I just wanted to give you guys an update since I’ve had a lot of people asking me how I am feeling since getting home. Well, that’s a loaded question really. CF sick is very different from “normal” sick. Most healthy people recover fairly quickly from the parainfluenza/flu or other viruses. However, with having CF (which already has my lungs very scared and diseased) a respiratory virus takes much longer to recover from. You have to take into account how bad my lungs already are. My baseline lung function is 30-35% which is not very much. Healthy people can have upwards of 100+% lung function, so my lungs suck very bad. So with having the parainfluenza on top of a regular CF exacerbation, it makes it much harder to “get better.”
I have cultured pseudomonas for years (I’m talking like 35+ years probably) in my lungs. That means that when I have a CF exacerbation (flare up if you will) we treat the pseudomonas. I will never get rid of it. We are basically treating the symptoms (increased cough, increased sputum production, more shortness of breath, increased wheezing, etc) and somewhat hope to knock the pseudomonas down a little bit. It doesn’t go far by any means because my lungs love to hold onto it and keep it nice and safe in there.
Antibiotics (oral and IV) don’t work as good as they used to for me. That’s the case because I have been on antibiotics so much over the years, my body gets used to them and they don’t have as much of an effect. I am allergic to some antibiotics which eliminates them for being in my arsenal as well. Prednisone doesn’t seem to open my lungs up like it used to either.
So with all that said…I am basically feeling the same, no better and no worse. I am very organized with my breathing treatments and IVs. One reason I don’t like being in the hospital is that they don’t keep a strict schedule with things. Yes, in the hospital I get my IVs in the window of time (every 8 hours for the current med) and breathing treatments when I request them. When I’m at home, I am on time with IV times and do my breathing treatments every 4-5 hours, except for when I’m sleeping unless I need one. I like being in charge of my stuff. I know I will do everything when I need it. Some people may go into the hospital and assume the nurses and doctors have it under control. That’s not always the case. I take better care of myself at home than they do in the hospital for my regular CF stuff. You have to be your own advocate for your healthcare. That’s why it’s very important to know what medicines you are on, when you take them, know your allergies, medical history and much more.
I’m sorry this is long…Bear with me. I just felt the need to explain that all in hopes that you can understand better what being CF sick is all about (within reason). So yes, I wish I could tell you I’m much better after being released from the hospital but that’s not the case. It’s going to take some time. I will continue to do all the things I need to do to make the best recovery. I’m hoping to get back to 30-35% lung function since that has been been baseline for some time now. Also remember that CF is a progressive disease which means it does get worse over time, with usually a slow decline. Now going from 34% to 21% lung function (relatively quick) was a bit of a shocker to the ol lungs and harder to adapt to. With CF being a slow progressing disease, you learn to adapt to lower lung function as it comes. Ok, I think that is a good update for now. Haha. Thank you for hanging in until the end of this post. Thank you for all the love, support and prayers!!
Until next time…
CF Happens 