Friday 11 September 2015

Annual review

Annual review. Two words I loathe! The thought of loads of blood tests, tiring lung functions, long arse fasting, gross drinks, exhaustion... Never a day you look forward to!

This was my first annual review at Frimley. I'd been told what the day entails and had been worrying about it a bit. Alex was all like "it will be fine! It won't be as bad as at Brompton. You have nothing to worry about", but it wasn't helping.

I should have listened to him though.

The day was so relaxed; I almost enjoyed it- which is a very odd thing to say! As I'm not diabetic, I had to fast for my glucose tolerance test, which is when you have a blood test, drink a really sugary drink, then in Frimley's case, have a blood test after 1 hour and another one after another hour. I dread bloodtests, but thankfully they went super smoothly :D

I also had my lung function. I'm used to having to do 30-60 mins of blowing out hard and sucking in fast. It's exhausting! Frimley do it differently, and just do a regular lung function where you just do 2 or 3. It may not be as thorough, but when you've not eaten and have no energy, you are certainly grateful for it!! Miraculously my lung function has gone UP to 58%!! May only be by 2% but up is up. I literally cannot believe it. I haven't had IVs since May and haven't had orals in about a month. This hasn't happened to me in at least 4 or 5 years. I was so so sooooo happy! Who knows the reason why: perhaps because I am just creeping out of the age range where girls seem to have a really hard time with CF; perhaps it's because I've changed hosps; perhaps it's because I've changed drugs. Maybe a combination of the 3. I'm just so thankful :)

To top off my sickening-glee haha, I am the heaviest I have ever been in my life- 49.9KG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I thought the scales must have been faulty- and so did the dietician- but she got on and said they were working. All the hard work is paying off :D :D :D :D :D

Also had an exercise test, talks with dietician, physio, pharmacy, nurses, had my port flushed and was given a new compressor (sad to see my old boy go but they said he's so old he needs to be condemned!). My follow up app is booked for 6 weeks when I will get the results of the tests and see one of the consultants :)

An update on my friend George who received her new lungs when I last posted. From what her husband and mum have posted on her facebook, I understand she has had a lot of stomach issues but has started her road to recovery and even got out of the hosp for a little bit in her wheelchair for some fresh air! I can't imagine how amazing it must be for her and her family. To be able to actually take a breath! That's how severe the poor girl's CF had become. Her mum has just written a blog post, which you can find it to the right hand side of my page if you're interested in a read.

So other than CF stuff, this week my brother graduated from Hertfordshire University studying physiotherapy and has now started his career in our local hospital. On the same day, my sister also received a call to say she had got her first paying job. She's so excited, bless her. She starts in just over a week. Very proud older sister moments!



I also have my birthday to look forward to now in 5 days time :D No doubt will blog about that after.
Until then! xoxo

P.S. Sorry about the overuse of exclamation marks(!) Miss Ford, my old english teacher, will not be impressed hahahaha ;)