The Best Laid Plans
Exactly one week ago I was at my follow-up appointment with my CF doc. The appointment couldn't have gone any better -- I was feeling great, had been exercising (morning walks,) my lungs sounded great, and [the best part] my PFT's were up 10%. My doc was psyched and gave me the go-ahead to schedule my sinus surgery out for November (the next time I would probably need IV antibiotics.) I left that appointment feeling elated. A part of me wanted to shout from a rooftop that I was healthy...but I had a few days left on steroids and oral antibiotics and I didn't want to jinx myself.
The next morning I felt strong enough to push myself a little harder and added some jogging to my walk. What made me very happy made my lungs very angry and only 24 hours after my awesome appointment, things quickly went awry (I'll spare you the details.)
Cut to one week later (today) and not only does it feel like most progress has been lost, I've also had a pancreas attack and two large hemoptysis episodes (bleeding from the lungs) in less than 24 hours. This morning I was anxiously hoping and praying to avoid another hospitalization and luckily for me, I think my lungs and pancreas heard me. My CF doc started me back on a few oral (and inhaled) antibiotics under the condition that I will head to the ER should I have any more bleeding from my lungs. Once again it's a delicate balancing act of wanting the bleeding in my lungs to clot, while keeping my actual blood clots from growing. One of my docs referred to it as walking on a tightrope, and that's exactly what it feels like.
While this has been a trying week physically, mentally I'm doing well and really am just so damn happy to be writing this from home right now and not from a hospital bed [insert huge sigh of relief and two thumbs up.] My intuition has been pretty spot-on the past few days, and it's telling me that I dodged this bullet (after all, I do have a very important party to attend in 17 days!) However my intuition is also telling me that I will need IV antibiotics before November which means bumping up my sinus surgery in hopes of coordinating the two. Having such an unpredictable body makes it hard to plan a date night let alone a surgery months out, but one can hope that the stars align and that things might just go as planned. Fingers crossed for an uneventful few days.
The next morning I felt strong enough to push myself a little harder and added some jogging to my walk. What made me very happy made my lungs very angry and only 24 hours after my awesome appointment, things quickly went awry (I'll spare you the details.)
Cut to one week later (today) and not only does it feel like most progress has been lost, I've also had a pancreas attack and two large hemoptysis episodes (bleeding from the lungs) in less than 24 hours. This morning I was anxiously hoping and praying to avoid another hospitalization and luckily for me, I think my lungs and pancreas heard me. My CF doc started me back on a few oral (and inhaled) antibiotics under the condition that I will head to the ER should I have any more bleeding from my lungs. Once again it's a delicate balancing act of wanting the bleeding in my lungs to clot, while keeping my actual blood clots from growing. One of my docs referred to it as walking on a tightrope, and that's exactly what it feels like.
While this has been a trying week physically, mentally I'm doing well and really am just so damn happy to be writing this from home right now and not from a hospital bed [insert huge sigh of relief and two thumbs up.] My intuition has been pretty spot-on the past few days, and it's telling me that I dodged this bullet (after all, I do have a very important party to attend in 17 days!) However my intuition is also telling me that I will need IV antibiotics before November which means bumping up my sinus surgery in hopes of coordinating the two. Having such an unpredictable body makes it hard to plan a date night let alone a surgery months out, but one can hope that the stars align and that things might just go as planned. Fingers crossed for an uneventful few days.
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