2013

Here's 102 blog posts from this year summed up into one. This year was full of exciting adventures for Tim and I, the most exciting being that we finally purchased our first home!

• At the beginning of this year, I was presented with the possibility of having CFRD. Thankfully after meeting a wonderful endocrinologist in Chicago, he taught me how to adjust my diet to keep my sugars in check without having to have insulin injections, yay!
• In February, unfortunately I had to reset my compliance count due to lovely mail order pharmacy mix ups. I did, however, proudly complete 100% of my treatments for 352 days!! I reset my count on March 1st, which puts me at 312 days today!
• Also in March, we celebrated Tim's great grandma's 99th birthday, learned about the new CFF regulations (which caused a huge uproar and debate among CFers), and we got the ball rolling on the CF Living video phone interviews and plans!!
• April was a busy month! Tim and I shot our CF Living footage which was harder than I thought, but SO rewarding! I attended another Great Strides in DeKalb, the TOBI Podhaler was released, our kitten, Ozzie, was born, and I started taking the best thing ever = PROBIOTICS!.
• May was pretty uneventful, aside from me finishing up my first year of teaching! Tim celebrated his 27th birthday and we were able to spend some quality time with our adorable nephew, Isaac.
•  In June, we finalized our first house mess, and found a house that we both loved and went under contract on it. We traveled to Tennessee to meet our newest nephew, Liam, and spend time with family. Tim also kicked my butt in Brett's Run!
• July was a busy, fun-filled month! I attended my best friend's bachelorette party, spent lots of time with family, brought Ozzie home, went to Country Thunder and became a home-owner!!
• Our first chapter of our Day in the Life series finally came out and I was so surprised and humbled by all of the amazing and supportive feedback. I also started my second year of teaching - this year in first grade. And of course, started taking Kalydeco on August 30.
• In September, Tim and I continued to work on our house, we did our annual camping trip with his family which is always a great time, and we attended the most love-filled wedding I've ever been to - Jessie & Jeremy's wedding. :-)
• October is always special to me because its our anniversary month. We celebrated our third anniversary this year and we're not just married anymore, but we're now married home-owners! Tim and I also went to the Peoria Great Strides which was excellent! I was asked to speak there and we also met my blogger, CF friend, Cheriz. Finally, I had my first post-Kalydeco clinic visit where I gained 6lbs, my FEV1 increased by 5% and my small airway lung function went up by 18%!!!
• In November, Tim and I conquered 58 flights of stairs at our first CF CLIMB! Then I signed us up for the CF Rock Rivers 5K in Michigan in March, put on by the lovely Emily Schaller.
• December was full of ups and downs, and sadly ended on a very low note. We lost our great friend Jeremy on December 31. We celebrated his life in Ohio with Jessie and his family the first weekend in January, and I'm very glad we were able to attend to say our 'see you laters'.

I feel like things can only go up from here and I need to keep that positive attitude. Here's to a happy, healthy, productive and positive 2014!!!

CF CLIMB!!

Pre-climb!

Today Tim & I completed our first CF CLIMB in Chicago! We climbed 58 flights, or 1,392 stairs! Since I've been feeling pretty crappy over the past couple days (the worst I've felt in a while), I wasn't sure how I was going to do, but my goal was to finish in under thirty minutes (well, really just to finish).
When we lined up to start, there were three groups: Elite (projected finish time under 12 minutes), Competitive (under 20 minutes) and Recreational. I was definitely trying to get in the recreational area, but we all kind of lumped together. They had us start at the bottom, one at a time, spread out by about 5 seconds each. While Tim and I were in line, we were trying to figure out a strategy of how to pace ourselves - Do we run up the stairs? One at a time? Or every other? We had no idea what to expect! I started off slow, just walking up the steps, then started to do every other. Once I hit the sixth-seventh floors, I was completely exhausted!! My legs were burning, I was breathing very heavily - I had no idea how I was going to make it up another 50 flights! But I just kept telling myself that there was no stopping now! Every few flights, I would stop on the landing and catch my breath. At floor 22, there was a water & Gatorade station, so I stopped and got a drink. The next few flights felt fantastic after getting re-hydrated, but that didn't last too long. There was a lot of motivational self-talk! I kept reminding myself that I was there because I CAN do it, and that I was doing it for those who couldn't. It was just as much a physical challenge as a mental one for me.
Every floor was marked with a CF sign either with a fun fact, or cheering on a specific team. One of the posters in the 40s said something like, "This sounded like a good idea!" - I really liked that one! Once I got to the second rest stop, floor 43, I knew I was so close! I still kept stopping every two-three flights, and when I got to floor 55, I took a pretty quick break because I could hear people cheering above me and saying, "Congratulations! You did it!" I pushed through my painful thighs and heavy breathing to get to the top! I cannot wait to see the picture they took of me going across the finish -- I'm sure it was a mixture of joy, exhaustion and pride! As soon as I got up there, I saw Tim (completely red in the face and looking exhausted too!). I grabbed a bottle of water and we walked around the floor for a few minutes, finding a warehouse looking room to cool off in with other climbers. I was so proud of Tim when he told me that he finished in 15 minutes (the guy told him as he crossed the finish), so I was curious what my time would be. Tim also told me that this was one of the "hardest things he's ever done" and I definitely had to agree with him! We caught the hot elevator ride back down to the first floor to celebrate our accomplishment! As we came off the elevator, we each received a CF CLIMB 2013 medal. :)

We hung around the 'after party' for a little while, and was able to chat with my cf buddy, Cheriz, who I met last month at the Peoria Great Strides! Her boyfriend, Andrew, completed the climb today, too! They posted our times on the wall of the room and I was anxious to see my time, hoping it was under thirty minutes. I finished with a time of 22:04! Way better than I thought I did!! Tim's official finish time was 15:09! - that's competitive quality! :-)
They had a quick awards ceremony for the team and individual who raised the most money. They also gave an award to the male and female with the fastest time. The male finished in just over 7 minutes (WHAT?!?!) and the female in just over 10 minutes!!! Holy cow, I don't know how they did it! And overall, the event raised over $100,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation!!!!! THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HELPED US REACH THAT AMOUNT!!! 

I'm really excited and proud that I was able to accomplish something like this (and I love my husband for being such a trooper and doing it with me, and totally kicking ass!), especially with how awful I've felt over the last two days. I felt AMAZING after I finished! I was breathing deeper than I have in a few days, and I've gotten a lot of nasty junk up this afternoon. This event was a HUGE reminder of how much exercise has a positive impact on my lungs. My goal is to get back into a routine of exercising again, even if it's starting off slow with our medicine ball workouts again. I'd like to keep up some in-home workouts this winter and then get back outside and running in the spring. Surprisingly, I miss it. I miss the feeling of accomplishment. I miss kicking CF's booty by challenging my body. I need to get back into it, and I will! :-)

CF CLIMB

Call us crazy, but Tim and I just signed up (and paid) to climb 58 flights of stairs on a Sunday morning! 

Why, you might ask?? Well to support the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, of course!!! I received an email from the Foundation the other day informing me about this event and it piqued my interest. It's downtown Chicago, so I thought I'd get more of my family to sign up (not one yet....they must be too scared ;) ) and I've been exploring lots of Great Strides events this year, what's one more fundraiser for the year? Plus, they were having a promotion where it was only $10 to sign up instead of the typical $45 - can't pass up a deal like that! It's going to be a physical challenge, but I won't let me CF stop me on this one.

And with the new CF regulations & guidelines, more than one CF patient can attend indoor events sponsored by the CF Foundation at their own risk. Here's the disclosure from the event's website:

B. CEPACIA AND INFECTION CONTROL POLICYBecause of risks to people with cystic fibrosis (CF), only one person with CF may be invited. Also,individuals who have ever had a confirmed positive sputum culture for Burkholderia cepacia (B. cepacia) complex shall not attend any Foundation events/meetings. These requirements are because CF germs can be passed between individuals who have CF. Some germs in a person with CF can cause serious respiratory illness and, in some patients, may lead to death. CF germs are not a risk for otherwise healthy individuals.

Despite this policy, individuals with CF might choose to attend events or meetings without informing the CF Foundation or without the Foundation's knowledge. If so, they do so at their own risk. The Foundation accepts no responsibility for any risk to health involved in attendance, or in any social contact between persons with CF. For more information, please visit www.cff.org.

I'm glad that they're not enforcing the strict regulations of only one CFer attending an indoor event. I feel like a lot of people in the CF community were really turned off by this, and I think it's fair that we're able to make our own decisions on things like this. I understand they're doing it to keep us safe, and also to cover themselves, but I think that CF adults should be responsible and mature enough to make their own decisions. With that said, I am aware that at least one other CF patient will be there, so I will wear my pin proudly to identify myself and be sure to keep my distance.

Finally, my goal for this event is to raise at least $200. If you'd like to donate to my CF Climb, please let me know. My page hasn't been set up yet on the CFF website, but as soon as it is, I'll post it on here. Right now, I'm just collecting any cash or check (made out to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation) donations to submit on the morning of the Climb.....which is only three weeks away! I better get these legs into shape!!!!!