treatment....

Monday, December 15, 2008

The good and the bad

I am so happy that my sister comes home to America tonight! It has been 3 1/2 months since she left.... what a great trip she has had, to experience University in the United Kingdom. She is so lucky to have the ability to go see places so easily. I am happy she gets to share her stories and pictures with me, so i can live vicariously through her. It will be great to have her back for Christmas. On the other hand my Tutu passed away yesterday, and this is sad for our family. She will be burried quickly, as jewish law suggests. However, after the first of the year we will have a memorial and Sara and I will be able to attend. It is hard, but I am glad she didn't have to suffer for too long. I will miss her spunky attitude, and opinionated expressions. she was a loving grandma, and I have many good memories with her... I will love her always....

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Feeling sad

My mom called me today and told me that my grandma, TUTU, has started to decline from her cancer very quickly. We knew she didn't have much time left, and she entered into hospice right before thanksgiving, but now it is going to be very fast it looks like. I got to Skype with her this past weekend, which was nice to see her. I showed her all around my condo with the webcam. Milton and Jack both said hello. I am very sad to see this actually happen. We all know it will happen to everyone eventually but it never makes it any less sad. She was such a vibrant person. The crazy Grandma I would call her. She wasn't your cookie bakin granny, oh no, not Tutu. She was a leather wearing, hip, clogging, sports loving, champion athlete, spicy grandma. It was so hard for her to become older and sick with luekimia, she didn't want to let the cancer get the best of her. She worked out at the gym as long as she could... It isn't a good life for her if she cant be active and play golf and go lift weights. So it is better if it happens quickly, but it is still so sad. I feel so sad for my Dad. I love him, and it is hard to watch him go through all of this. I have watched him the last few months, and how hard it is on him. Life is hard. That is a fact. It is especially hard during the holly jolly holiday times.... just puts EVERTHING into perspective.... I know my dad reads this, so I hope that you know how much I love you and how much I love Tutu. I will be here for you, I love you so much.....For everyone else reading this please send Tutu (Hawaiian for grandma) peaceful thoughts...... thank you.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Vicodin is my friend



So after my appointment I was put on A LOT of vicodin. I am on 2 pills, 4 times a day. It has been doing wonders, and I can do treatments and cough with very mininal pain. Today I only took 2 doses! i think it is getting better... YAY. The bad thing is that I can't drive, and I sleep ALOT! But it is a small price to pay to not have the pain I was suffering through.... I had a great day today.. my WONDERFUL friend Linda came over for the second week in a row to work on her OBAMA scrap book. She went to Missouri to help campaign for Obama, and she took pictures and wanted to make a book, so I offered to help. Not that I am a pro, but I have made a few in my day and I wanted to let her use all the tools I have collected over the years.... so we have been having a blast doing it together. I think our final count today was 12 pages completed. We had a couple minor disasters, but nothing we couldn't fix. We also ventured into the world of the Duggars (a Reality TV family who have 18 children) and we did some interesting reasearch about their oldest child who just got married. He and his wife Anna never kissed or hugged or anything else for that matter before their wedding day. Anyways, now they are married... and probably planning at least 18 children of their own... anyways, Linda and I are facinated by it and we had fun researching. We had fun.... She is a great friend. I thought I would also update a picture of Jack the foster kitty... he is growing and still just as cute. He is a love bug and getting along pretty well with Mr. Milton kitty.... so here are some pictures of the cute boys I get to love each day....

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Rib PAIN

Well, I have been having some major pain for the past few days. It got so bad on Saturday that I needed to go to the Doctor. Luckily we were able to get an appointment instead of going to the ER. I wasn't able to get an xray, but I got LOTS of IBpreufin. I have been taking vicodin too, which isn't working very well, so today I stopped taking it. Tomorrow I have a Doctors appointment in the CF clinic, so maybe I can get something better for the pain. I am concerned that I can't cough enough to keep my lungs well, and I am concerned i might have to have an early hospital admission due to this injury. We will see what happens tomorrow... keep your fingers crossed for me. I tell you, my life is never drama free.... always something keeping me too busy. I will give an update after my appointment tomorrow....

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Happy Turkey DAY!

I am so excited to go eat lots of food!!!! I am very sad that my sister is not with us. But maybe we will Skype her, so we can hang out today :) Casey went to Las Vegas with his family today... so it is just me and the kitties. We still have the foster boy, little Jack. He is watching me right now, I think he wants to jump on my fingers. I gotta go get ready to eat some TURKEY and STUFFING and MASHED POTATOES and CRANBERRY SAUCE and GREEN BEANS and GRAVY and of course.... PIE!!!!!!!!! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Bathroom pics







I finally put the pics of the bathroom on my computer... so here they are!!! We are very happy with it... hope you all like it!

Friday, November 21, 2008

Just doin a treatment

So I am sitting doing a treatment, flipping through the channels, I come upon a stupid show about a club in Las Vegas, so I watch it. Well, in a preview for the next segment, HOLY CRAP I KNOW THAT GUY! So it is good to know one of our old college friends was portrayed as a douche bag on Cable TV. I don't want to say anymore... but it was sad to see him at this age acting like that. OH well... I wish him luck in his life..... It was quite entertaining to see.....

Sunday, November 16, 2008

My day...

Well, it has happened, we FINISHED THE BATHROOM!!!!!! YAY!!!!! We can't walk in it yet because the sealer is setting on the tile, but it is finished! Now, while the sealer was being put on I got out of the house so I didn't have to be in the stink. I had to find stuff to do, so i went to the farmers market, and bought some fresh fruit and veggies, then I got a sandwich and ate it. Then I decided to go visit my friends over at Petsmart, at the kitten and cat adoption faire. How fun. There were a few kittens who got adopted, so that was great. While I was there one of the foster mom's brought a new Kitten that had just been rescued from the shelter this week. She is a snowshoe siamese (the same type as my beloved Miss Kitty). I got to hold and cuddle her all day. She just sat in my lap, no purring, but cuddled in a blanket. By the end of the faire I was asked to take the Kitten home for 5 days, to finish the kitten quaranteen because there wasn't a place for her.
When a kitten is brought in from the shelter, they keep it separate from the others to make sure it doesn't have anything contagious to other kittens who don't have the full shots yet. So Anna, the softy says, Oh my husband won't let me. Ellen said, why don't you just ask him. so I did. I had NO idea he would say yes, but we have a little kitten in a bunny cage in our living room now. SO CUTE. I will post a picture... This kitten is so friendly and now that she is at home she purrs and purrs... but wait, there is more... she is not actually a she, I noticed that she was a HE. So now the name of Miss Kitty von milken-nose, will not be suitable. we must think of a new name.... but cute is the word that is for sure.

So I am just about to sit down to dinner, I walk up the stairs in our house, and i see it... poop on the floor... streaks of poop. POOR MILTON had dingle berries again. HE RUBBED THEM ON THE FLOOR. First I get a wet cloth and chase the cat around trying to wipe his butt, have you done this before? Not so easy.... I got two wipes in and then got slapped and bit, so i gave up on that and I then moved to cleaning,first I tackled the hard surfaces, then i get up to move to the rug, BANG! I hit my head on the open cabinet door. OWWWWWW, I grab my head.... I start hopping (don't ask why) and I magically hopped right into the poop on the floor... OWWWW... EWWWWWWWWWWW.... I screamed. Casey busts up laughing from what he hears... and I almost fall to the floor in pain and complete histerical laughing. I then hopped to the bathroom to wash off my foot before finishing up the cleaning. Oh man, I got a big old bump on my head. Well, at least it was comical. A little gross, but comical.... So that was my day, what did you do?

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Getting closer

We are getting closer to the end of the bathroom project. YAY. But it is not without complications. So the back splash on the granite is chipped on one end, so we have to get that replaced. The inset niches in the shower look weird, so we need to fix that.... and because our house has weird proportions, we have to move the light switch so the counter top can fit with the back splash. So those are the major things. Also, the sink didn't come with a drain, so i had to quick order one, so we have to get that situated so we can have a working sink. SO just minor ;) issues to get fixed. I will be on major watch duty tomorrow. Casey isn't working tomorrow, so it will be good to have another opinion. But i am thinking i should kick him out of the house so it isn't too cramped, so we will see how the day goes... Wish us luck!!!!!

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

The drama of the day

Sink? Where is my sink? We found out today that the great sink i found (at a great price) was not shipped because they didn't have any more in stock, even after they said they were in stock. POO. So that is my drama, CRAP I have to find a sink in one day! But HURRAY!!!! I found one. Now I just gotta get a hold on Joe, yup, I have been working with Joe the plumber... haha... but not THE joe the plumber. But this joe will do. He found me a sink at a decent price that I can get tomorrow... so YAY joe.... now my drama of the day is solved. It is only 12:43, maybe more drama is to come........

Monday, November 10, 2008

The Cutest kitten in the world....


Today I met the cutest kitten in the world....... Enough said.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Remodeling is crazy

It is amazing how complicated it is to remodel. There are always issues, and I have to babysit constantly to make sure nothing too bad happens. This isn't because i have a bad contractor, this is just the name of the game. I left for one hour and that is of course when everything goes aray... they call saying they need the shower faucet I had picked up. I think the thing is that they don't plan ahead when doing work, they just do as they see fit. If I was going to do it, I would do a lot of thinking and planning beforehand, but that isn't what they seem to do... it drives me nuts, but I just gotta go along with it because it is the way it is. Tomorrow I have to leave the house because they are putting down some nasty stuff on the floor of the shower, and they told me that you don't want to be home during it, so I have to trust they will do it right, then come right back to watch the rest. I have a hard time with all of this because of the ADD. I have a short attention span and I can't hold lots of little detailed info in my brain, without writing it down. I often forget to ask things or point things out, and then i gotta come back and do it. Also, it is hard to be as assertive as you need to be to get everything how you want it. I guess it is just a good life lesson. So I gotta get some sleep so I can be on top of it tomorrow...

Thursday, November 6, 2008

The bathroom

We have begun the remodel..... i can't believe how fast the demo happened. It is all ripped out! Crazy to see your house all ripped apart. How will it ever come back together... just gotta have faith. I am so busy with the remodel... it is very time consuming. Hopefully it won't take long. I think it will be done by the end of next week, so that is hopeful. Not a whole lot else to post now... just gotta get to bed so i can wake up. So that is all for now....

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Mr. Obama, MY president and YOURS

HOLLLLAAAAAAA! I am so excited. I am so proud to be an American. He gave an amazing speech, as always. All i can say is change is a comin!!!!!! I must give credit to John McCain for his concession speech. He was gracious and emotional and real, where was that John McCain during the election? Well, I am glad he wasn't there because we NEEDED to win!

I must say though that I am very disappointed in what I am seeing about prop 8. I can't believe that this bigoted proposition could possibly pass in California. I will be completely disgusted if it is passed. I was looking at exit polls and it might be very very close, I am praying (which I don't even believe in) with all my heart that it doesn't pass.

I am so glad that a beautiful man, inside and out will be the leader of our great country. I am so proud to be an American!

Monday, November 3, 2008

GO VOTE

Well, this is it... 10 minutes until it is offically election day in the west. I am so excited for tomorrow... I am going to be busy tomorrow, because we are prepping the house for the bathroom remodel. Today i went shopping with the contractor, and tomorrow we have to clean out the bathroom and closet. We are going to be living in a disaster area for a few days. HOW FUN. But it will be worth it, to have a pretty new bathroom.

I had a good conversation with the contractor today. He isn't a citizen, and can't vote but he likes Obama. He is going to volunteer to work the polling places tomorrow. Isn't that inspiring? I think it is great, so many people in this country who are citizens and have the born right to vote and don't bother, and someone who wants to be a citizen, but can't vote will go out of his way and donate his time to this country..... it just makes me so sad for the apathy in this country. I would feel as if I were letting myself down for not using the right to vote, that i am given in this country. It is so sad, that people can feel so apathetic, that they can't get off their butts and vote. If you are reading this and fall into this category, I am not even sorry. There really is no excuse for not voting. It is a sad thing that you can't do something for yourself and this country.... so I hope everyone gets out and votes, no matter who you vote for. JUST DO IT.

YES WE CAN and YES WE WILL.......

Sunday, November 2, 2008

YES WE CAN

If you haven't already, Vote early! If you haven't already seen the yes we can video, you should check it out!

It is worth a watch, so inspirational.....

I am now just holding my breath waiting for Obama day..... It will be such an emotional day. How amazing that the United States might actually elect an African American man into office.... how incredible!

YES WE CAN!

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

I tried to help Obama

Today I was motivated enough to make some calls for Obama to Ohio. Well, my good intentions were not rewarded. I called 11 people and only one picked up. She reported to me that she had already voted and did not want to share who she voted for. So my efforts were not too helpful to the campaign. Maybe this weekend I will make some more calls when people are home. At least I can say I did it. I am proud I got the balls to at least try it. My ballot was in the mail today... WOOO HOOOOOO..... vote vote vote, voty vote vote!!!!

Monday, October 27, 2008

What would happen.....

Uh oh, I am in trouble.... This is what would happen in a world where I didn't watch CNN and MSNBC 24 hours per day. Watch and be horrified at my actions.....
http://www.cnnbcvideo.com/index.html?nid=vZ2bKO9sLgKnI4l7.uQmFjIxNzc2NA--&id=

Saturday, October 25, 2008

1,352 hours

What have you done for 1352 hours or 81,120 minutes? It is 33.8 40 hour work weeks. That is almost a year of full time work. I can tell you what I have been doing for it. Using my physiotherapy vest machine. I have been using the vest for many many years, but my most recent machine just started to have problems, and i received a new one today. As I brought out the shiny new one, I took note that I have been spending a lot of time with my old trusty and clocked 1352 hours on it. It is pretty crazy to think how much time that is that I have do dedicate to clearing my lungs. It also means I have watched that much TV!!! AHHHH... haha. I am just happy that I have the vest, and I can be independent, not relying on anyone else to do my physiotherapy as I once did. So out with the old and in with the new. I wonder how many hours this one will hold up for.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Obama in pictures

Casey showed me this really cool site that has photographs of Obama over the past 2 years..... I would highly suggest checking it out. At the bottom of each page you have to click to see more pictures, but there are quite a few... it is really moving to see.
http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0810/callie-bp.html

13 more days to go....

Monday, October 20, 2008

Update on Neighbor

Lets see... since I have posted I have seen Mr. Neighbor multiple times, sometimes he comes out with the walker, and other times he doesn't. The best was I saw him walking down the street (on the way to the shopping center) on Saturday in his pajamas with his leg taped up OVER his pajamas and pushing his walker. Another day I saw him walking without the walker in clothes but with his hospital band still on his arm. bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb v (milton the cat just typed that) I guess that is what he thinks of the crazy neighbor. Milton is sitting with me with his paws and face on the keyboard. I wonder what else he has to say.....I guess that is all for now. I also need to make a another note, he doesn't use a walker as i have seen it used. He walks while pushing it, and it makes a horrible sound. hahaha.... he is a special case. Casey suggested that maybe one of his personalities is injured while the other is fine, hence the sometimes walker sometimes not. SO strange.... now milton is sleeping in my hand and it is very hard to type. I gotta go cook dinner now...

If I hear it one more time.....

If I hear about William Ayers one more time, I am going to scream. BARACK OBAMA TOLD YOU PEOPLE WHAT HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM WAS>>>>> PLEASE GET OFF THE DISTRACTION AND TALK ABOUT THE ISSUES>>>>> THERE IS NO UNANSWERED QUESTIONS THERE. JUST LISTEN TO THE DEBATE!!!! AHHHHH! I CAN'T STAND IT ANYMORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FINALLY

I watched Meet the Press, with Colin Powell, who endorsed Barack Obama today. I yelled at the TV in relief, and broke Casey's ear drum in the process, because of something Powell said. There is so much bull going around about Obama, especially about Obama's religion. Now we all know that Obama is a Christian and always has been a Christian. BUT seriously, who cares.... the rumor is that Obama is a Muslim, for some reason disqualifies him as president of the united states... HONESTLY WHAT????? I thought we had freedom of religion in America??? I liked that Powell acknowledged this, that it doesn't really matter even if Obama WAS a Muslim. I just wanted to blog about it, because I have been thinking this during the entire election. Joy Behar on the view said it best, that the only person who does not have freedom of religion is the president of the united states. Ironic huh?????????

Speaking of Religion.... I saw Religulous with Casey and Emily this weekend... it was interesting. SCARY, but interesting. I find most things about blind faith to be terrifying. I just don't understand, as Bill Maher does not understand, how people can just believe in something without question... It just amazes me, how people who are so intelligent in other ways just simply believe. I hope that doesn't offend anyone reading this... I feel people are entitled to their views, but I just don't understand how people can believe, just because "God says so" It confuses me... I believe that there is not one right religion. I also know that there is no one person or group of people who know what happens to you after we die. There are a lot of beliefs, and we have these to answer questions that otherwise leave us in the unknown, which is much scarier than having a definite answer. It is my deduction from what i know that people believe in religion out of a fear of the unknown..... that is what makes sense logically to me....Just my thoughts, but I gathered this by doing a lot of listening to many different people and attending a Jesuit university. But we are all entitled to our own thoughts and opinions and that is mine....

Thursday, October 16, 2008

The crazy neighbor

So I think i am going to report the goings on of my crazy upstairs neighbor..... There is a lot of history you all need to catch up on, but i just have to write about what I witnessed today.... let me just start by saying this guy is bizarre. He has been MIA for a few days, and just last night i realized there were horses running around upstairs, and I said to Casey, "heeeesss BAAAACK".
Let me give you a little bio: he is in the 45-50 range. He has a mustache, and a regular hair cut (he kinda looks like a 70s average joe) He has BEETY little eyes, and he sometimes, I put the emphasis on sometimes, has a dog named Poncho. Oh, and he also has a LOUD voice. He repeats words alot when he is speaking to people, and he speaks very simply. He likes to swear when he is outside, and he talks on the phone ALOT. He does not go to work, but has lots of people come and visit him in the day. I would like to fondly call myself Gladys Kravits, you know, the nosey neighbor from Bewitched? Except it isn't too hard for me to see these crazy things or overhear his conversations, he has them right in front of my door. Anyways, so today.... I hear him yelling something to one of the random people he has staying in his condo with him. I think he has had about 3 roommates, none last for very long, about a month tops. This guy I thought was doing work for him, but then i noticed that actually he was living there... go figure. Anyways.... Mr Neighbor was yelling at him to "get his shoes, over by his night stand, where all the medication bottles are".... I kid you not, why would you say that? how about just, hey, can you get my shoes by my bed? I know he takes seizure medication, and must be a variety of others since he said bottles.... but that is beside the point. Then I see these two metal legs coming from the top of the stairs, huh? OH yea, it was a walker. An old lady walker. He is stumbling down the stairs, clunk clunk clunk with a walker. He had a walking cast on his leg. Now, I want to insert my opinion here... why in the world would you have a walker? If you hurt your leg and you have to climb stairs, i think crutches or a cane would suffice. OH no not for Mr. Neighbor, he needs a old lady walker. I did notice that it didn't have tennis balls on it yet.... but i am sure that is coming. Since he is hobbling around.... i am curious where he is going with his new roomie... so i walk around and look outside on the other side where you park cars... (oh yea, he doesn't drive ever since he crashed his car last year) So he is standing in the middle of the road with his walker smoking a cigarette. CLASSY. His roomie pulls out the truck and Mr. Neighbor throws his walker into the bed of the truck and gets in. Now, I have noticed that Mr. Neighbor never gets his mail on his own. He always has someone else do it. His roomie got his mail while he got in the car, then handed it to him. Other times he has had his variety of visitors get it. Now, the reason this is so weird in this situation is because he had JUST WALKED BY THE MAIL BOX, but he instead stood in the middle of the road while his roomie got it. HUH? I tell you this dude is the most bizarre guy. Alone, this doesn't sound too strange... but I will come back and give you some more history.... but that is my crazy neighbor today.... Mr. Old lady Walker.....

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

the final one

So the debate tonight... what did you think? I think that Obama once again did a great job. I feel he is very direct and answered most questions fully. I love the split screen and the ability to compare the facial expressions of the two candidates. It is obvious that Mccain has a hard time controlling his temper. He makes these horrible eye movements that do not suit him. He looks like he is constantly trying to hold in his anger. One of the pundits on CNN said it best that it looks like this was an anger management exercise. haha.... I do think he got that good line in "I am not George Bush" but other than that he was just like a matador with a bright red cape. "HEY look over here, now over here.... ha! Fooled you! He is the master of distraction. I also felt HORRIBLE for mr. Joe the plumber. Poor guy did NOT need to be dragged into being a gimmick of the debate. Anyways... it will be interesting to see how it all plays out. Hopefully Obama will keep his lead....
So the next thing I am excited about (REALLY EXCITED) is that McCain will be on Letterman tomorrow. I don't know if any of you have followed this... but he was supposed to be on Letterman the day he "Suspended" his campaign. He called Dave and told him he had to RUSH off to Washington, Dave said fine, and instead he cancelled and Keith Olberman had to come on in his place. As they were recording they got live feed from Katie Couric, where he was having an interview. He didn't go straight back to Washington, and he didn't fix the financial situation. Dave has been making fun of this ever since, raggin on Mccain. Well, now Mccain rescheduled, and will be on tomorrow. Dave says he has a lot of splainin to do. It will be very interesting so i encourage everyone to watch. Well, i guess that is politics according to Anna... hope you enjoyed the show.....

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

no sleep

I can't seem to sleep right now. Weird. I think it is because i watched the news before I went to bed. Not a good idea. Too much politics does not help someone sleep. I watched the debate last night, and it was pretty good. I felt like the format didn't really allow for much discussion or time for the complex issues to be explained by the candidates. People complain that they want detailed answers and for problems as big as we are facing, 90 seconds isn't enough to explain what you will do in 4 years of an administration to take care of problems. I know that debates are special and formatted discussions but still, I don't think it allows for adequate discussion. I also think that for this debate as well as the VP debate, they ask TOO many questions and don't allow for the candidates to really discuss. That is what I think... but what do I know? I think the most memorable thing from the debate was McCain saying "That one" in reference to Obama. I also felt it was in poor taste that there was no handshake at the end. It is clear, very clear that McCain is not able to be sportsman like. He can't hide his disdain for his opponent very well. I think it is sickening. I watched the after part of the debate, and McCain could not get out fast enough. Then Obama stayed and shook everyone's hand, and took pictures and spoke with them. THAT is what a good president is made of. Someone who is willing to do a little extra. I believe it is the little extras that get a lot. I was thinking about if I was one of those people who got the honor to watch the debate, and what I would say if I got to shake Barack's hand, and what I would say to Michelle. It is hard, you have like two seconds max to think of something smart to say.... I would probably say, HI! You are wonderful or something silly like that. I would probably tell Michelle that she is beautiful. So lame-o, but I think it would be all I could muster. Well, I am going to try to go to sleep now... wish me luck. Night night......

Monday, October 6, 2008

Reflections on a year

It has been almost a year to the day, October 10th to be precise, that I was hospitalized with a horrible pneumonia, and put on supplemental oxygen 24 hours a day. Since then I have had to quit work, become "disabled" and begin to collect disability, and doing 3 treatments a day. I have been in the hospital 3 times since then, had 2 surgeries, lost my doctor, and gained a new doctor. It has been quite a turbulent year, to say the least. I am feeling a little PTSD-ish right now, hoping to all that is good in the world that I don't get sick this season. I do feel like i am in a much better place health-wise. My disease took a dive from the big October episode, but overall I feel like I am in a much better place now.
I have been hard on myself thinking I am doing nothing with my life... but I must take a step back and look what was happening leading up to my October fall... I had graduated from Grad school in june, finished up part time school and a part time internship, traveled to Chicago, helped to organize the CF retreat, got a new job, purchased a condo, moved in with my boyfriend (now husband), Began working, and then BOOM pneumonia. I think I deserve this year off, and the time to heal... but it makes me feel so worthless. I need to be giving to others, not only taking for myself. I am hoping that i can find something where i can challenge my mind. I definitely do not have the stamina i once did, but I feel like I do need to do something outside of myself. I need to use my brain. I want to think critically and analytically. I have my creative outlet of cooking, but I need something else. I am an academic, i like to learn and think and write. I am not a writer, but maybe I need to be writing something. As you may have noticed, I don't watch my spelling too well on my blog, so I am not really the best at this whole writing thing... but I do need to do something. something to expand my brain power. If anyone out there in blog land has any ideas of a small very small part time job, please let me know.
The good things about this year are that I have made a great commitment with the love of my life, and I am living close to my favorite little Emily, my sister has found the most amazing guy Lou, and I feel more supported by my family than ever, and the CF retreat this year was one of the best in my life. So all in all, things have been up and down. huh, just like life is supposed to be! I must say my wishes for this next year to come is for it to be less turbulent and a little more stable and dare I say even boring. Heres to another year.......

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Debate-able

I guess it is time for me to write about what is going on, it has been a few days. I am having a good week for the most part. I had a Doctor appointment and I am liking my new doc. He is up to the challenge of dealing with demanding Anna, so that is good. We will see, i am keeping a close eye on him. I was lucky enough to spend the afternoon and dinner with one of my closest and longest time friends, miss Ana. We had a great walk a couple miles i think, then went and enjoyed a delicious meal of thai food. It was great to catch up. We are like sisters, and we share the same birthday (well her second transplant birthday). You know when you are in the presence of a great person and friend, and she is that!!!! Today I had the dreaded Pulmonary function test. Every year we have to do a big hour long test that measures all kind of breathing and how strong and how much our lungs work. It wasn't as bad as i remembered it to be, so that was good. THEN it was DEBATE TIME TONIGHT!!! I have been looking foward to the debate for a while now. Especially since Sarah Palin has been screwing the pooch in every question she answered with Katie Curic. So my humble opinion is that she held her own. But everyone has set the bar so low for her, the fact that she showed up and finished her sentences was a good job for her. haha.... but I will give it to her, she was much better than on her interviews, but she is so out of her league. I thought that Biden did an amazing job. I thought he was concise and to the point, and clear and was kind but firm. I thought he did great. For me (not like I was going to switch my vote or something) but for me, he solidified my respect and understanding of why Barack Obama picked him to be on the ticket. He will be a great sounding board for Obama, and they will work as a team. He picked someone who has strengths where his weakness is, foreign policy. That is a wise choice, so they can work as partners and develop a great plan for this country. I am very happy how this election is turning out, I am confident that Obama will continue his lead.... lets hope for the future of this country that Obama wins........

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Yay for pie

I know why i love casey, he makes pie! We made apple pie with apples from my mom's garden. OH MAN, this should win awards. My mother almost died when she ate it. Casey and I are completely satisfied after eating it. OH YEA.... YUMMMMM. This was a nice weekend, we went out to dinner to Flea St. Cafe, in Menlo Park, to celebrate our comittment with my parents. It was a great meal. I had halibut encrusted with herbs and flower petals. Casey had a delicious steak. Before dinner Casey (the crazy person) rode 76 miles on his bike. WOAH BABY. He is impressive. Well, i guess that is all i have to say now. The pie was so good.... I just had to brag.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

can you walk and chew gum?

Well, it is official, Mccain is a magician, or should I say a master of distraction. I am so annoyed with the damn McCain campaign I could just poop. Ooops, just did. hehe. No but really, is McCain really that scared to talk about the issues, the SERIOUS issues, that he has to appear like he cares, and tries to cancel the debate? MAN, this guy is ridiculous. Also, I think this was a stunt to get the VP debate (expected next week) to be rescheduled, so poor little Palin doesn't have to speak for herself. I can't believe this. Well, I guess we should have expected it. Everything he does is a stunt. I am scared for this country if he becomes president. He is so impulsive, but at the same time slow, he doesn't think. Seriously, i don't trust a man who hires someone he met one time, then keeps her from the press (becasue she can't be trusted to answer questions correctly), and then cancels his campaign to be a "hero" and go solve Washington's problems, and can't have a debate. THEN I hear that he cancels his appearance with David Letterman, and doesn't actually go back to Washington till tomorrow, and does a interview with Katie Couric instead. The funniest is that David Letterman got Keith Olbermann to fill in for McCain's spot. That is going to be a serious McCain bash tonight. You should watch!
Anyways, I can't believe this whole stunt...... frustrates me.

Other than that, I ended IVs today!!!! YAY!!!!! I also talked to my good friend Alanah. She is the cutest person. I have to do the worst thing tomorrow... LAUNDRY. POOOOOOOOOO. I can't stand laundry. It annoys me. Well, it could be worse, I could be in the hospital, and I am not, so life is good. I am thankful to be well enough to do laundry, but it is one of those things in life that is just so monotonous. OK< enough from me for now. I gotta go get ready to watch Letterman... hehehe.... GOOOO KEITH!

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Robin (the momma)'s birthday!!!

Today is my moms birthday. I won't announce her age to the world, but I will take the time to sing.... eh hem....

HAAAAPPPYYYY BIRRRTHHHDAYYYY TO YOUUUUUUUU
HAAAAAPPPPYYY BIRRRRRTHHHHDAAAYYYYY TO YOUUUUUUU
HAPPYBIRHTDAY DEAR MOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMAAAAAAA
HAAAAAPPPYYY BIIRRRRTHHHHDAAAYYYY TOOOOOOOO YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

I love you mom!

Caseys new bike and cupcakes!

Casey got a new bike today. He has been waiting for it for 3 weeks, and shopping for it since June. Needless to say he is very excited in anticipation. Well, today I took him to the shop and dropped him off for a ride home on his new Felt F3 bike. Can you tell that he has been talking about it? haha.... I am very happy for him. He deserves a new toy since he has been so dedicated to his biking and he has a ride up mount diablo next weekend. So this will be great. Also, this is the first post from my NEW computer. I think I like it for the most part, vista is a bit annoying, and I can't figure out how to make the webcam work, but other than that it is great. Hasn't crashed yet. Hopefully that takes a few years for that to happen. Yesterday was a very fun day as we found a gigantic sale on bathroom tile. We are going to redo the bathroom, and to a thrifty shopper, a sale was right up our alley. I can't believe we actually found stuff that was perfect for us. We hadn't decided on the floor tile yet because all the stuff we wanted was out of our range. WELL, the sale made things much more reasonable. We got 12dollar a square foot tile for 4 bucks! What is that like 70 ish percent off? AWESOME. So now we get to put in stone like we wanted. Now I just gotta find a tile guy and a great contractor that doesn't cost too much... good luck to me for that one. We also discovered a CUPCAKE store. We ended up getting too many because they all looked so good and we wanted to try, so we might be in sugar comas for the next few days..... hehehe... I tried the coconut and the carrot one last night. YUMMY! I like them because they have lots of frosting. Kara's Cupcakes in Palo Alto, they also have on in SF. So that is all for now... i gotta go eat a cupcake. hehehe..... (devious smile here).

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Sad day......

I just received an email from my very best friend, and her boyfriend/lifepartner, just left to be deployed. He was done with his obligation, but was recalled because of our fabulous problems in the middle east. I am sitting here listening to the song that makes me so happy because it reminds me of my love, and i can't imagine how it would feel to have the love of your life swept away suddenly. They had about 3 weeks to prepare for this day....... When you think you will spend the rest of your life with someone and they are all of a sudden gone..... for about one year, maybe a little more...... I am just sending Emily my love and thoughts. I can't imagine how it could feel. But I am wanting to be here for her, and to support our troops, and LETS GET THEM HOME!

Saturday, September 13, 2008

To Mac or to PC?

Yesterday I went to look at a couple computers at Costco. I currently have an HP and I like HP. I wish I didn't have to get a new computer because Windows Vista appears to be a problem. I was trying to decide about the possibility of switching to Mac. My sister and my mom have one but My dad and casey and I have a PC, Sara used to have PC but she just recently switched. I must admit I don't really like either option. The Vista was annoying and I know how everyone says how user friendly Macs are, but I just don't like it. It feels backwards to me. Yesterday I decided I was just going to bite the bullet and get HP again, but now I am just not so sure. I went with Casey to the barber shop, where they had lots of boy magazines and i read an article about vista, it is crap. It blue screens, which I didn't want because this computer does that too.... We tried all we could to save my computer but we think it has a hardware problem which isn't going to be fixable (without spending some cash). So I am sitting here with this dilemma of Mac or PC, I just don't know what to do. If anyone has any suggestions I am open to it, BRING IT ON.

Other than that... I am feeling very rested now. I have allowed myself to sleep and rest and this week allowed me to get to a rested place I have not been since before grad school (4 years ago). I seriously haven't felt this rejuvinated in a long time. Hopefully I will be able to use this and get some stuff done, but I like the feeling of not being overscheduled, and overstimulated. I might try to hang on to it for a while. Well, that is all i have to report now. Maybe I will go with my dad to check out some more computers. grrrr... computers can be so frustrating!

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Sleepy

I am one tired cookie. This IV stuff is wearing on me. I feel like when I had mono and every time I sat down I fell asleep. I took 3 naps today, and even so, i still had a pretty productive day. I am sitting here waiting for my sister to finish talking to her cute boyfriend and talk to me on Aim, while she is in Venice. I am very excited to talk to her, as I am about to pee in my pants. hehe. Other than that, I had a nice conversation with my friend Alyson today. I am very excited for her as she has met a nice boy. well, a man, but I like to call them boys. So i hope things go well for her on that front. I also have a new addiction to Frozen Yogurt. It is the devil and i love it!!!!! I think last week i had yogurt or ice cream every day. I went with our family friend Janet and her niece Allison to get yogurt today. It was delish!!!!! And they were nice company as well. Well, my newest adventure is that i get nauseous when i get one of my meds. It is really fun to wake up in the morning almost puking. Tonight it got me too, and i am trying to shake it off. Any smell bothers me... it is great fun! Well, my sister in going to talk to me now... so I am going to go....

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Woah, Joe!

Today I couldn't sleep while I was doing my infusion, so i got up to make tea and watch "meet the press". Well, Joe Biden was on the beginning of the show, and he said something that seemed to boggle Tom Brokaw's mind. Now, a little history about meet the press, I loved watching meet the press with good old Tim Russert. Unfortunately as many of you must know Tim suddenly died this summer. I watch all of this political stuff going on wishing that he was here to comment on it, because he was the best of all. No BS Russert. He would ask the real questions and would NOT let people get away with the crap they are getting away with right now. He would have a field day with the Sarah Palin stuff. SO Tim, I think of you often, I hope you are watching from somewhere, hopefully he will watch over us and make sure this country doesn't make the biggest mistake of it's life. ANYWAYS>..... Joe this morning was asked what he believed about abortion, and when life begins. Joe responded that he believes life begins at conception. Which is a different answer for a democrat. Tom replied, Really? or something, he seemed to be a bit shocked. Joe continued with Yea, I believe this, but that does not mean that others do, and it should not mean that others don't have a choice. He even said the words, my religious views should not become that of the government. It was the biggest breath of fresh air I have heard in a while. I have so much respect for Joe now and I hope all of you who don't like him will consider his position on this.

Friday, September 5, 2008

Awakening

This week has been long and filled with many different experiences. I had my doctor appointment with the new head of the CF center...... I was pretty impressed with him. Granted, I was the one who looked at my sputum culture results and determined I should switch antibiotics, but he gave me the respect that I wanted and determined that it would be best to switch up the meds. You see, when we start IV antibiotics, it is always using the sputum culture form the time before, which could be months ago. It takes about 5-7 days for the results to come back, so once you are already in the swing of the meds, you may need to change the meds. I was not seeing the results i usually do with the meds. So it actually made me happy to see my culture and understand why I wasn't getting better as i would like. The bad thing is that I am going to have to do an extended course of IVs, starting 3 weeks from wednesday, instead of 3 weeks from 2 weeks ago :( but oh well, i want to get better. Also, I have to mix this new medicine. It actually adds about 3 1/2 hours to my day. I am now going to be spending 5 1/2 hours infusing and 1/2 hour mixing meds. It is quite a lot of work. So that is basically a full time job, because then you add my 3 treatments per day which is another 1 1/2 hours and you get a full 8 hour day of CF stuff. That is not including making nebulizers and cleaning nebulizers. So I have my work cut out for me.
I also had my appointment with Ken, the port dude, and he fixed my hole. He used some superglue to pull my skin together, and put some steri-strips to keep it all closed up. He said it was about 80% healed. Casey was able to do a nice re-accessing job tonight, where he changes the needle that I have had all week. This port is much easier to find, since you don't have to go sifting through my cleavage. So that is getting better and will be just fine soon.
My mom and sister left today for England and rome and venice. They have to travel for 24 hours because they used frequent flyer miles, and you don't get to have the best options for free flights. But at least it is free! I am going to miss my sister... 3 1/2 months is a long time. So I had to say bye to her yesterday. Sad, but she deserves to go have a great time! Bon Voyage Sissy!
Last night Casey and I went to see the opening night of "Spring Awakening" at the Curran theater in SF. We went with our friend Linda, and some of her friends. It was a good show. The music was fantastic. It was a perfect example why abstinence only education is not a good idea.... It was definately a good musical. I must say though, nothing I have seen compares to RENT, that is my all time favorite show! Tonight we saw Wall-E which i am such a dork and slept through most of. I can't stay awake at the movie theater. I tried, but to no avail. I saw some of it, but my eyes were closed a lot of the time. Stupid. I think i need toothpicks or something to stick in my eyeballs. Anyways, that is what I have been up to.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

update

Well, I have been in the land of politics, loving the drama of it all.  You really can't make this stuff up.  But i must say that I am scared of the alternative to Obama being president, but lets not even go there right now.  

My port is not healing as well as I would have liked.  I have to go in tomorrow and get it looked at.  I might have to have a new stitch put in.  So that will be loads of fun tomorrow, but I will have my charming mom accompany me through it.  I also have to have a follow up CF appointment with the New Docs at stanford.  For those of you reading this who don't know, Stanford CF center has made a gigantic change with a new director, and the development of a real Adult CF Center. However, in this change, my absolutely beloved doctor, Dr. Upadhyay, will no longer be with the CF center, and now I have to have a new doc.  I am pretty annoyed with this, but it is just how it is.  So i have to meet a new doc tomorrow.... a little anxious i must say.  so tomorrow is doctor day. 

I spent the day with my cute sister and her cute boyfriend Lou.  I enjoy my family. My sister leaves on Friday morning.  HOW SAD.  I will miss her, but she will have a great experience out there in London land.  So I am off for now. I will put an update on my port soon.  

Friday, August 29, 2008

Holy Moose hunter

So, can we talk about how fabulous Obama's acceptance speech was last night?  AMAZING.  He hit every point perfectly.  I can't help but agree with everything he says.  He is such a great man, with such potential to lead this country to a place where it needs to be.  Towards healing, world peace, energy reform, and regaining the trust and respect of the rest of the world.  Now, can we talk about the VP moose wrangler?  Who the hell is this woman Sarah Palin?  How is she going to come from podunk Alaska to take on the United States of America?  This just shows that John McCain is a complete idiot, to make a split decision like that?  He has met her twice?  How is she going to take care of her special needs downs-syndrome baby while being the VP?  It is a big job, how ridiculous. So, i think this is so stupid.  I hope, no I know, women are not so stupid as to vote for McCain just because he picked a woman VP.  Wow, talk about no experience..... 18 months in office?  comes from the PTA, I know the PTA is a rough and tumble place, but what?  hahaha..... it is just funny that he has made this choice.  Good going john.  My friends, I guess you will just have to vote OBAMA!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Hello out there in blog reader land....

I haven't posted the past two days.... you would not have wanted to hear from me. I have the "roid rage". I am on a high dose of prednisone, and it has made me nutty, with all the bad side effects. I am manic, (just like britney spears), irritable, angry, sad, happy, twitchy, jittery, insomnia, swollen, hungry, and bloated! Doesn't that sound like a fun combo? Well, it isn't fun for me, and it isn't fun for anyone around me. I am much better today since i came down a bit on the dose. So i can at least live inside my body. Yesterday it felt like I had an Anna monster inside. Well, i watched the convention yesterday, and didn't think that Hillary did a good job at all! But i feel she redeemed herself today, by helping to go above the rules of the convention, and declare Obama the Nomminee!!!! YAY FOR OBAMA DAY! I thought Bill's speech was fantastic. I thought he did a great job comparing McCain to Bush, and giving the perspective of the potentials of a young president. I thought it was absouletly great! Also, i think Joe Biden is a great man. I think they will be able to accomplish a lot of good things together. GO OBAMA and BIDEN! I can't wait for tomorrow's Obama speech. We will see what be brings...I don't doubt that it will be anything less than totally amazing. So, that is about it for me now..... I gotta go medicine up, treatment up, and put a new dressing on my new port. I am such high maitenance! I will be sure to update tomorrow, so everyone make sure to watch OBAMA!

Monday, August 25, 2008

What potential

Hello from the outside world!  I came home today at about 5.  It is amazing how long it takes to coordinate everything.  Anyways, I am out and doing well.  I got to watch the DNC convention with Michelle Obama's speech.  How beautiful.  She is such an amazing woman.  That family is beautiful inside and out.  I can't wait till they are the first family.  We must do all we can to help america seize it's potential.  I think i am going to have to be more active in volunteering for Obama, we can't miss this opportunity to have such an amazing man as our president.  I hope all of you will be able to watch him inspire this week.  Go OBAMA!

Sitting and Waiting...

I am still waiting to be discharged. It took so long to get the orders in to my homecare pharmacy that i had to wait here to do my afternoon doses. So my stay has been extended until 430-5ish. However, I got to spend the last hour with my bud Tom, and we got to sit out by the fountain in the nice air and chat. It is so wonderful to have other CF friends who understand what you are going through. Well, I will be watching the DNC convention in the hospital... at least there is something to watch.... I can't wait to sleep in a real bed tonight!

Fun Hospital times

My friend Tom is here with me! Poor Tom had to come in, but Yay for us because we got to hang out last night. Fun times of hanging out with friends, reminiscing, and sharing about hospital "issues". I am on the track to getting out of here today.... so wish me luck! Send Tom your good vibes, so he can get better fast too, and get out of the nuthouse!

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Too many chickens

So last night, i found out that now I only have 2 enzymes ordered for meals. What the hell? I have been eating 4 with meals and 2 with snacks for my entire existence. I swear, I don't know how this hospital actually functions. I do what I want anyway, so i make things happen for myself, but why would someone change something like that? Maybe they think i am too fat and are putting me on the Alli diet. Did you all know that those new diet pills Alli are simply giving you a CF gut? It makes your body unable to digest fat, and it just comes right out of your butt... hence the warning for anal leakage, if you consume more fat than suggested. So maybe I am in for some fun anal leakage! just kidding....

What do you think?

Should i put out some slpenda in some nice cocaine rows on my bedside table, and complain to Larry the pharmacy guy that someone left drugs at my bedside, and I might be in danger? hehehe...

Ports at ease

Hello.. just reporting that the port is actually doing ok. It is to be expected that there is swelling inside, and with the whole of the needled that is in, it is likely to come out. Fortunately not a whole lot more has seeped out. Good news is that it appears I can cough better today. SO I am in for some workouts. Casey was sweet to me, and put me to bed before he left, even though I was grumpy and couldn't get comfy to sleep. Last night was one of those "typical" hospital nights. But maybe this benedryl i just took will knock me out ;)

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Dana Carvey and Windy Wente

I was able to have a joyous night before coming into this nut house they call a hospital. Casey and I, with the accompaniment of his family attended the Dana Carvey show in Livermore at the Wente Vineyards. It was really nice. We dodged having too much traffic, got a nice ride on a golf cart, and had a delicious buffett dinner before the show. The food was Fantastic. Now, i was on prednisone already, but I don't htink it was just my orgasmic food experience of being on the "zone diet". Casey confirmed that the food was deliscious even when you were untainted by the oh so powerful prenisone. There were glazed nuts galore, breads of every type, delish light chicken breasts with balsamic reduction, seared ahi with soy sauce, some read meat(which i didn't eat), fantastic spinach salad with chicken and beautiful warm mushrooms, figs, strawberries, champagne grapes, oh so good! The dessert was great too. But first I pile my plate so high! I ate all of it, super fast. Then I went to get another entire plate of fruit. I ate too many figs...but it was sooo good. So we ate, then we watched the show, and man it was WINDY in Wente. But the show was really funny and i definately enjoyed a good belly laugh before the hospital. So thank you to the Martin family for taking us!

new port frustration already

Well, things aren't quite as happy as they were earlier in the day. I am a bit frustrated, only because the weekends are hard to deal with because if you have a question, the usual people are not around. So my port site seems to be leaking a bit of fluid. I had my dressing changed, and i did some coughing, and it is a little wet again. My nurse didn't have the expertise to make any decision, so they are calling in some other people, and i just have to sit and wait. It is really painful to have the dressing changed when it is fresh. It sticks so hard on the skin, and you get small rips in the skin, HOW FUN! Then on top of it, they put fresh alcohol to clean it... Yum, alcohol in a fresh wound. Anyways, I have to wait to be poked and proded again. At least my Casey is bringing me some good food to add to the zone diet. RIBS! Please think good thoughts, that this is normal and it is just healing. But the other half of my day was great. I slept 7 1/2 hours, and my sister, Lou, Mom and Linda came to visit. So we had a good time just hanging out. When Linda came she brought a fun goodie bag full of little toys. Hehehe.... She is the best. Just like make a wish every time i see her! Lou and Sara were great too. How nice for Lou to go out of his way to deal with the "sick sister". I really appriciated the visitors. I hope that anyone who is going to the massive concert in SF this weekend has fun! Say hi to Jack Johnson for me! Ok, done babbling... I will keep you all updated as i find out what is up with my port.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Port is Replaced!

Hello all... I am back and kickin! I went in this morning at 11am and got back about 245pm. My port surgery went WAY longer than expected. My port was covered in scar tissue. They had to even make another incision to pull out the catheter, which was also covered in scar tissue. I must say that it was crazy to be awake during a procedure like that. I remember everything. They kept me talking and engaged the whole time. The numbing med hurt like a mo fo. But i survived. When they were taking out the port it was gross, pulling and pulling. I am going to be very bruised. I have a really stick neck and my cough hurts my neck beacuse the blood pressure builds and hurts the incision into the vessel. I didn't know how long the surgery was, but I felt bad because my cousin, casey and mom were waiting for me for like 1 1/2 hours. But i hear they had a good time chatting. My cousin is in nursing school so we invited her to come and learn and see "the patient's perspective". It was nice that she was here. She is obviously in the right profession, she loved being here. Strange huh? My nurse is really cool too right now, so we are in a good space. I am getting my desenitization now, and on Bag 4 of 7 so I am just hanging out now. Mom and dad just brought dinner for themselves. Casey will bring me Kirk burgers in a while. So yay. Well, They didn't let me keep my old port, but i got to see it before we finished the surgery. He said it was completely clotted from the catheter to the well inside the port. How crazy, so that is a good thing. Anyways, I have been having a hard time getting posts up, it doesn't like this other one i tried to put up this morning, so hopefully this works! Check in for more hopefully.....

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Oh Larry the pharmacy guy

So I am in the hospital now. It has been going well thus far. I am planned to get my port placed tomorrow about 10 am ish... but that is hospital time, so we will see what really happens. The good news is that i am not very sick at all, this is a kind of "get it before it gets me" tune up with the IV antibiotics. So I am very optimistic. Also, I have more energy than normal when I am in here, so i am much able to deal with all the complications of getting all of the orders straight. So everything has gone well, and i have almost all my meds ordered. So that is great. I like to have my own insulin when I am in here, because it is difficult to get the insulin when you need it, so I like to keep it bedside... this is where LARRY the pharmacy guy comes in. I have to have the insulin approved, and I have never had any issue with this before, but he comes in and gives me a speech about their protocol and how they do not in no instance leave the meds by the bedside. As he says, "you never know, you might get confused and give yourself two doses, or swallow the WHOLE pill bottle." I was trying not to snicker... if you were to take the WHOLE bottle of enzymes, i promise you would never ever make that mistake again... you would probably need more golytly and miralax, more than they have in the hospital. Anyways, after a few more lectures about how if he left it at the bedside, it would be a sin worse than anything you could think of. Then he spouted out something about an email going out about how Larry made a boo boo by leaving it out, and EVERYONE would get the email, and we wouldn't want that would we? It was quite comical, but at the same time VERY irritating. I am at more risk not getting my insulin when needed, than overdosing myself. But ANYWAY... he is such a condesending guy it was funny. After he left we did a treatment and I heard all about his reputation around here... and he will stand up to a resident and say "shhhhh" and put his hand up as to be saying , "talk to the hand" and will go on about the chemical make up of medicines, just to show off his knowledge. I don't know if you all think this is as funny/ridiculous as I do... but i have to find some things in this joint to entertain me. Then right after dinner I had convinced my nurse to let me have my enzymes and insulin by my bed until I go to bed... my mom went out of my room, and came back in and said, "QUICK hide the meds! LARRY is outside!" so we hid the contraband and ran out of the room so he wouldn't check on me. I think i dodged him for now. i am scared he is going to check my "lock box" and find that my insulin isn't in there, and come hunt me down! Anyways, that is the entertainment for the day. The good thing is that my FAVROITE respiratory therapist is here, and he is giving me GREAT treatments, so I can get all cleared out for my surgery. That is enough CF talk for now... I have more to post, about last night but I will do that later... you will have to stay tuned!

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

The little things in life....

Today started out with a normal routine, but I got to have a massage at the chiropractic office. I have had a few massages in my day, and I must admit that they were never quite as good as I could have hoped. My head is always a tiny bit weird in the head rest, my sinuses stuff up because of the positioning, and i feel like the masseuse isn't getting it just right. But today, MAN OH MAN. I had the most amazing massage. I didn't even realize how comfortable i was until I tried to get up. I was in such bliss... it lasted through the drive home, and through lunch. I figured i better get to the pool, to continue this day of relaxation. It put me in a trance like state. I don't know if should have driven home, but I had no care in the world. It felt fantastic. The best thing was, she didn't jip me 10 minutes, she did the complete one hour! FANTASTIC. Now my body is all loosened up for surgery. I don't have much else to report, just continuing to get ready for the end of the week, and the weeks ahead. We had Tacos for dinner last night, and we have left overs for tonight. I have decided that when i make tacos, they are one of my favorite meals. I always prepare black beans and corn on the cob to go with it. YUMMMMY! The big bummer of the thing though, was that the new taco shells i bought were kinda stale, so today i took them back to get better ones, so hopefully tonight the meal if terriffic. Also, we have my mom's homemade apple sauce to go with, so you can't get much better than that!!!!! Yummm, i am drooling all over the keyboard. I learned that one from Sara's (my sister's) Cat, Moooey. She also drools all over the keyboard when you are typing. One of the funniest memories i have is a few years ago I was "im-ing" my dad, and he typed, "Mooey just drooled on my D key". I don't think i will ever forget it, i just fell out of my chair laughing. Oh the little things in life.....

Sunday, August 17, 2008

My Casey is home!

My Casey came home today from a week vacation in Tahoe. I missed him a lot, but I got to have some good "me" time. It is nice that he is home, but for some reason, the house keeps getting messy. There is all of a sudden clutter everywhere... but he is being good, trying to keep it to a minimum. I must say it is nice to have so many hugs today!!! And, I went to the pool again today. Keeping the dream alive.... ;)

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Visiting the Sister

Yay, today I am going to visit my sister. I am definitely going to miss her when she goes to study aboard this next quarter. Only 2ish weeks left till she leaves I think. Well, we gotta make this one count! I love you Sary!!!!
... Well, I am back from the adventure in Santa Cruz. My sister is the coolest. We went out to eat at her favorite restaurant, Cafe Brasil, and we got an Acai bowl, which I was forced into ;) but it was delish. It was a smoothy of Acai berries with granola on top and strawberries and bananas. Yum. we had a little bit of a distraction because when we were waiting to sit, my blood sugar dropped to 57 and Sara had to go get me some juice ASAP. But i was able to eat protient with eggs and avacado, so i was good the rest of the day. We went shopping in downtown Santa Cruz, and went to this store that has tshirts for 5 bucks!!!! I tried on a bunch of things, but the thing about fashion is that things are wierd, and they make me look pregnant with my big old CF belly. So most things got the heave ho, but i came away with two shirts, and a camisole thingy.
We almost died twice today, by cars, but we survived. So that was a positive take on the day. We also went into a fun candy store and i had to face the hardest decision of my life!!!! Do i do the cotton candy or the carmel apple?????????? AHHHHHH, it was so hard to decide. But Drumroll please....... we chose to share the carmel apple. It was not the best i have ever had, but it was something fun and different. I had a huge glass of milk with it at the candy store, and I was sooo full. So we had fun. I will miss our jounts when she is gone. But she will be back and we will play. So that was my day with my sis.... it ended up with no beach, but the shopping was fun. I am not such a fan of shopping, but a few stores in a downtown are fun, everyonce in a while. Tomorrow I am going to stick to my pool everyday till surgery routine.... so wish me luck in the sun! Hope everyone has a FUN and carefree weekend!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Things I learned at Retreat

Last week was one of the most important weeks of my life. Every first week in August is the most important week of my year. It is when we have our CFRI CF teen and adult retreat. It was so fabulous to see my great friends of so many years. Seeing my friends who i only get to see once a year is the best thing. I have been going to CF camp or retreat for 18 years! It has been a staple in my life. I was thinking about how Retreat is so educational, (not necessarily always about CF, but also about life) so i thought it would be fun to list some things I learned at retreat ..... Beware, humor is to follow......

1. Everyone has a Wenis
2. You can purchase a foldable neckrest for sunbathing... and it helps to combat Irritable neck syndrome....
3. I have a group of friends who are so real, so awesome, so wise, and teach me so much about life and myself
4. I have the most supportive significant other I could ever hope for
5. The memorial service never ever gets easier
6. Ana and Isa invented the answer to global warming and it with the use of recycled pill bottles
7. There is a book called, "greiving for dummies" We all met the author!
8. rectal transplants tremendously help the affliction called Critical Farting
9. I am a bunny whisperer, because I pet the wild bunny
10. My people are awesome!

My life as I know it

Hello to those who want to check out my blog. This is my first post, as you can see.... I guess I will talk about what is going on for me now. Many things keep me busy, especially my journey with my CF. The newest is that my wonderful port, which has kept my IVs, as conflict free as possible, has come to its end of life. I am scheduled to get a new one on Friday, August 22. Inorder to do this well, my plan is to go into the hospital on the 21, and begin IV antibiotics after the surgery. So I will be in the nut house for a few days, but I will be able to deal. I just took some me time, which was most needed, and spent time at the pool, all by myself, no one else there. How wonderful. So My day of serenity, will be complimented by a crazy week next week. My goal is to go to the pool each day between now and hospital day, because after the port surgery it will be a while before i want to go back to the pool, and then summer will be over! So I am here, soaking up rays and prepping for what will be an interesting few weeks ahead....