Things Are Looking Up

My check up on Tuesday went great, I knew my lung function was going to be better as I feel loads better, almost back to normal. It's a good job too as I could not get parked anywhere! I drove around for 45 minutes looking for a parking space and ended up having to park in the multi storey car park which is a 15 minute walk from the ward, even in this car park it took me 10 minutes to find a space! I have never seen the hospital so busy, there were just cars queuing everywhere. I nearly went home at one point and if I'd have felt as ill as I did the week before, I would have defiantly gone home, as there was no way I could have done that walk especially in this windy weather!

My lung function was 41% which is great as this is about my normal, hopefully I will be able to get it slightly higher. My sats were 94% which is my average however my weight had fallen to 52.5kg. This means my bmi is 19.3 and I was informed that it falls to 19 they will be suggesting I go on overnight feeds until my weight is back up again. I am not underweight, a bmi of 18 and over is healthy however because I have CF they like me to have reserve weight as if I become ill the weight just falls off me as seen over the past 6 weeks and it is very hard to keep or get back. If I became ill again now and my weight fell even more then my body would struggle even more than it was already doing. There is a strong correlation in CF with body weight and better lung function/health. Therefore I have to put weight back on even if I don't want to, because it's better for my body. My bmi was about 20.5 before I got this virus so I guess I need to get it back to there, it's so annoying though as I am quite enjoying having a nice flat stomach and I know as soon as I put weight back on it will all go on my stomach. I might have CF but I am still a woman and have body issues!

I know whats best for me though and I am aiming to have 3 ensure plus' a day which is an extra 900 calories on top of food, or 2 ensure plus' and one skandishake which is an extra 1200 calories a day. My favourites so far are strawberry and caramel ensure plus', in fact I am enjoying them a little too much now my appetite has returned and worried I'm going to become a right fatty!

I also have to reduce my steroid dose by 5mg every 5 days until I am on 10mg, then stop them. So fingers crossed I won't be getting a bloated face and my sleeping pattern will be back to normal soon! I am continuing on the voriconazole for a month and then hopefully coming off it, I've already noticed my hair seems more dry and thin, sigh.

My CRP last week was 56 so still quite high as it should be under 10 and it was 33 when I came out of hospital, however I had my blood taken again on Tuesday and nobody has called me, so I assume it has fallen!

I'm starting to go to the gym again and walk Alfie, so things are finally getting back to normal. I took Alfie for a 20 minute walk on Wednesday in the windy weather, then did 10 minutes on the treadmill and 10 minutes on the bike. I am not starting up yoga again yet as I feel I need to increase my fitness slightly before I do an hours class, so I think I will just go to the gym again today and perhaps do some sit ups too!

So overall things are looking up, I just need to work on the weight and get fit again!

PS - If you read my surrogacy blog don't forget to keep checking it as hopefully it will be full of lots of updates this year!