Bad Candle Strategy

This is how you DON'T blow out 33 candles!!

Thankful Thursday: Benadryl & Rio

It's thankful Thursday time! We all have so much to be thankful for and we love to take this opportunity just to write down each and everything that comes to mind. Please take this time to share with us what you're thankful for as well. If you have a blog expressing your thankfulness, please share the link! Without further ado, here's what we're thankful for:

Mandi's List:

I'm thankful for good health. We've all been sick this last week, and it makes me extra thankful that most the time we're in good health. I can't wait to all be back up to par!

I'm thankful for kisses. Mckenna is such a lover lately, giving lots of kisses. I just can't get enough.

I'm thankful for Benadryl. I have had a tough time sleeping, but I've popped a couple Benadryl and been out like a light. It's FABULOUS!

Ronnie's List:

I'm thankful for early bedtimes. With the fam being under the weather lately, we've focused on getting to be earlier...way earlier. Usually, I put my head on the pillow around 10pm, but for the last three nights, it's been on the pillow by 8pm. It has definitely made a difference, but I'm looking forward to feeling better as I'm a bit of a "night owl". 

I'm thankful for Mckenna's words. Every time Mckenna says a new word, my heart melts. Some of her latest are Jesus, Bible, giraffe, snack, treat, poo-poo and Chrissy (sounds like Toy Story when she says her aunts name!). She is so proud of her expansive vocabulary :)

I'm thankful for Rio, my in-laws dog. We are dog sitting for a bit and it's great to have another dog around. It's nice for us, because we like Rio, but it's even better for Jezzabel. Jezzabel acts about 8 years younger when Rio is around and they LOVE playing with each other. We actually have to tell them to knock it off once in a while because they get so crazy!

So, what are you thankful for today?

"CF is different for all of us. Those of us doing well should encourage those who are not. Best thing you can do is learn from others mistakes, be encouraged by others successes, and create a compelling and great success story of your own." - Amber Richter

That has to be one of the best things ever said about the CF experience.

Making a change isn't easy.

I had a pretty general question for ya, and i saw how much u like questions. I am 19 years old and never been really compliant with my meds. i was never able to motivate myself long enough to keep doing them. i recently admitted myself into the hospital because ive felt worse than i ever had. I was told to watch your talk about cf and bag of tricks and i found you very insirational. in fact your the only person that has really gotten through to me and i realize i have to take my meds so i dont feel this crappy but im scared i may slip back into a depressive state about it.. I wanted to know how you kept doing your meds after your major scare, because you must have created a habit of not doing your meds consistantly n thats very hard to break out of. I to remember just beingon albuterol and chest pts when i was younger. times sure have changed just wish i could do it as easily.

............

I'm happy to hear that you're open to change your habits concerning your health and I hope that you start to feel better. With that said, yes, I've been in your shoes.

The biggest thing for me, was to stop being selfish. All of the choices I was making that in turn had my health declining was all about what I wanted to do and what made me happy. Yet, everyone around me, who cared for me, was very sad about how sick I was getting. They were sad to see me become the shell of the man I once was. They didn't like to see me struggle to breathe. They hated seeing CF "hold me back".

After I had my "come to Jesus" moment I realized that it wasn't CF holding me back, but that it was me. It was a culmination of all of the bad choices that I had been making. Simply put, I wasn't putting my health first. And as you can probably guess, life isn't as awesome with bad health.

When I made a change, I decided to make a schedule and stick to it no matter what. I also committed to doing "everything right" for as long as I was doing "everything wrong" which in my case was 8 years. I see too many people that commit to doing their treatments for a month or two, don't see the change they had hoped for, and then quit. I didn't think it was realistic to erase 8 years of bad decisions in two months, or even two years; I committed for the long haul.

This commitment meant exercising regularly, increasing my daily treatments and being pro-active about hospital stays.

All I can say, is that it's worth it. I feel great. I spend less time in the hospital. I look better. I breathe better. My mind is better.

Hope that helps a little bit. I'm always here for a chat or any question that you may have.

Ronnie

Coughs, Sniffles, and Sore Throats

It's that time of year again. Time for coughs, sniffles, and sore throats. We had a round make it through out house hold around Christmas, and it seemed like we just continued to pass it around with my brother and sister-in-law and my parents. Another round has made it into our house now, and man does it make me thankful for good health.

I got it first, and have been battling a headache from the congestion and sore throat since. Then I ever so kindly passed it to Ronnie, and Mckenna has a bit of a cough now, but doesn't seem to be feeling terrible. I will say, the cough goes nicely with her recently "cured" pink eye. I tell you what, we're a germ factory right now.

Anyways, when I'm sick there are always a couple things I LOVE doing:

- Having lazy days - Lazy days look very different with a toddler than they used to. All you parents out there know exactly what I'm talking about. There's no laying on the couch all day long. That said, we made a point to lay around as much as possible this weekend.

- Sleep - I LOVE sleeping. And when I'm sick, I love sleeping even more. Nights have been a bit wacky because Mckenna still is having funky sleep (who knows if it's a cough, the pottytraining, the fact that Ronnie was gone, then back, than gone again). But I am thankful that I have been able to sneak in a nap or two.

- Chicken noodle soup - Chicken noodle soup is always good, but it's especially good when you can slurp some of the broth down a sore throat.

- Snuggles - I'm a cuddler in general, but I especially like to cuddle when I'm sick. I'm so thankful Ronnie is home to snuggle since he was gone for a tune-up and traveling to speak much of January...that said, that may be what passed it on ;-)

Anyways, the nice thing about being sick is it sure makes you thankful for good health, so I am thankful for that reminder! But now I'm ready to get rid of this cold from the house so we can all get back to our normal selves!