Breathing Deeply: My Life With Cystic Fibrosis

I'm always surprised by how abnormal and out of place I feel once I'm out of the hospital. I expect to settle right back into a "regular" routine, but so often that's more easily said than done. This weekend I'm mostly just lounging around. Sleeping in my own bed again next to Brad is WONDERFUL. Being able to have access to food at any hour of the day is something of a thrill too. If it weren't for the fact that I still have a few days left on the IV antibiotics, I'd feel downright normal.

I feel well. One of the first things I noticed last night while falling asleep was that breathing felt natural and easy. No more shallow breaths or nighttime oxygen (or daytime oxygen for that matter!) I could lie flat and not get a headache. I didn't wake up periodically throughout the night with tons of sinus pain and pressure. The sinus surgery must have been a huge success. I can taste more foods. I can smell more scents (which is good and bad.) One of the scents I noticed first was that Brad had switched deodorant. It was way too musky so I made him go back to the one he used before. Ahhhh...familiarity.

My chest feels quite open, and my FEV1 continues to climb. I'm quite curious what it will be by the time I'm back at the doctor for a follow-up. There's still just a little bit of what I call "lung mud" left in there. That's the gunk that's usually the deepest and nastiest and takes the longest to loosen up. It's not uncommon for us CFers to cough up the grossest stuff at the END of a clean out or tuneup, rather than the beginning.

Even being on steroids is going well. My blood sugars haven't been too wacky which is good news. My poor pancreas almost always takes a brutal beating from the prednisone. So far that doesn't seem to be happening. I don't even have moon face! I do have that classic "kangaroo pouch" though from the steroids. I've decided I'm not going to be embarrassed or get bent out of shape just because my stomach isn't flat at the moment and might not be for months. The fact is, I'm finally healthy and feeling well. My body shape will come to reflect that more accurately soon enough. For now though, it's back to the "big jeans" and elastic pants.

I just want to say thank you so much to all of you who read my blog and who have been keeping up with Brad for the updates. Your support, encouragement and mostly your prayers mean so much to me. In what could be such an isolating world of CF, I've got all of you on my team and that is more of a blessing than I deserve.