CF Clinic Appointment

Yesterday was CF clinic time, and I've been so busy with end of the school year craziness, it came upon me very fast. Over the last three months I've been feeling really good, no lung infections, no issues, so I figured my appointment would be fairly normal and smooth.

Then the weekend before my appointment, I started having this really high belly bloating/pain. At first it felt like bloating, but just higher up under my diaphragm and ribs, so I tried to cut back on my carbs for a few days, but the pain still lingered and felt more like pain instead of bloat. So, of course, I reached out to my CF family for their advice, and some said it sounded like a bowel blockage. Well, even though I'm pancreatic insufficient, I've never had too many GI issues, especially not constipation or a blockage, so I was really hoping that wasn't the issue, but I kept it in the back of my mind and added it to the list of things to discuss with my doctor.

I also hit another little bump in the road Tuesday evening, when I felt the all too familiar 'pop' and 'crackle' of hemoptysis. Ugh!! I hadn't had any episodes since my last appointment in January, and now two days before, it shows it's ugly face. Luckily it ended up being very small and went away quickly that evening. But Wednesday morning, while at school, I had another, even smaller, episode. Thankfully it was small enough for me to spit once into a tissue (the kids were not in the room at the time), take a drink and it was done. So I backed off my HTS Wednesday morning, and only did half a dose Thursday morning, and it seemed to be gone aside from tiny streaks.

Back to the appointment- it was at 11:30 which is probably the best time for a clinic appointment. Late enough to where I can leave my house at 8am and miss rush hour traffic on the way there and back! They got me in right away, weighed me (124.5 lbs), pulse ox (98%), blood pressure, etc...all normal.

Then come the PFTs! Basically the whole point of the visit to see how my lungs are doing after three months. The RT who does the tests is super friendly and I really like her, which always makes me feel better. I stood behind the computer on the first one so I couldn't see anything, closed my eyes, plugged my nose and gave it my biggest, hardest blow & breath as I could. When I peeked around the other side, I had to do a double take because I didn't see any 87, 88 or 89s. Now the screen is filled with a big grid with numbers everywhere, but I knew where to look. Then it hit me...it said 92!!! I said rather excitedly, "Does that say 92?!?!" The RT wanted to make sure I was looking at the right thing, so she doubled checked her notes, but while she was doing that, I just kept checking to see that I was looking in the right column. I was! My FEV1 was 92%!! So of course I got very excited and said, "Yes, it does! Oh man, I don't remember the last time I was in the 90s!" (And I may have thrown my arms up in the air in excitement, too...) Anyway, I did two more tests - next was 92 and the third was 90. I was so happy! I asked for a copy and she told me I got a gold star for the day. :-)

Needless to say, my doctor and nurse were very pleased with my results. My nurse thought it was funny how much of a reaction I was having because it's only a couple points higher than last time, and I've always been so close with 88 and 89 lately, but it's totally a mental thing for me. This is a milestone that I've wanted to reach since I started this blog five years ago, that I honestly thought was a bit unrealistic at the time, but it was a goal to keep me motivated. I honestly cannot tell you the last time my lung function was in the 90s. In high school I was in the 70s, so it had to be sometime in my childhood. Its amazing!

After the excitement died down a bit, we got back to business about the belly pain and hemoptysis. Doctor wasn't too concerned with the hemoptysis, but told me to let her know if it comes back. As for the belly pain, we figured out its most likely reflux/acid because I've been waiting on my Previcid to be refilled for over a week now. She told me to buy over the counter Previcid until I get my prescription in the mail. So I went straight to the store when I got back in town and too the meds in my car hoping this stupid pain would go away.

Needless to say, I had a wonderful appointment yesterday. I am so proud of myself for sticking with all of my treatments - it'll be five months of compliance on May 1st.

Compliance + Kalydeco = awesome lung function!

Imagine what it could be if I started exercising regularly again.....need to add that to my list of to-dos between now and my next appointment. I was 90s to be my new normal! :-)

Stay tuned, next blog post will look at my chest x-rays!