Unusual Therapy

The other day my husband, Kaylee and I found ourselves wandering around an arcade. Kaylee was having fun playing all the arcade games geared towards little kids, you know the bowling, wack a mole, carousel, etc. All of the sudden she stopped dead in her tracks, pointed her little finger and shouted with the gusto only little kids seem to posses, "I want to play THAT one!"

The game that caught her eye had three shelves with pins (that looked like clowns) and a reservoir of balls. My husband and I knew this game was way out of her league. First off, she couldn't even reach the reservoir of balls let alone throw them the distance that required to knock down pins. But life is short and really besides 50 cents we didn't have anything to lose so we agreed. My husband held her so she was able to see what she was doing and I passed her the balls she couldn't reach herself. With all her might she chucked those balls at each of those pins and when the buzzer sounded to let us know that the game had finished she had hit a total of zero pins.

Kaylee, realizing that maybe she was being overly ambitious, decided that once was enough. My husband on the other hand wanted his chance. And before long a friendly competitive game of "who can score higher" broke out between the two of us. (Not that it matters, but for the record I totally won). However, we kept falling short of the coveted high score and accompanying jackpot. And just like you teach little kids when trying to solve a problem, we decided teamwork was our best strategy. Within two more attempts the machines lights and buzzers were going crazy, we won the jackpot!

At this point Kaylee, who wasn't really all that impressed with out success, was ready to move on. I waited while the machine kept spitting out tickets while my husband and Kaylee went on to other games. After a moment, I could hear my husband laughing. I looked up to find he was laughing at me, "All that money on a vest and a 50 cent game works so much better." I realized that I was coughing...a lot! Who would have thought that an arcade game could be such amazing airway clearance!

Cool Days and Morning Laps

"I am just a head!" my daughter can be heard shouting, her entire torso and limbs submerged, when the bath has turned lukewarm and the chilly air in the bathroom is too cold for comfort. This is my cue to grab the towel off the towel rack, hover it just inches from the bathwater and wrap her the second she emerges from the chilly bath. She is then whisked into the living room where I wrap her in a blanket so she can warm up. Oddly, this routine is the same whether it is the dead of winter or a scorching 100 degree day.

Lately, when I finish my morning laps, I feel like shouting, "I am just a head" because I too find the idea of letting even an inch of my wet body be exposed to the morning air chill inducing. The warmth from heated pool can feel like a safe cocoon from the cold morning air. I find myself in a daily battle between pulling my body from the warm water to briskly walk the 20 ft to the changing room and doing just a few more laps just to stay warm for a few moments longer. And for those lazy days? I fight with myself trying to convince myself to stop huddling in the corner of the pool staring at the clock wondering how late I can push my shower.

How many more months until spring?

The Hospital Made Me Lazy

Unlike many people, those with CF do not have the luxury of calling into work and sleeping off an illness. Our illness can't be cured with a few days in bed and extra rest. For me, sickness seems to linger for at least a few weeks until antibiotics kick in and even then I still have another week or two of clearing out extra mucus, recovering from side effects and regaining my regular energy levels. If I were to sleep off my sickness I wouldn't leave my bed for a month! Not to mention all that inactivity would mean my mucus would pool at the bottom of my lungs making it virtually impossible to clear out. So like most people with CF, I do what I can to power through. We can't ignore dishes, and laundry, and cooking meals for a month and so through fevers and violent coughing we find a way to keep life from falling apart.

That is unless we are in the hospital.

Hospital stays, as horrendous as they can be, mean no laundry or cooking or much of anything outside of treatments and interrupted sleep. And somehow as much as I despise the hospital when I start to get sick I crave the lazy days the hospital provides. Let's be real, when sickness finds its way into my home all I want to do is lay on the couch and watch TV while someone brings me food and water on demand, doesn't everyone? And if it isn't already obvious I just want to say, I have no desire to be in the hospital (ever), I just want the lazy perks that come with a hospital stay. I guess I want my cake and I want to eat it too! Sure, most people don't want to do chores while sick, but going to the hospital more often these past few years has started to train my mind that sickness = laying in bed all day reading and watching TV.

Unfortunately, my four year old can't cook and I despise the hospital so I guess for now I need to learn to be productive through sickness and push those lazy desires aside.

*I am currently not sick, but we just got through our first school year colds. The cold made me realize how much I now crave being lazy while sick compared to the past*

Night Treatments

You know you are doing your treatments too late when you mix your Cayston and pour the contents in your Pari LC plus neb cup. Sigh! I guess I will be one dose short this month!