Tag Archives: life expectancy

Happy birthday to me…I’m 43!!

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My 43rd birthday was yesterday. February 1st should be a national holiday by now! Haha

I absolutely love my birthday. I know most women don’t like getting older but I’m not most women. Getting older is a blessing a lot of people take for granted.

Life expectancy numbers have never really worried me. It’s just a number. When I was born the life expectancy was around 12. Now for CF patients that were born between 2017-2021 the life expectancy is 53!!! There are now many more treatments and medications for CF including the revolutionary modulators like Trikafta that works on the cellular level. Research for CF is so important to extend the lives of those with CF. Finding a cure for CF is the ultimate goal. The CF Foundation has more than 70 chapters in the United States. Their slogan is “make CF stand for Cure Found.” You can go to http://www.CFF.org to find a local chapter or to donate to the cause. You can also find a Great Strides walk close to you. You can start a team or be an individual walker. Great Strides is the biggest fundraiser for the CFF.

Thank you for always checking in on me and for all the prayers and positive thoughts. Just remember that growing old is a blessing that isn’t offered to everyone.

Until next time…

21 days of IVs done

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I did 2 weeks of IV Zosyn and was still not back to baseline. My lung functions had dropped from 35% at the beginning go IVs to 31% at the 2 week mark. We decided to do another week hoping to get over the hump. IV Zosyn is a bit daunting at every 6 hours but I manage. It wears me out to say the least. I sleep at every chance I get. I am able to “bump” my doses an hour either way which helps me get a little more sleep at one time. I’ve mastered it over the last few decades. At the end of 21 days/3 weeks my lung functions hadn’t come back up to where they were when I started IVs. I was at 32% at the end of IVs. With all that said, I am feeling better for the most part. I am however coughing a little more and coughing more up. I say better out than in! So it’s a good thing.

We had talked about putting me inpatient for IV colistin which was the one that messes with my kidneys and sent me into acute kidney failure a few years ago. That being said that is the reason they want me in the hospital for it because they would want labs everyday and be at the ready for extra IV fluids if needed. We decided against that for now. I may have to revisit that in the future when I get sick the next time (have a CF exacerbation). Yes, I say WHEN because it’s inevitable…it’s life with CF. I have another chest x-ray on February 16th to see if the pneumonia is gone. Hoping it is. If it’s not we will have to revisit IVs again I’m sure.

I barely made it through January emotionally speaking. This year my mom’s passing anniversary was harder for some reason. I found myself in bed more. Being sick on top of it didn’t not help either. I hope I’m coming out the other side of it now. My birthday is Monday which I always celebrate gladly unlike others. haha. I love getting older! Every birthday is a great milestone in my life. Especially since I am now past the “life expectancy” for CFers. I am always happy I made it another year. I might post on my birthday, I might not. Just depends on how nostalgic I am feeling…haha.

Until next time…

I’m 40!!!

Posted in Blog Life, Health update by

I turned 40 on Saturday the 1st!!!  Go me for hitting a milestone in life with CF.  When I was born the life expectancy was 12.  It is now 37.5, I believe.  So to say it’s a milestone that I made it to 40 is maybe an understatement.  I am just so excited to be a 40 year old who happens to have CF and is still kicking butt and taking names! Continue reading →

It’s my birthday!!

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Whoop Whoop!!!  I made it to 39!  When I was born the life expectancy was 12 years old. I have a little ways to get to the new life expectancy of 47.5 (I think that is what it is now, it keeps changing).  I got a great birthday present of getting off IVs yesterday.  It was a long 3 weeks of antibiotics.  I am feeling pretty much the same which I will take because I am not worse.  Of course I would like to be better but now since my lung function is low I don’t get much bump from antibiotics but I maintain.  I have a clinic appointment next week.  I’ll update after that appointment to let you all know what my lung functions look like and what the doc says.

Until next time…

Happy 37th birthday to me!!!

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Today is a happy day because we get to celebrate me, of course!  Yes, I LOVE getting older because it means I kicked CFs butt for another year.  On the flip side it is hard day without my mom here.  I thought after last year this year would be easier.  Considering I was in the hospital last year and it was the first one without mom here.  I have been doing nothing but crying most of the day thinking about mom.  She would call me at 3:05pm, the time I was born, on my birthday every year.  There were some years that she couldn’t wait that long and would call in the morning and then call back at 3:05pm.  I miss that phone call of her singing happy birthday to me.  We were VERY close.  I had plans to surprise her on her birthday last year in April but obviously that didn’t happen. Continue reading →

CF Awareness Month: The history of CF & statistics

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I thought I would share a little history about Cystic Fibrosis so you can see where it all began. Well, I mean that metaphorically.
In 1936: A Swiss pediatrician first named the disease. He referred to it as cystic fibrosis with Bronchiectasis. A scientist from Columbia University first developed a complete profile and description of cystic fibrosis symptoms.

In 1938: Dr. Dorothy Andersen described the characteristic cystic fibrosis of the pancreas, correlating it with the lung and intestinal disease prominent in CF, but this was not yet much help with treatment.
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Happy Birthday to me!

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Today is my 34th birthday!!!! Not all women are proud to say their age or to say they like getting older. I am a rare breed in that sense. When you throw CF in the mix, getting older is always a blessing. When I was born the life expectancy was around 12 years old. It is now 37.5 years old. It is creeping up there as am I. I am thankful for every year that I have. I am actually looking forward to turning 40 but now I have to wait 6 years…haha.
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Holiday Season

Posted in Family by

The holidays are always so busy with family and going here and there. Throw in a few divorces and you multiply the number of stops. Look at my bonus kids for instance. They have 2 sides with their parents, that’s a given. When you add in my side you have my parents who are divorced therefore you have both sides and their respective spouses also. That makes for one heck of a Christmas for the kids. So needless to say it is one BIG happy family, well happy most of the time…haha.
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