I feel like I'm on drugs. Well I am.
I had my appointment on Tuesday. Alex was with me and we saw all the usual people. My weight was 50.6KG, quite similar to the last time I was there. My lung function was FEV1 41%, FVC 79%, down from last time. I was expecting to go onto oral antibiotics and maybe have a little boost from that, then in another month or so's time go onto IVs. However, when I saw Dr Orchard he was determined to get me better asap. Back in Jan '16, my lung function was great and increasing well. Then I had a dip and the IVs I was on back then didn't really seem to do anything. It showed in my end of IVs lung function as it hadn't gone up at all. Dr Orchard wasn't in on that day though, so I couldn't carry on with IVs and just came off them to see how I'd do.
This time though, he suggested I take 2 new IVs, oral antibiotics and steroids. I agreed that I felt like I needed the steroids, I'd felt so inflamed the last few days. I've never been on this much strong meds. It's probably not even that much compared to what people who are really ill are on, but for me it's a lot lol!
Today is my second full day of taking all these meds. I am very much feeling like I am on drugs! My tongue and lips are tingly and a bit numb and I just feel very spaced out and as if I'm not really here haha. It's strange and hard to describe. I called the hosp this morning as I just wanted to check that I'm not having a bad reaction to the drugs. They reassured me that this was quite normal for the drugs that I'm on. They did say that if the feelings are too much for me that they can always lower my dose, but I want to try and stick it out as I really want to get the most out of this course of IVs, orals and steroids and give myself a huge boost that hopefully will last all summer long! :D
Perhaps in a couple of days my body will start to get used to it and I won't notice these side effects so much. I've cut down my dogs to one a day, trying not to do more than 4 days, but it's so hard to say no lol. Also, for the moment I don't want to do too much driving, at least until I'm feeling more myself again.
Until next time! xo
Thursday, 28 April 2016
Saturday, 23 April 2016
Late night post
I've been meaning to blog for a while, but life's been so busy- a good thing! Usually means I'm doing well. When I get...MAKE time to sit in bed with my laptop for a good few hours it's usually a bad sign health wise. So yeah, I'm needing time to rest at the moment; chest is bad, appetite and energy have gone, sleeping loads, arthritis is flaring up and getting a lot of pressure headaches from the coughing. Not too bad though as I've only been like this for 3 days and I have a hosp appointment on Tuesday so I should be able to nip it in the bud with some meds.
So I wanted to update on the trial. I've been doing it for about 6 or 7 weeks now. There's a lot of positives and a couple of negatives, I have found. A positive is that it only takes about 5 minutes a day to complete the app requirements- weight, sats, lung function, how well you feel, how your cough is, sputum sample and register your activity. So even with a hectic schedule, patients should be able to fit it into their days. Another positive is that with the activity monitor- the FitBit/pedometer type thing, I have found myself a lot more aware of exercising and pushing myself more. On the face of the "watch" is a series of dots. As you do more exercise throughout the day the dots increase round the clock face. If you manage to get all 12 dots completed it does a little celebration pattern haha. I think each dot represents 1000 steps. I'm not entirely sure how accurate it is though. I wear mine on my wrist and if I'm grooming that day (imagine brushing a dog with the arm it's on), it says I've done loads of exercise. I can't complain, it makes me feel good haha. I'm sure if I wore it on my ankle though, on those grooming days it may say I've done very little exercise.
One of the biggest negatives I have found is that if all my readings that the app requires are low, it makes me feel crap and down in my mood the whole day. I originally did everything in the morning; my weight, O2 levels, lung function were all very low for me and I was worrying that I was ill and I kept worrying all day about it. It doesn't put you in the best of moods when your lung function is in the 30's % when you'd expect it to be in the high 50's straight after IVs! So I decided to try doing everything in the evenings just before bed. Again, sometimes readings are low but I put it down to tiredness at the end of the day. However, mainly they aren't too bad and I don't feel quite so worried. Also, I must remember that the equipment I've been given is unlikely to be as accurate as what the hospital has. I will be mentioning this with the research team though, as if a patient has anxiety or possibly a mental health illness, this could bring them down a lot if every day they are seeing their readings a lot lower than they had hoped or anticipated. This type of testing daily may not work for them.
One last thing that I will mention to the research team will be the weighing. Daily weighing, I have found, seems to fluctuate so much. I know at different times of the day we weigh different amounts and things, so possibly weighing once a week at the same time on the same day would be more beneficial. Then you could get a clearer idea of what your weight is doing.
So about 4 and a half months to go :)
I've made the most of this last well patch: seeing loads of friends, having family sleepovers, celebrating my brothers birthday, had my annual night out haha (only have the energy for 1 a year these days lol!), grooming doggies... Now just a little recovery sesh before summer begins! Lots to look forward to :D My first ladies day, my 3rd wedding anniversary, my parent's 25th wedding anniversary, a family holiday and lots of birthdays!
Until next time
xoxo
So I wanted to update on the trial. I've been doing it for about 6 or 7 weeks now. There's a lot of positives and a couple of negatives, I have found. A positive is that it only takes about 5 minutes a day to complete the app requirements- weight, sats, lung function, how well you feel, how your cough is, sputum sample and register your activity. So even with a hectic schedule, patients should be able to fit it into their days. Another positive is that with the activity monitor- the FitBit/pedometer type thing, I have found myself a lot more aware of exercising and pushing myself more. On the face of the "watch" is a series of dots. As you do more exercise throughout the day the dots increase round the clock face. If you manage to get all 12 dots completed it does a little celebration pattern haha. I think each dot represents 1000 steps. I'm not entirely sure how accurate it is though. I wear mine on my wrist and if I'm grooming that day (imagine brushing a dog with the arm it's on), it says I've done loads of exercise. I can't complain, it makes me feel good haha. I'm sure if I wore it on my ankle though, on those grooming days it may say I've done very little exercise.
The "watch" face- ignore my face it was bedtime!
One of the biggest negatives I have found is that if all my readings that the app requires are low, it makes me feel crap and down in my mood the whole day. I originally did everything in the morning; my weight, O2 levels, lung function were all very low for me and I was worrying that I was ill and I kept worrying all day about it. It doesn't put you in the best of moods when your lung function is in the 30's % when you'd expect it to be in the high 50's straight after IVs! So I decided to try doing everything in the evenings just before bed. Again, sometimes readings are low but I put it down to tiredness at the end of the day. However, mainly they aren't too bad and I don't feel quite so worried. Also, I must remember that the equipment I've been given is unlikely to be as accurate as what the hospital has. I will be mentioning this with the research team though, as if a patient has anxiety or possibly a mental health illness, this could bring them down a lot if every day they are seeing their readings a lot lower than they had hoped or anticipated. This type of testing daily may not work for them.
One last thing that I will mention to the research team will be the weighing. Daily weighing, I have found, seems to fluctuate so much. I know at different times of the day we weigh different amounts and things, so possibly weighing once a week at the same time on the same day would be more beneficial. Then you could get a clearer idea of what your weight is doing.
So about 4 and a half months to go :)
I've made the most of this last well patch: seeing loads of friends, having family sleepovers, celebrating my brothers birthday, had my annual night out haha (only have the energy for 1 a year these days lol!), grooming doggies... Now just a little recovery sesh before summer begins! Lots to look forward to :D My first ladies day, my 3rd wedding anniversary, my parent's 25th wedding anniversary, a family holiday and lots of birthdays!
Until next time
xoxo
Wednesday, 9 March 2016
The trial begins
Yesterday was the end of my 2 week course of IVs. I feel a lot better in myself- more energy, sleeping better, coughing less, more of an appetite etc etc. My lovely friend Donna from belly dancing took me to my hosp appointment to check lung function, weight, have a blood test, take out port needle, get nebuliser meds and start the trial.
Disappointingly, my lung function hadn't shifted at all. Not even 1% up! After two weeks of IVs and all the physio and resting I'd been doing, don't get why it hadn't moved. The consultant wasn't available to see me though, so I couldn't try any other meds or anything so I had to have the needle taken out and see how I get on at home. Hopefully I can get it up through exercise. If not though, they said to just call up and they will get me an appointment.
In my last post, I spoke about a trial involving a smartphone app and recording data to try and keep patients out of hosp and notice if they need treatments earlier on before the symptoms get worse. I started this trial this morning after receiving all the equipment yesterday at the appointment. All the gadgets are quite fun to use and it's so clever how the app just picks up all the data. It's very straight forward for me as the patient. I need to do my weight, lung function, 02 and heart rate levels, activity level, give a score out of 10 of how I'm feeling and how my cough is and give a sample everyday for 6 months. I hope at the end of this my data is useful for the researchers and they can put this app in place for all CF patients- and maybe patients with other conditions. I'm sure this is the way forward!
Here are some pics of the gadgets. Just waiting for my freezer to arrive. I get to keep all the equipment after the trial finishes- including the freezer haha.
Disappointingly, my lung function hadn't shifted at all. Not even 1% up! After two weeks of IVs and all the physio and resting I'd been doing, don't get why it hadn't moved. The consultant wasn't available to see me though, so I couldn't try any other meds or anything so I had to have the needle taken out and see how I get on at home. Hopefully I can get it up through exercise. If not though, they said to just call up and they will get me an appointment.
In my last post, I spoke about a trial involving a smartphone app and recording data to try and keep patients out of hosp and notice if they need treatments earlier on before the symptoms get worse. I started this trial this morning after receiving all the equipment yesterday at the appointment. All the gadgets are quite fun to use and it's so clever how the app just picks up all the data. It's very straight forward for me as the patient. I need to do my weight, lung function, 02 and heart rate levels, activity level, give a score out of 10 of how I'm feeling and how my cough is and give a sample everyday for 6 months. I hope at the end of this my data is useful for the researchers and they can put this app in place for all CF patients- and maybe patients with other conditions. I'm sure this is the way forward!
Here are some pics of the gadgets. Just waiting for my freezer to arrive. I get to keep all the equipment after the trial finishes- including the freezer haha.
Rucksack to keep everything in
02 and heart monitor:
The top number is the % of oxygen in the blood. 100% is the best- most healthy people sit at 99-100%. The bottom number is heart rate. A healthy resting heart rate is between 60 and 100 beats per minute.
The top number is the % of oxygen in the blood. 100% is the best- most healthy people sit at 99-100%. The bottom number is heart rate. A healthy resting heart rate is between 60 and 100 beats per minute.
Phone and the app:
Once I've done each part, the right part turns green
Once I've done each part, the right part turns green
FitBit type thing:
Looks like I'm on tag haha. I press the centre and it tells me how much of the recommended daily exercise I have done for the day. I think it's pretty much a pedometer.
Mini lung function kit:
I blow into this machine as hard and fast as I can. after the first second or 2, I slow down and continue to breathe out until my lungs are empty.
Scales
So that's that!
Now to focus on exercising more and putting on weight to try and get these lungs better. Need to be well for summer. Can't wait :D
xo
Thursday, 25 February 2016
On the mend
A beautifully sunny morning will always improve your day.
Quick update from the last blog: the orals didn't do much for me this time so I asked for an appointment to see the doc and see if I can start some IVs. For some reason the clinic has been overly busy these past couple of months and I wasn't able to get a sooner app than what I already had booked in. Soooo, 5 weeks of being unwell has obviously had quite a knock on my health. My lung function has dropped by 15% to 43%, I have lost 2KG putting me at 50KG, sats have dropped to 92% and I just generally haven't been in a good state.
The good news is, I have finally started home IVs :D I'm on day 4 and I usually get worse before I get better, but I will soon be back to my usual self- busy, eating loads, managing grooming, housework, socialising.... Cannot wait!!!
The last few days I've been feeling so low. It's not like me. I can only put it down to that after a much longer than usual wait for some meds, my body is just so exhausted and I'm getting ratty because of that. My plan today is to just stay in bed and rest; hopefully that'll do me some good. Plus the sun is out, and that always makes me happy :) can't wait for summer!
I probably should reschedule all my grooming, but I just hate doing that. I hate letting people down, and I enjoy seeing the dogs. They're all good dogs that I have booked in though, so I reckon I'll be alright. Plus, I can always ask Alex or my sister to bath them- that's the most exhausting part.
When I went to hosp, I saw a poster about a new trial-type-thing. It's a bit different from the usual medicine trials. It's a smartphone based trial. The aim is to try and keep patients out of hosp for longer- always a good thing! So the patient will be given a smartphone, set of scales, mini lung function kit, mini sats and heart monitor kit, FitBit type thing, mini freezer and a cool bag. Everyday for 6 months you need to measure your weight, lung function, heart rate, 02 levels, activity levels and give a sputum sample and send it via bluetooth to the smartphone (take the samples to clinic when you go). This will upload onto the trial database place. The researchers are looking for patterns in patient's results to see if they can detect when they are going have an infection, before it takes hold. Therefore, starting treatment earlier and not spending so much time in hosp. So I've said I'm interested and hopefully can start this trial soon.
Will let you know how it goes!
xo
Quick update from the last blog: the orals didn't do much for me this time so I asked for an appointment to see the doc and see if I can start some IVs. For some reason the clinic has been overly busy these past couple of months and I wasn't able to get a sooner app than what I already had booked in. Soooo, 5 weeks of being unwell has obviously had quite a knock on my health. My lung function has dropped by 15% to 43%, I have lost 2KG putting me at 50KG, sats have dropped to 92% and I just generally haven't been in a good state.
The good news is, I have finally started home IVs :D I'm on day 4 and I usually get worse before I get better, but I will soon be back to my usual self- busy, eating loads, managing grooming, housework, socialising.... Cannot wait!!!
The last few days I've been feeling so low. It's not like me. I can only put it down to that after a much longer than usual wait for some meds, my body is just so exhausted and I'm getting ratty because of that. My plan today is to just stay in bed and rest; hopefully that'll do me some good. Plus the sun is out, and that always makes me happy :) can't wait for summer!
I probably should reschedule all my grooming, but I just hate doing that. I hate letting people down, and I enjoy seeing the dogs. They're all good dogs that I have booked in though, so I reckon I'll be alright. Plus, I can always ask Alex or my sister to bath them- that's the most exhausting part.
When I went to hosp, I saw a poster about a new trial-type-thing. It's a bit different from the usual medicine trials. It's a smartphone based trial. The aim is to try and keep patients out of hosp for longer- always a good thing! So the patient will be given a smartphone, set of scales, mini lung function kit, mini sats and heart monitor kit, FitBit type thing, mini freezer and a cool bag. Everyday for 6 months you need to measure your weight, lung function, heart rate, 02 levels, activity levels and give a sputum sample and send it via bluetooth to the smartphone (take the samples to clinic when you go). This will upload onto the trial database place. The researchers are looking for patterns in patient's results to see if they can detect when they are going have an infection, before it takes hold. Therefore, starting treatment earlier and not spending so much time in hosp. So I've said I'm interested and hopefully can start this trial soon.
Will let you know how it goes!
xo
Monday, 1 February 2016
Mind set.
Eurghhh, sick of being sick! I get so bored and there's always a million and one things I need/want to be doing but just can't. I started to get usual symptoms: loss of appetite, coughing more, sleeping more, exhaustion... So thought I'd rest up in bed for a few days and see if that healed me- it didn't. So last Friday I started some orals. I'm on day 3, so not much improvement yet.
When my health is down, my mood usually is too. I'm never really bothered about having CF most of the time; not really one of those "why me?!" type of people. I'd rather I had it than my brother or sister. During this weekend though, I felt a rare feeling of jealousy toward healthier people!
I went to my first grooming competition on Sunday. I was due to take part but had to pull out due to my health. I'm so grateful to my friend Justine who drove me all the way there and back to spectate instead. It was an amazing experience, we loved every second of it! But that evening I just felt frustrated. There were groomers there with years and years and years of experience, way more than me, and they have built an empire- one woman has 5 salons, one of my friends has 10 poodles, my old tutor will do up to 35 dogs a day at her salon! And no matter how hard I try, how much experience or qualifications I get, how much money I put into it, my health is never gong to be stable enough that I can do all of those things. I'll always have to "take it steady" or "not overdo myself" blah blah blah. Boring!
I'm proud of how much I do groom and the business I have created, but I'm the kind of person who always wants to better myself and keep going up. I don't want to be "steady" and not push myself. For instance, if you take a job at a shop as a shelf stacker, or in an office as an errand runner, you will probably want to work yourself up as you gain experience and stuff. I just feel, if anything, I'll end up working my way down as I get older and my CF gets worse. Of course, theres always the option of transplant at that point and the amazing results that can have, but of course, you have to go through the darkest, hardest time in your life to get there!
I can say all this, but I'm never going to stop pushing and trying to better my business and myself. It's just not in me to sit back and slouch through life not trying. Even as I'm typing this, I'm rebooking all the dogs I had to cancel last week due to health. CF will not have me in chains, strapped to my bed. I will fight harder because of this and try to be proud of what I can accomplish. I'll probably always want more! ;)
xo
When my health is down, my mood usually is too. I'm never really bothered about having CF most of the time; not really one of those "why me?!" type of people. I'd rather I had it than my brother or sister. During this weekend though, I felt a rare feeling of jealousy toward healthier people!
I went to my first grooming competition on Sunday. I was due to take part but had to pull out due to my health. I'm so grateful to my friend Justine who drove me all the way there and back to spectate instead. It was an amazing experience, we loved every second of it! But that evening I just felt frustrated. There were groomers there with years and years and years of experience, way more than me, and they have built an empire- one woman has 5 salons, one of my friends has 10 poodles, my old tutor will do up to 35 dogs a day at her salon! And no matter how hard I try, how much experience or qualifications I get, how much money I put into it, my health is never gong to be stable enough that I can do all of those things. I'll always have to "take it steady" or "not overdo myself" blah blah blah. Boring!
I'm proud of how much I do groom and the business I have created, but I'm the kind of person who always wants to better myself and keep going up. I don't want to be "steady" and not push myself. For instance, if you take a job at a shop as a shelf stacker, or in an office as an errand runner, you will probably want to work yourself up as you gain experience and stuff. I just feel, if anything, I'll end up working my way down as I get older and my CF gets worse. Of course, theres always the option of transplant at that point and the amazing results that can have, but of course, you have to go through the darkest, hardest time in your life to get there!
I can say all this, but I'm never going to stop pushing and trying to better my business and myself. It's just not in me to sit back and slouch through life not trying. Even as I'm typing this, I'm rebooking all the dogs I had to cancel last week due to health. CF will not have me in chains, strapped to my bed. I will fight harder because of this and try to be proud of what I can accomplish. I'll probably always want more! ;)
xo
Sunday, 10 January 2016
What a difference a year makes!
Happy New Year! We're a few weeks into it, but better late than never eh! I haven't blogged in over a month; I have been so busy with dogs, Christmas, life etc haha. It's been a great month for me and I hope you've all had a great Christmas and New Year.
I use this blog as a sort of diary and I am so glad I started it.. wow 4 years ago now! It's documented my lung functions, weight, feelings, photos, decisions etc throughout the years and is interesting to see how I compare to that now. I have been reading back over the last year's posts and wow, what a difference a year makes!!
This time last year I was very unwell. I was quite frail from being so underweight, a plummeting lung function, bleeding lungs regularly, I felt very alone and had very little hope. I was throwing up a lot due to being so ill and on IVs pretty much every 6-8 weeks. Hospital trips were a 5 hour nightmare, not to mention the days of stress leading up them. Overbooked clinics, understaffed wards.... eurgh :(
I also mentioned this time last year, of enrolling at belly dancing classes.
Now, I'm the heaviest I think I've ever been at 52.1KG, a HEALTHY BMI of 20.1! Finally :D :D pretty soon they will be asking me to go on a diet haha ;) I found an old photo of me from a few years ago. It's shocking to see how skinny I was. My legs especially. Ew I think I look awful here!! I must have been about 44KG here, if that.
My infections have been so much less recurrent and with a lot of hard work I have managed to keep creeping up my lung function percentages and I'm currently at 58%. I'm hoping I can get it into the 60's again one day. Since joining Frimley Park (will be a year in March), I've only had 2 or 3 courses of IVs, which is incredible!! Chris, the doctor couldn't believe it when I saw him the other day. I have the whole team there to thank for this vast vast improvement. They truly have saved my life and I dread to think where I'd be if I hadn't moved. For me, it was 100% the right decision.
I'm nearly a year into my belly dancing now. I really enjoy it; it's such fun and the loveliest group of women you could wish for. I feel very comfortable doing it and know that I can go at my own pace. It's great to do an exercise you love and have fun doing, then you don't even realise it's exercising! :) In December we did a show to family and friends.
My family Christmas dinner
Christmas jumpers!
The drawing of our pets I got for Alex
Posh night out!
I use this blog as a sort of diary and I am so glad I started it.. wow 4 years ago now! It's documented my lung functions, weight, feelings, photos, decisions etc throughout the years and is interesting to see how I compare to that now. I have been reading back over the last year's posts and wow, what a difference a year makes!!
This time last year I was very unwell. I was quite frail from being so underweight, a plummeting lung function, bleeding lungs regularly, I felt very alone and had very little hope. I was throwing up a lot due to being so ill and on IVs pretty much every 6-8 weeks. Hospital trips were a 5 hour nightmare, not to mention the days of stress leading up them. Overbooked clinics, understaffed wards.... eurgh :(
I also mentioned this time last year, of enrolling at belly dancing classes.
Now, I'm the heaviest I think I've ever been at 52.1KG, a HEALTHY BMI of 20.1! Finally :D :D pretty soon they will be asking me to go on a diet haha ;) I found an old photo of me from a few years ago. It's shocking to see how skinny I was. My legs especially. Ew I think I look awful here!! I must have been about 44KG here, if that.
My infections have been so much less recurrent and with a lot of hard work I have managed to keep creeping up my lung function percentages and I'm currently at 58%. I'm hoping I can get it into the 60's again one day. Since joining Frimley Park (will be a year in March), I've only had 2 or 3 courses of IVs, which is incredible!! Chris, the doctor couldn't believe it when I saw him the other day. I have the whole team there to thank for this vast vast improvement. They truly have saved my life and I dread to think where I'd be if I hadn't moved. For me, it was 100% the right decision.
I'm nearly a year into my belly dancing now. I really enjoy it; it's such fun and the loveliest group of women you could wish for. I feel very comfortable doing it and know that I can go at my own pace. It's great to do an exercise you love and have fun doing, then you don't even realise it's exercising! :) In December we did a show to family and friends.
Some of the belly dancing girls
Well that's about it for now! Glad I've had time to reflect on things, sometimes you need to to keep your head in the right place. I'm currently half way through a course of oral antibiotics, which I feel are working well. I plan to keep putting on weight an improve my fitness, posture and diabetes control this year. Here's to 2016! xoxo
Monday, 16 November 2015
Just call me Diabeto
I have finished my 2 week course of IVs today. I was booked into the diabetic clinic (which is where the CF and diabetes docs team up basically), due to the high blood sugars. I saw the diabetic doc and nurse and they told me I have Cystic Fibrosis related diabetes (CFRD).
I'm going to try and explain CFRD, I'm very new to it all so I don't know everything about it!
So you have the most commonly known diabetes: type 1 and type 2. Type 1 is something to do with the body not producing insulin or not enough and is commonly detected in young people, who may be struggling to put on weight. Type 2 is more commonly detected in overweight middle aged people when there isn't enough insulin for the amount they are eating. CFRD, I'm told, is closest in similarity to type 1. With CFRD, we have insulin in our bodies but due to the thicker mucus around our body, the cells (I think) get clogged up and the insulin can't penetrate through.
The risk with CFRD is if it's not controlled, the bugs in our lungs will be living in paradise. Along with the warm, wet conditions in there, they will have all the sugary blood they want and reproduce quicker, causing more infections. Also, as you know I'm forever trying to put on weight; with high blood sugars your body can't absorb all the calories. Once your blood sugars go above the normal range, you will just wee out the rest of the sugar that could help to put on weight. Plus insulin can have a side effect of weight gain :D
So all in all, it's super beneficial that my CFRD has been picked up and I can start daily insulin to manage my sugars. The diabetic nurse then came in with a dummy insulin pen for me to try. Any close family and friends will know how I've struggled with my needle phobia in the past. I let the nurse do it on me first. She squeezed the fat in my stomach and pushed the needle in. It really didn't hurt at all, thank God! Once it came to me doing it I started freaking out. Getting all sweaty and crying and all the old drama I used to get. The nurse, Alex and Charissa, my dietician, were so calm and patient. I literally was shaking but I couldn't believe it when I DID IT! Probably the slowest anyone has ever done it haha, but I did it! :D :D :D So now I just need to get it put on my repeat prescription, pick it up and then I'm on my way.
Al and I love family guy, there's this kid in it called Diabeto and he has diabetes. He cracks me up! I said to Al, just call me Diabeto :'D
Anywho, I'm now off IVs and can't wait to have my energy back! IVs take it out of me and I sleep so much when I'm on them. Got girlie catch ups planned and a cocktail making class :) Also, my weight has finally just scraped into the healthy BMI range by 0.1 hahaa :D
Jo
xo
I'm going to try and explain CFRD, I'm very new to it all so I don't know everything about it!
So you have the most commonly known diabetes: type 1 and type 2. Type 1 is something to do with the body not producing insulin or not enough and is commonly detected in young people, who may be struggling to put on weight. Type 2 is more commonly detected in overweight middle aged people when there isn't enough insulin for the amount they are eating. CFRD, I'm told, is closest in similarity to type 1. With CFRD, we have insulin in our bodies but due to the thicker mucus around our body, the cells (I think) get clogged up and the insulin can't penetrate through.
The risk with CFRD is if it's not controlled, the bugs in our lungs will be living in paradise. Along with the warm, wet conditions in there, they will have all the sugary blood they want and reproduce quicker, causing more infections. Also, as you know I'm forever trying to put on weight; with high blood sugars your body can't absorb all the calories. Once your blood sugars go above the normal range, you will just wee out the rest of the sugar that could help to put on weight. Plus insulin can have a side effect of weight gain :D
So all in all, it's super beneficial that my CFRD has been picked up and I can start daily insulin to manage my sugars. The diabetic nurse then came in with a dummy insulin pen for me to try. Any close family and friends will know how I've struggled with my needle phobia in the past. I let the nurse do it on me first. She squeezed the fat in my stomach and pushed the needle in. It really didn't hurt at all, thank God! Once it came to me doing it I started freaking out. Getting all sweaty and crying and all the old drama I used to get. The nurse, Alex and Charissa, my dietician, were so calm and patient. I literally was shaking but I couldn't believe it when I DID IT! Probably the slowest anyone has ever done it haha, but I did it! :D :D :D So now I just need to get it put on my repeat prescription, pick it up and then I'm on my way.
Al and I love family guy, there's this kid in it called Diabeto and he has diabetes. He cracks me up! I said to Al, just call me Diabeto :'D
I need to let DVLA know that I have CFRD and check my sugars before I drive. 5 and above it fine, but 4 and below is not and I'd need to have a sugary snack or drink before so that I don't have a hypo. A hypo is when your sugars go too low. There's different symptoms, but mine are when I get hot and sweaty, my vision blurs, I can't concentrate, get really hungry and need to sit down. So obviously, it would be unsafe for me to drive when I'm like this. Diabetic people also need some special eye, foot and urine tests once a year to check different things.
Anywho, I'm now off IVs and can't wait to have my energy back! IVs take it out of me and I sleep so much when I'm on them. Got girlie catch ups planned and a cocktail making class :) Also, my weight has finally just scraped into the healthy BMI range by 0.1 hahaa :D
Jo
xo
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