Stethoscope

It was outpatients today and I had a nice drive over there. When I got there the place was empty, seriously I was the only patient there! I was in and out in less than half an hour! First my weight was taken which was 56.10kg then my blood sugars which were 4.5. Then my blood pressure which I have no idea what it was and my sats which again I have no idea what they were.

Then the physio came to do my lung function tests, always the nerve wracking bit. My fvc was just under 3 litres, it had gone up by half a litre apparently. Sorry I don't know what this is in %'s as she didn't tell me, but I assume it is in the 60-70% range. My fev1 which is the important one was 46%, so it has gone up by 4%, yeay!! Still not good enough though! Remember my target is 60%! I provided the physio with a sputum sample which is no difficult task these days and then the dietitian came to see me. She is happy with everything, she asked me if I was still getting the low blood sugars and I told her it's not happening as much now.

I then saw the doctor, I was in for a treat as I got to see the 'big boss doctor' as I call him, I also saw him last time, lucky me! He had a new senior registrar with him (I think that's what he said he was anyway). He is abit scary sometimes, he also deals with pediatrics so I've seen him since a child so that's probably why he scares me! Plus he knows everything (he does loads of research etc) and you daren't say anything to him incase you look stupid!

He went through everything from all my blood test results (remember I had loads of bloods done when I finished my iv's) and explained it to me. I was abit overwhelmed by all the information but here is what I understood. All my different types of white blood cells are slightly elevated which indicates some infection, this is understandable because I have pseudomonas but they are higher than normal. My Ige level shows how sensitive I am to aspergillus (a fungus on my lungs), if this gets high it shows my body is reacting to it and it needs to be treated. Only to try reduce the sensitivity though and not get rid of the fungus as this is impossible. There is nothing they can do except treat me when I get the symptoms which is when I am put on the voriconazole, like I am now. All my vitamin levels are fine, my vitamin E is abit too high but he says that is ok. That's about all I can remember!

We then discussed my cough and he asked me if it is stopping me doing things. I told him it wasn't really apart from walking as I cough alot and its embarrassing but I can put up with it because I think it's just the cold weather. He asked about my sputum production and I told him I'm coughing up about 20mls with each physio session and some inbetween whenever I cough. He asked if this was normal for me and I said it is now but it didn't used to be, so then he queried if we were treating it as normal for me now and when did I start to go downhill. I replied I have no idea if it is been treated as normal for me! And I think I started to go downhill in my final year of university. So anyway I am staying on the voriconazole for a few more months and he says I should just have my tobi nebs all the time if I think they help me that much, I asked if I was allowed to do this and he said yes. Okey dokey then!

Had some more bloods taken and booked another outpatients appointment for end of May. Then the best part of my day arrives...... The nurse has given me a stethoscope for my hen night! I told her I was going to nick some stuff off the trolley for props and she said here have this and handed me a stethoscope, wahoo!! Its even red! I'm going to look so cool going around listening to people heartbeats, I've already tested it on Alfie and you will happy to know he has a beating heart.