Blue-Eyed Breather

In recent years, my body has not responded to lung infections as well as it used to. I get low-grade fevers, aches, and have difficulty breathing. It's like I'm taking a beating! Unfortunately, after being on steroids for five days, all the junk in my lungs has been stirred up. Since Thursday, I've been flat out exhausted, and my cough has gotten significantly worse. And now today, I have a slight fever. Boooo. Because I'm already on oral antibiotics and the bacteria I grow is resistant to almost every drug available, I'll be starting IVs this coming week. I was hoping to postpone the meds until after school gets out in the middle of May, but with the way I'm feeling now, that's just not possible. This will be my second time to do IVs on my own without constant parental assistance. I know I can administer the medicines no problem and that I'll be fine remembering my IV schedule. However, it's frustrating that I'm needing to deal with illness now.

Below is a copy of my 2013 CF letter update. Annually, my family raises money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to financially support the great work being done on behalf of CF patients like me. I would be so grateful if you would read the letter, donate money to my team, join us for the Great Strides Walk on May 18th, and/or share my letter with a few of your friends and relatives. Thank you so much!! Dear friends and family,                 I hope you all have had a very blessed 2012-2013 year. This year has been a whirlwind for me! In May, I completed my freshman year at Baylor University with a 4.0 GPA. True to my normal fashion, my summer was full of many activities. I volunteered at a speech pathology clinic and fell more in love with my future profession. My family went on an Alaskan cruise, where we zip lined through the dense forests, saw amazing wildlife, and even took a floatplane over the Misty Fjords. I also took a summer school class required for my deg

Man, it's just been one of those weeks when everything seems in shambles and nothing is going the way I thought it would (except school, which I am very grateful for. If my GPA was falling apart on top of everything else, I'd be having a meltdown). In actuality, I know in my head that life really isn't that bad right now. I'm doing well in all of my classes. I'm surrounded by an awesome group of friends. I have a fantastic job. I go to an wonderful, challenging school. And I'm loved by the King of Kings. However, the rest of me hasn't gotten the message to count my blessings. I've never felt such overwhelming frustration before. My port's acting up again, my health is on a downward spiral, I haven't slept well in weeks, and I have this looming stress about figuring out my plans for summer school. Like I said, in the big picture, my life really isn't falling apart. So why am I feeling like it is? Fabulous question, one that I do not know the

Most days, I'd say I'm a pretty positive person. I hate being grumpy and in a bad mood, and I don't like the person I turn into when I'm frustrated and upset. If you sense a "but" coming, you're correct. This afternoon has been a downhill battle. You see, my cough has gotten significantly worse in the past week. In the morning especially, I feel like my airways have been cut in half. This isn't very unusual for me. My last round of antibiotics was in January, so I'm impressed I made it this long without needing medicine. Well, after going back and forth between the CF office and myself, the final decision was that I could start IV meds or I could start IV meds. No, that's not a typo. I literally had no say whatsoever in my healthcare, even though I haven't seen the doctor, done PFTs, or been evaluated. I just wanted to start on oral antibiotics, for crying out loud! Not only did I have no say in my treatment plan, but my doctor is constan

"Time flies when you're having fun." "Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin." -Mother Teresa "We can gain experience from the past, but we can't relive it; and we can hope for the future, but we don't know if there is one.”  "Time is an illusion." -Albert Einstein “How did it get so late so soon? It's night before it's afternoon. December is here before it's June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?” -Dr. Seuss "Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." -Matthew 6:34 If you can't tell, I've been a bit preoccupied lately. Between school work, essays, tests, Sigma Phi Lambda, spending time growing in the Lord, going to church, fellowshipping with my wonderfully amazing friends, and fitting in sleep, breathing treatments, time to fix pills and port acces