August 31, 2008

Faces

August 30, 2008

Fever

Today I had a fever. I felt bad last night, had a restless sleep, and woke up feeling worse. First thing I did this morning was walk to the bathroom and puke. You would think I would be used to the having a fever/throwing up thing, having CF and all. I don't think people can get used to pain and suffering. I can't.
Anyway, I took a total of two naps today, ate two meals, and did my CPT and breathing treatments three times. It's been a long day.

August 28, 2008

Comic Commercials

You probably have seen these before, and may not find them as humorous as I do, but I think they are at least amusing enough to watch more than once.



August 27, 2008

Gold





Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

      -Robert Frost







I received a very, very nice letter from a friend today. It is really great how God shows his love for us through people here on earth.  When you feel tired of this life, and the people and the circumstances in it .... it is comforting to receive encouraging words.

August 21, 2008

Update

So yes, they did in fact offer Seth the job! Praise the Lord! He goes in to do the paperwork and drug test on Monday, and the two week training away from home should start within the next couple of weeks.

Also, today is our 'dating' anniversary.  I wouldn't have remembered on my own, but when I woke up and went in the kitchen this morning Seth had roses and chocolate for me.  So sweet.  So we have been a couple for nine years now.   Watch out, we are catching up to some of you! Haha.

August 20, 2008

Buttons

August 19, 2008

Guppy 1

Yesterday Levi had his very first day of swimming lessons!  He did good! He has always liked the water, but he never wants to get his head or face wet.  Yesterday was the first day and he was up to his neck, blowing bubbles, and water was splashing on his face.  He goes back every weekday for the next two weeks, and we are hoping he will dunk his head, or at least his face by the end.  To our surprise also one of his teachers is a girl Seth and I know, named Kenzie.  Anyways, Levi really seemed to love the class, and he had a lot of fun.




August 14, 2008

Coughin' Chopin


Here is an article talking about the Polish composer Frédéric Chopin.  It talks about Cystic Fibrosis being a possible cause of his death.  After reading about all of his symptoms, and considering that his sister died at the age of fourteen of the very same symptoms .... I think he did have it.

What do you think?


August 13, 2008

He got the job!

We think. Yesterday Seth went for an interview at Valley Yellow Pages. He applied for an outside sales - account executive position. Basically selling the ads in the yellow pages to companies and businesses. The interview went smoothly and they told him that they would definitely be giving him a call. He has to return for a "second interview" in which they want him to bring his social security, i.d., driving record etc. They are also going to do a drug test. Although he is not officially hired until he completes his drug test, paperwork and two weeks of training away from home, it looks to us like it is in the bag! Thanks for praying. My dad and Rebecca also helped a whole bunch since they have done the same type of job/interview process, and we kind of knew what to expect. The whole thing has been a little stressful, but overall I would say a positive stress more than negative. I'm looking forward to seeing how the next couple weeks and months unfold... and I know Seth will do great.

August 06, 2008

Buzzzzz

.Last week:

We actually prefer Levi's hair shaggy.... but it was just time to cut it!

August 05, 2008

To and Fro

Today was a day I wouldn't want to repeat anytime soon. I squeezed in three separate appointments up at Stanford. Things often don't run very smoothly at that hospital, and I was running from appointment to appointment with no time to spare.

My day started at 9:30.  I did my treatments until 10:45, showered, got dressed, got Levi ready, and sadly did not get a chance to eat breakfast. I got out of the house by noon, to arrive up there by 1:00.  I parked at Lucile Packard at about 1:00 and then took the long walk to the main Stanford hospital.  It took about a half an hour to register, then the guy at registration directed me back to Lucile Packard for my appointment.  So Levi and I made the trek back over there, and ran into my mom who had been looking for me.

Once at Packard they couldn't find record of any appointment, so a nice man tracked it all down for me and I had been directed to the wrong place. So, back off to a main Stanford clinic again which was quite a long walk, in which I got lost.  Finally I arrived at my audiology appointment, very late, but they still saw me. 

By the time I got out of that appointment and met up with my parents back at Packard it was 2:30, which was the time I was supposed to be at my next appointment.  So I hauled over to nuclear medicine at main Stanford as fast as my short legs and my congested lungs could carry me.  When I arrived I was surprisingly only five minutes late.  By the time they got me in there, scanned my bones, and let me go it was now 3:30.  Which, you guessed it, was the time I was supposed to be at my next appointment.  Again, when I asked a lady in registration to point me towards the right place, they found no record of me having an appointment scheduled.  Like the first time, I knew that wasn't true.

Okay, let me just tell you, even though Seth had packed a nice lunch for me the night before I had not even had a second to even sit and rest let alone eat one, single, solitary bite all day.  So even though it was about 3:30 and I was due for my next appointment I was at this point thinking "screw this - I have to eat!!!"  So I swung by Rebecca's hospital room, shed a few tears out of pure exhaustion, and stuffed my face as much as I could for ten minutes before we headed back over to Packard for my hour-and-a-half pulmonary function tests.

After that long, involved, fatiguing appointment, I left the grounds of Stanford, around 5:00, waited in some traffic, and arrived through the glorious and inviting backdoor of my house finally around 6:15.  Yes, my day could have been much worse, but yes my day could have been a lot easier too!

On the positive side of things, all the procedures themselves went well. The hearing test I had to have because many CF patients lose their hearing due to the harsh antibiotics.  I am happy to report that my hearing is still within normal range.... so yay for that!

The bone scan I had to have because my poor little bones have been diagnosed with osteopenia. Again, caused by side effects from medications I am on, such as heparin.  I have to get my bones scanned every year.

Lastly, was my annual PFTs which are a lot of work and like I said before, are pretty wearing. More good news though because my FEV 1 was at baseline at 41% lung capacity. (Which had risen 4% from my last clinic visit.)

I am thankful that God got me through this crazy day. There are some other details I left out of this post that added to this difficult day also.  I am just glad it is over!  All I have left now is my diabetes test, but I don't want to think about that right now..............

August 03, 2008

August 02, 2008

1st Peter

A couple weeks ago Seth taught on a Thursday night at our church.  Here is a link to download/listen to it:


August 01, 2008

Sneak Peek

Vacation Bible School is almost over! Tonight is our last one. Here is a sneak peek of what we have been up to all week: