The First Ever Post on RSR

**By the way, today is Mandi's birthday, so I sure wouldn't mind if you gave her some love in the comment section**

Some of you may remember this post from March 12th, 2009, but many of you will be reading it for the first time. I thought it could be cool to take a quick trip down memory lane. If you're a newer reader of this blog, I encourage you to take the time to read some of these older posts. It's been an amazing journey thus far, together we've raised my lung function from 65/51 (FVC/FEV1) to 80/67 and I can't thank you guys enough for that. Sure, the structure of the blog has changed over the past couple of months, but the message is the same: We DO have more control over our lung function than we often give ourselves credit for!

The First Cut is the Deepest

6am: Alarm goes off and I'm already thinking that this was a bad idea. I slept ok but every time I woke up during the night, I stayed awake for at least 5 minutes listening to the "submarine" that provides me oxygen. I hope I get use to this concentrator ASAP or the docs are going to have to come up with a new plan of action. Anyway, I role out of bed and I have a headache, I'm coughing up a bunch of mucus, and my right lung is killing me. Do I just scrap this whole thing and crawl back into bed? I thought about it. I roll downstairs to have a little bit of tylenol coffee to get rid of my headache and lace up my shoes. I'm ready for this. I start down the street and already I'm coughing my brains out. There is a trail of mucus following me marking every step that I have taken. I'm winded. I'm tired. I'm trying not to throw up. I am however dry heaving. I wasn't sure how far I was going to be able to go, but I decided to push through all the crap and just do it (that should be a slogan).Anyway, I'm in good spirits and I'm ready for this challenge. I just hope that walking my dog first thing in the morning gets easier.

Total Distance: 1.6 miles

9:30am: I was on my way to the gym when I remembered that I needed an oil change. So I went to the Honda dealership to drop off my car and from there do a run/WALK. I put walk in CAPS because I do mostly that, walk. I'm guessing that the furthest distance that I covered in a straight shot running was 100 yards. After about 1.5 miles of the run/walk my legs started to feel really dead and my back started to hurt. So, because it is the first day, I peeled back a little and walked the rest of the way back to the dealership. I will say though, my lungs still hurt pretty bad, but they felt better than this morning. I'm moving the right direction!

Total Distance: 2.3 miles

12:00pm: So I finally made it to the gym to prove to my mind that my body is weak. Let me tell you, I proved a good point. I was lifting lighter weight than when I was in 7th grade. I worked out my chest and back with various weight exercises. Everybody in the gym probably thought I was super cold because I was shaking so much trying to do the bench press. I've got a lot of work to do. Current Weight: 195 lbs.

6:00pm: Mandi and I decided to give it a go at tennis tonight. We arrived at the courts with rackets and tennis balls in hand, but there was a problem, no courts available. We made the best of it and hit balls back and forth on the basketball court. Luckily, Mandi's aim isn't the best, so I got a pretty good workout just chasing the balls around.I can tell you one thing: I cannot wait to get to bed.

Total Distance Run/Walk: 3.9 miles

I hope that walk down memory lane was as good for you as it was for me! This blog may have started as something to hold me accountable on my journey of taking my lungs back, but it became something more than that these last couple of months. I have met so many awesome people through this blog that I probably would have never met had this not started. I really think community is key when talking about Cystic Fibrosis and I'm so glad that we have a place to share our "playbooks".