Breathing Deeply: My Life With Cystic Fibrosis

I haven't blogged in awhile since I've been hospitalized yet again. Cystic fibrosis really sucks in my opinion. Fortunately I have good doctors who are working hard to get me back into tip-top condition.

I ended up here a week ago. I had extreme shortness of breath and my oxygen saturation was pretty low. I ended up having to call an ambulance for myself. Joy. Ambulance rides are not fun. You have to balance on this crazy, skinny gurney and watch the world go by through the back window of claustrophibia-inducing vehicle. Yuck.

When we got to the hospital they started me on IV antibiotics--the usual stuff. Actually, this time they hit me with everything they've got it seems. I'm on 4 different antibiotics. 3 of the intravenous and one of them oral. The bugs that I'm growing this time are highly resistant to them, so we're hoping and praying that this heavy-duty combination of drugs will do the trick to wipe out the infection. The official diagnosis is double pneumonia. Gunky on both sides. I feel like I'm breathing through a coffee stirrer and the stuff I'm coughing up is about the consistency of watery mud. It may as well be mud for all I care.

I'm pretty low on energy, but improving a bit at a time. I'm still on oxygen, but my lung function tests from today showed an improvement from Friday. That's good news at least. I'm not sure how long I'll be here, but I'll try to get better at updating. I just haven't had a chance before now.

Over and out,
Lauren