Where to start…..  I woke up today feeling complete doo doo.  My head was throbbing, sinuses draining, sore throat, coughing and sore all over.  I believe I caught the cold that the guys in my house have.  Perfect timing, considering I finished 21 days of IVs today.  I was really looking forward to feeling decent for a while.  I did feel pretty decent up until a few days ago when my cough started to increase.  I was thinking it was all of this crazy cold weather we have been having in TN.  We had a pretty bad ice storm that left many without power for days.  We then got snow on top of that.  This is TN we are talking about so they are not used to this kind of weather here.  Watching the news is kind of comical when they interview people about the weather.  We are used to this kind of weather being from KS/MO but folks from TN are not..  We have been here for 19 months and I have already almost forgotten what real winter weather was like. I even mentioned to my friend yesterday that my body has adjusted to Tennessee’s definition of cold.  I have only worn my coat once this winter.  Last winter was a different story since we had to walk to dogs for them to potty when we were in the apartment.  I’m not complaining about that.  However, I would much rather my winter consist of 60’s and above.

I have an appointment on Wednesday to do lung functions (PFTs) only.  I was hoping they would show improvement but now I’m thinking that is a long shot with this cold.  Time will tell.

On Sunday, a sweet friend of mine passed away.  She had CF and was only 32.  She went into the hospital hoping for a quick fix up with her stubborn lungs and with a blood clot was not playing nice.  She didn’t come home.  Today her family and friends celebrated her life.

Thanks to the wonderful world of Facebook, I have met many people with CF that I would not have met before.  I have friends from all over the United States and world that have CF that I met through Facebook.  We are able to encourage each other, give advice to each other, cry with one another, laugh with one another, vent to one another and more.  There are things that people with CF go through that only CFers understand.  This is where Facebook comes in handy.  I have friendships of over 15+ years that started through email list serve, well before Facebook was around.  I cherish these friendships with all my heart.  It is never easy losing someone to the same disease that you live with and fight everyday.

I think about the family and friends left behind and my heart hurts for them.  They loved so much just to have it taken away.  Death is a part of life, but when you are dealing with a disease you are more in tune with that side of things.  You don’t want your family and friends to hurt but that’s inevitable.  I am thankful for each and every one of you that has chosen to love me and take this lovely journey with me.

Until next time…

Breathe easy Julie