Breathing Deeply: My Life With Cystic Fibrosis

According to the Air Pollution Control District, the current air quality is moderate to hazardous. The concentration of particulates in the air, specifically the small ones called PM 2.5s, is more than triple the National threshold level.

These particles are the ones that penetrate deepest into the lungs, causing inflammation. Naturally, this poses a huge threat for people with CF who already have compromised lung function.

It will be weeks before all this gunk is out of the air, and Santa Ana conditions are not making it any easier. I've spoken to some CFers in Southern California who do not have air conditioning, let alone a free-standing HEPA filter in their homes.

I'm asking the members of the blogosphere and anyone else who has been wondering what to do to help San Diego Fire victims. Please consider helping me raise some money to purchase HEPA filters for those in need.

Your generous gift will bring much needed relief to those who are struggling for breath in the wake of this firestorm.

Please click the DONATE button below. When you get to the Secure PayPal site, enter any dollar amount of your choosing in the "quantity" box. The enter my email address Lgrace217@sbcglobal.net.

THANK YOU!

According to the Air Pollution Control District, the current air quality is moderate to hazardous. The concentration of particulates in the air, specifically the small ones called PM 2.5s, is more than triple the National threshold level.

These particles are the ones that penetrate deepest into the lungs, causing inflammation. Naturally, this poses a huge threat for people with CF who already have compromised lung function.

It will be weeks before all this gunk is out of the air, and Santa Ana conditions are not making it any easier. I've spoken to some CFers in Southern California who do not have air conditioning, let alone a free-standing HEPA filter in their homes.

I'm asking the members of this board and your family members to please consider helping me raise some money to purchase HEPA filters for those in need. Please send me a PM or an email and I can give you some details. I'll be putting a paypal "DONATE" button on my blog as well, and you can contribute that way.

Your generous gift will bring much needed relief to those who are struggling for breath in the wake of this firestorm.

Please donate by clicking the DONATE button below.

Some of you are undoubtedly hearing reports about the wild fires in Southern CA, particularly in the San Diego area. Thank you to all of you who called or emailed to check on us and make sure we're safe. Here's what's going on with us and how you can be praying.

1. Many of our church friends live in areas that are being evacuated. Pray for safety and a sense of calm as they evacuate.

2. The air quality is HORRIBLE. I and many of my CF friends in the area are going to have to be very careful not to go outside too much. Fires tend to dislodge spores, such as aspergillus, which is one of the things I'm severely allergic too. Pray that my allergy medication will do its job, and that I won't experience a set-back as a result of poor air quality.

3. Please pray for the volunteers from our church who are headed out to Qualcomm stadium tonight to assist in the relief effort of evacuees. Pray that their generosity and strength of spirit will minister to those who are frightened, hurting, and on the verge of losing things they hold dear.

I'll update again as necessary. Thanks again for your concerns and prayers.

Brad and I have had a wonderful weekend together. We pretty much just lounged about, glad to be back in one another's company after 4 days apart. Yesterday we saw a matinée performance of Jersey Boys downtown. Brad had seen it more than a year ago when it was debuted in San Diego. He accurately predicted that it was going to go all the way to Broadway. We were glad for the chance to see such a great performance here in our own backyard.

We also rented a couple of movies and alternated who got to stretch out on the couch downstairs. I got to have it first while we watched Evan Almighty. Gimli fell asleep in my lap, tucked tightly between my legs and the cushion of the couch. As a burrowing creature, he definitely has an affinity for tight spaces. After Evan we watched Numb3rs, a TV show that Brad likes. Sometimes it's a little too gritty for me, but usually I can hang tough for 75% of it. I like the problem-solving aspect of it, but I'm not a huge fan of the violence. Ick.

The end of this month I'm going to a writer's clinic with my co-author, Judith. She was going to come out to CA so we could get our proposal together and hammer out a couple of sample chapters. Unfortunately, her MS was really acting up, and she couldn't make the drive. So, after checking with my wonderful hubby to make sure he wouldn't miss me too much, I hopped in the car and drove to Phoenix.

While I was there I helped her set up a 501c3 non-profit organization called Addiction Overcome, Inc. Judith's personal story is incredible. She is a former cocaine addict who broke free from her addiction about 12 years ago. Her book is absolutely gripping, and filled with hope. I've got a few copies if anyone wants to buy one. Or just visit her blog http://addictionovercome.blogspot.com.

Anywho, I was SO glad she didn't try to drive out here. MS was rendering her quite helpless, and I was glad to be there to help her and her 11-year old daughter (whom I adore!) I just can't imagine being in constant pain 24/7. It got so bad at one point that I needed to bring her to Urgent Care. I was disgusted by how they treated her. There is such a stigma in treating former addicts. They left her waiting needlessly and gave her the run-around about giving her any sort of medication for relief. She was in tears, couldn't walk, and the stress of the situation was making her BP in the 170/140 range or something scary like that. Furthermore, her optic nerves were being pressed upon making her temporarily blind. My heart broke for her and I thought to myself "wow, this makes CF look easy."

Of course, I don't think I'd say that about CF if I hadn't been dealing with it for 3 decades. If I had only been recently diagnosed I'd probably be much more overwhelmed with everything. I'm so thankful for the progress that I've made over the last six months. Life is pretty darn good right now.

I'm looking forward to going back to work in a couple weeks. I'm thrilled to be helping work on our book "Not MY Kid: The Myth of the Drug Free Home" (by the way, anyone who may have some information to share about your family's experiences with that, particularly if you have a story of recovery and hope, we'd love to hear it. Please email me poolsofgrace at gmail dot com)

The picture I've attached is of Olivia, my friend's daughter. Isn't she a sweetheart? She let me do her hair one last time before I took her to have it chopped off into a cuter style before her school picture today. I had SO much fun being "Auntie Lauren."

The next time you feel the need to take the elevator from the first floor to the second at the shopping mall, stop and think about a friend of mine. This video linked below may not seem like anything spectacular to you, but for those of us with cystic fibrosis, we know that gasping breath all too well. The video isn't even 2.5 minutes long, but in that amount of time, my friend's oxygen saturation (the amount of oxygen his blood is receiving as it's exchanged in the respiratory system) goes from a safe 93% to a mere 88%. That change would have signaled the need for supplemental oxygen, if it weren't for the fact that he was already on oxygen. His only chance for survival is a lung transplant.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1156018566/bctid1184531408

To help support much needed research for cystic fibrosis and fund the necessary studies to develop a cure for CF, please click on my link below. The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is a non-profit entity, and your gifts are tax-deductible. 90% of every dollar goes directly to research. Please give as generously as you are able, and give those of us with CF a chance to experience many more tomorrows.

http://www.cff.org/Great_Strides/dsp_DonationPage.cfm?walkid=4863&idUser=155492