Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Farewell 2013

I have to admit that I am a little excited to say goodbye to 2013. As far as my health, it has been one of the worst years of my life and for that I am thankful for 2013 to be on its way out. At the same time, the year was full of indescribable magic watching my baby turn into a free thinking, independent, often bossy toddler!

Whether 2013 was the best or the worst year (or somewhere in between) I hope that 2014 is significantly better for all my Cysters, Fibros and their families. I also hope for some new health benefiting drugs for all of us in 2014 since we all know we could use them!!

Have a safe and healthy(ish?) New Year!!

Monday, December 30, 2013

Winter Weight

Uhhh so somehow I managed to lose weight over this holiday season. Seriously? Who does that? After indulging in all the winter treats, holiday feasts, and fatty egg nog I somehow lost weight! Only a CFer could manage to lose weight when the rest of the country can no longer button their pants.

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Port Surgery Part 2

I have been dragging my feet with writing this post, but I really want to get it down on paper. After deciding on getting my port I read a lot of blogs about port surgery, but most of the bloggers were cancer patients and most of them were completely sedated for the surgery. My two biggest concerns were not answered: what was it like to have surgery while awake (but loopy) and what would airway clearance be like post surgery?

Part One can be found here.

I was wheeled into the operating room and the nurses were talking to me while they strapped me down to the table. They put something in my IV line to make me sleepy, but as the moments went by and I was still chatting away, one of the nurses looked at me and said, "That did absolutely nothing for you, did it?" Realizing I was not in the least bit sleepy they gave me a little (or a lot?) more. The nurse told me not to fight the sleepiness and the next thing I knew I was out. I remember being awake for parts, but I think I was going in and out of consciousness. At one point I remember the doctor saying she had created the pocket for the port. I also remember being shoved pretty forcefully back and forth. I am not exactly sure why (I don't think I want to know) and am not sure if these feelings were exaggerated by my loopiness. I told them at one point that it hurt a lot. I am not sure if they gave me more sedative, but I remember nothing after telling them of the pain. I will say despite being pushed around and in pain I was 100% content. Even though I felt pain it really didn't bother me and my telling them was more informative rather than out of concern. I am pretty sure they could have said, "Suck it up, wimp!" and I would have gladly said, "Okay." So all of my fears of being scared or worried while in surgery were wasted energy.

I woke up towards the end of surgery and remember being wheeled into recovery. I also remember them telling me my PICC was coming out and watching the nurse pull the line. After that I have no memory until I got home. I have no recollection of leaving the hospital or the drive home at all which still weirds me out.

Recovery was better and worse than I anticipated. I was in more pain than I expected. Laying on my side hurt and certain movements hurt. However, my airway clearance did not cause any pain at all (although I did avoid the Vest).

I have had the port for over a month now and it is actually a huge relief to have it put in. The process of getting a PICC placed with my scarred veins and all the complications that came along with the PICC should (hopefully) be a thing of the past and next time I want IVs one small prick should do the trick. I sure can't complain about that! Now the whole skin allergy aspect is a whole different story..

Thursday, December 12, 2013

18 Months

Dear KK,
You are one and a half today! I can't believe how much my life is continuously changing with you! My favorite part about this age is that a few days after turning 17 months you started saying, "I love you!" I never thought my heart could grow bigger for you, but it did!
You also potty trained a few days after turning 17 months as well, but I still don't know how to navigate out of the house adventure without diapers and you are not night time potty trained so you still get to wear diapers.

Things You Like: Oh, little one you love life so much, but more than anything you love your Papa and baby cousin who you call Roo. I think Sunday is your favorite day of the week because you get to see your two favorite people! You also love playing pretend, doing anything art related, and helping me bake.

Things You Dislike: You are able to talk a lot, but you also know words that we aren't sure of the meaning. You get really frustrated trying to tell me things that i can't understand. You will come up to me and say something like, "Mama, laloo." While I am racking my brain wondering what the heck that means you keep repeating it over and over, louder and louder. It can get frustrating for both of us!

What I Like About This Age: Our days are full of coversations. Yes, they are simple, but it is so fun to hear what is on your mind. Some of our conversations are as follows.

K: Mama, agua!
M: Yes, this is mama's aqua.
K: KK agua!
M: You're right that is Kaylee's aqua.

K: Dada lights on
M: Yes, dada put the Christmas lights up and turned them on.
K: Yesh, dada lights on!

K: (chanting) KK, baby Rooooo, KK, baby ROOO

New Words: I can't keep track anymore as you seriously must know 30 or more.