No Such Thing As Colds

Only eight more days until winter break where I have two weeks off! You'd think I'd be super excited right now, but I honestly think I'll get bored over break and miss my little ones...I know, I know, you probably think I'm crazy! :) But they're just so darn cute...until they're hacking up a lung in my face!
Our entire school is sick - it's disgusting! And I thought somehow it had missed me....wrong! Unfortunately, I've caught whatever it is, too. Luckily, I haven't had a fever,  throwing up, or flu-like symptoms (*fingers crossed*), but of course it started in my head (nasal) like it always does. And of course this time I told myself, It's just a cold, you'll get over it. Just keep doing your treatments and drink lots of water.  Wrong!

It all starts the same way for me, every time - you'd think I'd learn by now: starts with painful, sore post-nasal drip for a couple days **this should be my que to start anti-biotics**. Then it turns into a stuffy nose (when I think I just have a "normal-people cold"), then it turns into a dry-hacking cough (had this by the end of the night last night) and now a very tight chest with nagging cough (as of this morning). EVERY TIME it progresses in the same way, and every time I think I'll be able to kick it in 3-4 days like a non-CFer, that it's just a cold. Well, it seems that in my CF world, there's no such thing as "just a cold" anymore.
So I caved in this morning and emailed my doctor and nurse, then later I'll call the doctor and possibly Facebook my nurse - contact them in every way possible - so they'll call in another lovely round of two weeks of Cipro. UGH! And if I have the same reaction to it that I did last time, any of the weight I've gained over the past two months will go right out the window.

This is why it's so important for me to have that 'extra weight', so that when I do get sick and my body is losing more calories because it's fighting harder, then I'll have a couple extra pounds to spare....well, this time I feel like I don't have those extra pounds to spare, so I'm really going to have to work on keeping this weight on! People think that it must be wonderful to have someone tell you to gain weight instead of lose it, but it's honestly just as hard for me to gain as a non-CFer to lose weight. It's not fun. Having to stuff yourself with 3,000 calories a day, hoping that you took enough enzymes for your body to absorb all of that food so you're not spending the entire day in the bathroom...yeah, that's real fun!

It's times like these that a tiny little part of me is wondering if I'm in the right field. I ABSOLUTELY love my job, but it just sucks because I'm exposed to so many germs. I'm not saying that I want to find another job because this is exactly what I want to be doing - it's just a tough field to be in when you have a health condition. I just hope that my health isn't impacted so much that my CF clinic results aren't good. I've got about 5-6 more weeks to get my body feeling the best for those PFTs.

Here's the CF-brain's thinking: Why can't I just have a normal 2-3 day cold like everyone else? How come I have to go on antibiotics every time I'm not feeling well? I just get so worried that I'm going to become resistant to Cipro because I was just on it in October. Being resistant to an oral antibiotic cuts down the others available to take when I'm sick. I HATE winter! I was so tempted to open my classroom window yesterday to get rid of some of that nasty germ-infested air, but I thought that probably wouldn't be too fun with sick kids and 30 degree temperatures. :) Maybe I need to invest in some Lysol for my whole room...don't think the Clorox wipes are enough...

Anyway, I will not let this "cold" ruin my weekend! We have a staff Christmas party Friday night, then Saturday we're going to visit some friends and Sunday we're going to the Bears Game! Yes, I'll be sure to bundle up. I didn't forget what winters are like in Chicago. Even though it'll be a busy weekend, I'll be trying to fit extra treatments in somewhere.

I'm sorry that this post has turned into a complete bitch-fest, but it just sucks and I needed to vent. I'm not asking for you to feel sorry for me, this is life with CF - the good, the bad, and the ugly. That's the purpose for this blog. :)