I had my very BEST pulmonary rehab session ever today! I felt so clear and hardly short of breath. It was fantastic! My oxygen saturation even came up to 98% at one point, when normally it comes up to 94% at most.

I went back to the ENT doctor today and had the sponges/splints removed from my sinuses. I feel SO much clearer and I'm allowed to blow my nose again. Although today having them cleaned out post-op was more painful than the surgery itself. He suctioned out my sinuses today. It was literally like a tiny vacuum on soft (and tender!) tissue. He even was very near the root of one of my teeth and I definitely felt that! I could feel my pulse in my cheeks afterward. A couple pain pills and a nice home cooked dinner took care of that and I'm feeling much better tonight. I go back in a week for another check-up. I tried to go back to pulmonary rehab today but riding the bike gave me such a headache and made my sinuses hurt, so I had to stop. Also, I go back to Minneapolis for an update evaluation June 5th. I'll be excited to see how I'm doing according to their machines. Hopefully I'll be back on track at rehab and feeling even better than I did last week!

So far, so good today. I slept very soundly and Zoe stayed close to my hip all night. I think she knew something was different/wrong with me. No bleeding and no coughing in the night. I've done a vest treatment with coughing and haven't had any troubles yet with more bleeding.

Today I had sinus surgery. This week the doctor's office had called me 3 different times to reschedule the time, so I wasn't shocked when I was there and prepped for surgery at 1030 and the doctor didn't show up for an hour. Way to keep the patient stress-free! The procedure went well and I was home 3 hours later. Mom and Dad came up yesterday and they're taking care of me today. We had an amazing home cooked meal by Mom! I just wish I could have tasted it a little bit more. All I had before dinner today was 2 pieces of toast around 2 after my surgery. They warned me to try not to cough or sneeze (as if I can control it) and NOT to blow my nose. I managed not to cough all day much until after dinner when I had to finally.

***NOT for WIMPS to read***

All of a sudden I felt the gauze under my nose get warm and I made it to the sink just in time to rip it off and have two steady streams of blood gushing (yes, that's the most fitting word) out of my nose. After I got that under control I decided against doing a vest treatment tonight because I just wasn't quite healed enough for coughing. I'm in a little pain tonight, but they gave me some meds for that. I'm hoping tonight I don't have to wake up and cough or have a nose bleed while I'm asleep.

Went to the doctor today for a one-month check-up after I ended IV antibiotics in February and my lung function was at 29% and capacity was 40%. I had been gradually feeling worse over the last few days so I'll be going back on IV antibiotics on Friday.

Last night I experienced something strange. I was sound asleep when my cat, Zoe woke me up. She was laying on the back of my knees, something she normally doesn't do. Once I realized she was there I was overcome by the tell-tale signs of a very low blood sugar. I stumbled to the kitchen to test it and it was 36 - one of my all time lows! I don't know if I would have woken up as soon without Zoe - I'm convinced she sensed that something was wrong. No wonder she was so tuckered out today - she spent the night and morning keeping an eye on me. My little hero! :)
Zoe wanted to nap today

2 weeks of IV antibiotics will end tomorrow! I went back to the doctor today and my lung function is back up to 30% (although I'd like it to be higher, I do feel a lot better) and my capacity is up to 45%. Not the best improvement, but good enough for now.
Company while infusing

 Minnesota went well. I'm not surprised to find that my lungs are a little worse than they were in May, but I'm feeling better than I was then. My Lung Allocation Score (the number that determines my spot on the waiting list) increased, so I'm that much closer to new lungs! I went back to the doctor yesterday and my lung function was at 27%, so I opted to go on home IV antibiotics for a few weeks beginning on Thursday. I figure that since graduating, I've got nothing better to do with my time than to take better care of myself! Now all I have to do is get motivated enough to exercise!

I'm headed off to Minneapolis for my 6 (but really 8) month check up to keep my status current on "the list" It's going to be a long two days, especially becase we check out tomorrow morning and don't fly out until 9pm so treatments will be few and hard to come by tomorrow. Plus now that they've made flying really really difficult for people with oxygen, liquid medications, disabilities, that it will surely feel like two days from hell. I just can't wait to get back already!


I had company during a morning treatment

Zoe, sitting on the bak of my chair

Went to the doctor today and my function was down to 28%, but I've been feeling pretty good and able to do more daily things around the house. Aside from the off and on lung pains that can't be explained, I've not been too bad!