Thankful Thursday - Peace Offerings & Funky Bugs

Know what time it is? 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. as I mentioned, I no longer have the "linkytools" but I invite you to share your thankful blog in the comments section. Without further ado, here's what we're thankful for:

Mandi's List:

I'm thankful for "peace offerings". Whenever Ronnie and I get into an argument or bicker, we never allow ourselves to remain angry long. In order to break any lingering tension (generally moreso on my end than his - he's a lot better at letting things go as soon as an argument is over), one of us will offer the other a "peace offering". "What is a peace offering?" You may ask. It's anything you want it to be. Normally it's whatever is within reach; a pen, a pillow, the others cell phone, it doesn't matter. One of us just hands the other a random object and says, "peace offering." It pretty much always makes us both smile and that's the end of it. After a minor spat last night, I was thankful for the quick and easy tension cutter that is the peace offering. How's that for a little scary insight into our relationship? Give it a shot sometime...it works!

I'm thankful for quick recoveries. Ronnie and I came down with a funky stomach bug on Tuesday, leaving me with a super upset stomach and diarrhea (sorry, hope you didn't just eat!) and him with achy joints, an upset stomach and a headache. But luckily when we woke up yesterday morning we were good as new. I am so thankful that our ailment didn't linger!

I'm thankful for new workouts. Ronnie found us a great new lifting plan, and boy oh boy does it make for some sore muscles. Now, I'm sure a few of you read this and are concerned that I'm pumping iron, but have no fear, I've lifting WAY less than usual and just increasing the reps. I'm thankful that we have been able to get into the gym and not only do cardio but lift as well. It always feels good to wake up with sore muscles, as it's the proof of hard work!

Ronnie's List:

I'm thankful for the incredible scene of the sun piercing through the storm clouds that I saw today. I've always been one to appreciate the sunsets, rain storms etc, but I've always really loved that "sky opening up" thing that can happen amongst storm clouds. I remember when I was younger my friends and I would comment that Jesus must be descending from Heaven :)

I'm thankful that I got a crack at the gopher in my garden today. Early this afternoon I walked out into the garden to see that the gopher had been at it again and had now made his way into my tomato plants. Just when I noticed that he had also started a mound of dirt near the strawberries is when I saw his little sneaky head pop out of a hole. I ran to Home Depot yesterday to get some "gopher control" (aka gopher killer) and I enthusiastically grabbed it when I saw the hole he was coming from. The rest is history...I hope.

I'm thankful for phone reminders. If it wasn't for my phone beeping at me in order to get my attention of an event I had scheduled (ie taking out the trash), I don't think I would remember a single one. I have a notoriously bad memory that gets virtually non-existent for the "non-important" stuff. The problem with that is I don't consider much to be important. Good thing I have this Blackberry to keep my life in order.

So, what are you thankful for today?

Ring Test - Baby Gender Predictor

I know I was supposed to finish up Tuesday's blog, but I've come down with some weird stomach/body virus that is really wrecking some havoc around here. Mandi started feeling sick this morning and thought it was morning sickness until I started feeling a bit queasy. It got worse as the day continued and now has turned into a full fledged body attacking virus. My joints ache, I feel like I'm on the verge of throwing up and I can't wait to get to bed. I apologize for not finishing up Tuesday's blog, but I do promise to get to it soon.

In response to some comments on Monday's blog about finding out the gender of our little peanut, we've decided to put some of your suggestions to the test. A few of you suggested trying "The Ring Test" to determine the sex of our baby. For those that don't know. you're supposed to hold a wedding ring that is tied to a string above your pregnant belly. If the ring rocks back and forth in a straight line, it's a girl - if it starts in a circular motion, it's a boy. So, what do you think our ring did???

**Edit - Apparently Mandi is supposed to be lying down for the ring test. Whoops :)**

Gophers and The CF Life: The Similarities Are Astounding

For the past couple of weeks I've been playing a cat and mouse game with a critter that is getting oh so close to my garden. Before I get too deep, let's start from the beginning, let's go back in time about 2 weeks...

So I walked outside (to the side of my house) to some above ground planters, that Mandi and I planted cucumber and zucchini in, in order to do some pruning. I noticed that some dirt had been kicked up and the cucumber plant just looked a bit "off". At this point I thought that it was possibly the wind that had kicked the dirt up and shifted the plant enough so that it looked different. I went about my business and pruned both plants.

The next day as I was walking to my trash can, by way of the planters, I noticed that the cucumber plant was now a bit smaller (and not a result of my pruning). As I investigated further, I came to the conclusion that some bugs must have gotten into the plant and started nibbling away. I then brought out the bug spray and gave it a good dousing.

Then two days later when I was putting some recycling in the bin, I noticed that the entire cucumber plant was now gone! My first thought was that my neighbor was playing some sort of joke on me to be honest with you. Due to my very green thumb, I couldn't come up with many more answers other than bugs or pranks. That's when I noticed a mound of dirt about 5 feet away from the planter. Now, I'm no expert, but at this point I figured that there must be some critter making holes in my yard and then proceeding to eat it's way through my vegetables. I then noticed a very tiny hole in the dirt of the cucumber planter that after digging it up found it to be a much bigger hole. I didn't however see any critter.

The next day I noticed a new mound of dirt in-between the cucumber planter and the zucchini planter. Ok, I thought, this needs to be handled. I didn't want to lose my zucchini plant like I did my cucumber plant. Knowing that things were progressing with this little rat, or whatever it was, I new that I needed to kick my butt into gear. But it didn't. Could have done something that night, but I didn't. You can probably guess what I walked out to the next day.

Yup, the zucchini plant didn't look as vibrant as it did the day before. The dirt had been dug up and the leaves were already starting to wilt. I reached down, grabbed the plant and up it came. Not a root in sight. The little bugger actually ate all of the roots to the plant but had not yet made his way to the leaves or zucchini. I put the plant back down to grab Mandi and showed

her what had happened. After she checked out the damage and headed back in, I stood by the planter to decide what step to take next. It was then that I looked down at the hole this dude had dug and noticed his stupid nose pushing dirt literally 6 inches from my foot. Looking back, I wish I would have grabbed a shovel and done my best to "find" him with the end of it. I may have been able to take care of the problem right then, but I didn't. Instead, I picked up the zucchini plant and hastily tossed it into the trash can.

Then for the next week, I talked about how this critter, gopher to be exact, was making his way through my garden. I rehashed the story at least a dozen times and each time ended it with what I needed to do. See, by this time, he had moved on to another planter which is only about 10 feet from my main garden. I knew that I had to act in order to save the "prize" of my backyard. But, I didn't. Instead, I just talked about options. I told people who would listen that I really didn't know what to do. I mean, I knew something had to be done, but just what had to be done I did not know. I sat idle and complained even though I new the future. I knew, based on this gopher getting closer and closer to my full garden, and the destruction that had been left behind, exactly what was going to happen. It wasn't a matter of if my garden would be destroyed, but when. Yet, I did nothing. At this point, even though I didn't know what exactly needed to be done, I should have done something, yet, I did nothing. In fact, I didn't attempt to do anything. It felt like I was waiting for my garden to be destroyed, to then figure out what to do. Almost as if the garden being destroyed would somehow make this threat more "real". By that point of course it would be to late.

I could've acted a few days prior, but I didn't. I could've acted when I noticed a big mound of dirt and my cucumber plant destroyed, but I didn't. I could have acted when I was holding a dead zucchini plant in the air, but I didn't. I could've acted as the gopher made it's way towards my garden and proceeded to do what was almost a certainty at this point, yet, I did nothing. So what was it going to take to make me actually do something to solve this problem? Not sure, but apparently it hasn't happened yet. I just hope by the time I decide to act that it won't be too late.

So what exactly does this have to do with CF/Treatments/Life? Well, what do you think?

To be continued on Wednesday....

Top Ten Reasons to Find Out The Sex

On Friday we posted our latest ultrasound video. Being 15 weeks, we thought we could possibly find out the sex, since with the right shot, you can take a really good guess at it. But as you saw in the video, our nurse went back and forth, initially thinking girl, then suspecting girl, and ending the appointment with her best guess, "boy...but we'll have to wait and see." Our IVF clinic is still giving us ultrasounds (just being nice) so we're going to sneak in one last one on Thursday before the baby doesn't fit on the screen, with the hope of finding out the sex.

We got a lot of comments on the video saying that being surprised was the way to go. And I felt the same way most of my life. I always thought I wanted to be surprised. In fact, when I played out my baby's birth I envisioned hearing "It's a ____" out of the doctor's mouth and being so shocked. However, since getting pregnant, my perspective as changed. I figured I'd put together my top 10 reasons for wanting to find out the sex. So here is goes:

1. I hate calling the baby "it". We call our baby Peanut as much as possible, but sometimes there are contexts where he, she, or it is necessary. And something about calling my sweet, precious, totally-loved baby "it" feels cold.

2. I constantly am running my own movies of the future, and having a gender would help my movies along. I want to know if I'm picturing a little boy playing with trucks and begging his daddy to play catch in the yard, or a little girl feeding a bottle to her baby and wearing around mommy's high heels (How's that for fitting your child into gender-specific roles? I just realized as I was typing that that I don't quite have to force my children into stereotypical roles. And I will say, a little girl of ours will be a complete tom boy...but these are my made up movies - so that's what I envision).

3. I don't want a gender-neutral nursery. The nursery is one of the best parts of pregnancy. You get to put together your child's space and make it a place that suits the baby, while still being a room that you'll enjoy in the wee hours of the night. I want a nursery that is perfectly-suited to a little boy or that is girly for a girl. Plus, I'm not that into yellow or green - two of the go-tos for gender-neutral nurseries.

4. Gender-neutral clothes are hard to come by. My friend recently had a baby and in shopping for her little bundle, I found that the girls' sections and boys' sections are huge, but you have to search high and low for cute gender neutral clothes. And being the advanced planner that I am, I know I will want quite a few outfits on hand before baby comes home.

5. Narrowing down the name game. We've started playing the name game since finding out we were pregnant. But we have a tough time narrowing it down to less then 5-10 names. Once we know the sex, we can really start to focus on just the boy names or just the girl names, and finally reach a conclusion. Otherwise, we're constantly churning names for both and I have a feeling we'll never get there by D-day.

6. Bonding. This one sounds a little silly, but I will say it anyways. Something about knowing the sex of the baby seems like it will help me bond while the baby is still in my tummy. When I feel Peanut kick, I want to be able to picture who it's coming from. It kills me that I have to wait another 6 months before actually seeing this little nugget's face, but being able to at least picture a little boy or girl helps - who knows why.

7. Hand-me-downs. We have cousins and friends who have kids of both sexes. And they are generous enough to pass down some things they're no longer using. However, it seems like our house could become a giant store unit pretty quickly if we're collecting both boy stuff AND girl stuff. And then, what do you do with all the stuff of the wrong sex? So knowing the sex will keep our selection limited at least by 50%.

8. Ronnie needs at least 6 months to prepare if it's a girl. Ronnie has ben very honest since the beginning that he wants a boy. "Why?" you ask. Because he knows that a little girl will have him wrapped around her little finger. So he needs some time to strategize how he will remain THE boss-man, while he would be melting inside when she simply looked at him. The joke is on him though, I think a little boy may have the same effect on him :)

9. I'm impatient. I LOVE surprises, but I have always had a tough time not peeking at Christmas gifts before their wrapped and under the tree. It's the same way with the baby. I want to be surprised, but I just can't keep myself from peeking!

10. Ronnie needs to plan exactly what the tattoo will look like on his bum...

KIDDING! There will be no tattoos in this household.

So let's hear it! Did I forget any reasons? Do you TOTALLY disagree? There's still time to change our minds...so let's hear what you've got!

Boy or Girl? 15 Week Ultrasound

So what do you think, boy or girl??

Thankful Thursday - Itches & Girl Power

Know what time it is? 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. as I mentioned, I no longer have the "linkytools" but I invite you to share your thankful blog in the comments section. Without further ado, here's what we're thankful for:

Mandi's List:

I'm thankful for fellowship. I'll be honest, I used to be the biggest social butterfly you've ever met. But as I've aged, I've turned the other way and actually avoid random chit chat as much as possible. However, whenever I'm actually at a social gathering, I really enjoy myself. This has been exactly the case with our small group. We meet every other Wednesday, and I always really enjoy our time with the couples in our small group. The conversation is always thought-provoking and I truly enjoy all the other couples in the group. I am so thankful to have a great group of people at our church to be in fellowship with. Also, Tuesday night for the first time a group of woman from my church got together to just hang out, and I am so thankful for the time we spent together, and incredibly thankful that we're going to continue getting together every other Tuesday.

I'm thankful that I've stopped being hungry ALL the time. The first trimester of my pregnancy I felt like I could eat a 6 course meal ALL day, every day. And as I gained a little more weight than I was "supposed to" I was a little worried. However, I have stopped feeling like I needed to stuff my face all day, so I think I'm eating quantities of food that are far healthier for me and for peanut.

I'm thankful for popcorn. I've always loved popcorn, and it always hits the spot. But I often don't think of it when I'm looking for a snack. However, I rediscovered my love of popcorn last night, and MAN am I thankful for that salty, buttery treat!!!

Ronnie's List:

I'm thankful for new connections made this week. It's seems like every week I am fortunate enough to talk to a couple new people from the CF community who I have previous not been able to speak at length before. I love getting the opportunity to connect on a deeper level and have the ability to share stories with each other. Every week is pretty awesome, but some connections that I've made this week are super awesome.

I'm thankful for my spur of the moment "itches to do something". I'm the type of person that if I get the urge to so something, I do it. Now, sometimes this is terrible and sometimes this is good. This week it was good. I had the sudden urge to clean our "catch-all closet". I'm sure that most of you know what I'm talking about. You know, that closet (or room) that collects everything that you don't have a place for. Well this week, I got the urge. As of right now it's not completely clean, but I'll tell you what, it look 1000 times better than it did on Monday!

I'm thankful for doctors that listen. During my last clinic visit I presented my doc with an new (but old) medication that I wanted to try out after hearing some good things about it on CysticLife.org. Without hesitation the doctor agreed to look it up and figure out the best way for me to get it. Within a week I was on my way to pick it up from the pharmacy. Thank you Dr. Daines!!

I'm thankful for the members of CysticLife. We were made aware today by the company that handles our server that CysticLife.org was coming close to using up all of it's allotted memory. What a great problem to have! Basically, being too active on the site is both bad and good...well bad until we can upgrade our server :) For the time being the site will have slower response time (we were able to make a few adjustments to improve response time today), but we're well on our way to making the necessary upgrades. What an awesome problem to have huh?!?!?

So, what are you thankful for today?

50 Day Hospital Stay

Question from a reader:

What was the cause of the 50 day hospital stay? Have you always exercised? I did but then stopped being obsessive about it which is when I started having problems. I think I probably had an infection that I let go too long and damaged my lung. (Stubborn, stubborn, stubborn).

My Answer:

My girlfriend (now wife) and I went to China for 3 weeks and while I was there I caught some weird chest cold. We were all sick and I thought I had fully recovered but then my last couple of days there I started coughing up a ton of blood (1/2 a cup to a cup for 3 days in a row). I stopped my DNASE and Vest as I usually do with a bleed and of course my lungs suffered for that. By the time I got back to the states I couldn't walk more than 50 yards without taking a break and I was SATing in the low 80's (my "true" SAT ended up being in the 70's determined by blood gas). They wanted to intubate me in the ER but I refused and had them put me on Bi-Pap. I spent 3-4 days in ICU and then 47-48 on the floor. It was nuts! It was also a huge wake up call. I had put my health on the back burner to try to do as much as I could with the various projects I had going. I was also traveling a lot so my treatments often got pushed off.

As far as working out and exercising, it's always been a part of my life. I played sports (football, basketball, baseball, soccer) from when I was 6 or so until I entered college. I then got right into coaching football so I would often work out with the guys and I had to remain active to coach. I left coaching in 2004 and I started to become less active. I would start working out again and it would last 2 or 3 months but then I would find all sorts of excuses to stop. I have been on a pretty consistent hospital plan since highschool and I don't think I've waited too long to go in very often. I realize that I have to go in and get a tune-up to continue living the lifestyle that I am accustomed to. Up until two years ago I've averaged about 90 days a year for the last 3 years prior and 75 days 3 years before that and so on. In highschool I went in for about 30 days a year. I try not to be too stubborn when it comes to that cause I know that the damage done can sometimes be irreversible.

Since recommitting myself to increased treatments and consistent exercise I've knocked my average hospital stay time in half and also increased my lung function. You can find my PFT history on RSBR, but as a quick snapshot - I steadily declined from an FEV1 of about 75% since 2003 until I hit rock bottom to an FEV1 in the high 20's in 2009 (this was not my baseline at the time but what I had after my trip to China - my baseline in 2008 was around 55% or so). I've now been able to get my baseline back up over 70% and feel like I have literally turned back the clock almost 10 years!

Thanks for the questions, keep em coming!!

My Foot be a-Healin'!!!

I've been operating on a bad wheel for about the past month now but fortunately my exercising hasn't stopped. Soon after I got out of the hospital I went for a long run and since then my foot hasn't been the same. I had my lung doctor look at it (who also happens to be a runner) and she said that it sounded/looked a lot like plantar fasciitis. I've had foot problems since I started running so this was nothing new, it was just a bummer that it happened so soon after my hospital stay. I had started running in new shoes so we figured that could have been contributing towards the problem. Her recommendation was that I rested it as much as possible and stretch it from time to time. Since then my morning walks have been scarce (to rest my foot) and I've mostly been doing an exercise bike or my bicycle for workouts. But after a month of no running I'm definitely chomping at the bit to get back on the treadmill or street. This is definitely one of those classic cases of "you don't know what you've got until it's gone".

Yesterday, for my workout, I decided to walk at a decent pace on the treadmill. Like I said before, I'm usually on the exercise bike which doesn't put any weight on my foot so getting on the treadmill can always be interesting. I've been on the treadmill since injuring my foot but I've always kept it at a very slow pace (almost just letting the treadmill act as a stretching mechanism for my foot). Yesterday was different however. I continued to push up the pace until it got uncomfortable to keep up with it. And it wasn't my foot that was holding me back, but just my natural walking pace. I ended up walking for about 45 min. with minimal pain or discomfort in my foot (about 2.5 miles). This is the most positive sign in the last month and it's making me hopeful that I may be able to run again soon.

I ended up going back to my old running shoes as the new ones may have been contributing to the problem. I don't plan on going back to the new ones unless it's completely necessary. Now Mandi will tell you it is in fact necessary because I'm missing part of my shoe on the old ones, but my feet felt great after walking in them so they'll stay. The mistake I made in purchasing my new shoes was actually getting a half size bigger than my old ones. It's funny because the smallest things can really make a difference in running shoes. When I started running over two years ago I was in the absolutely wrong shoes for me and after most of my runs I couldn't physically walk without shooting pains in my shins, knees and hips. After getting fitted with proper shoes all the pain went away and I was able to run with ease...well, ease in my book.

Just thought I'd fill you guys in on what's going on with me, exercising and my hopeful return to running. I've been fortunate that my lung function has actually gone up since getting out of the hospital (61% to 73%), but I'm sure a lot of that has to do with continued treatments and getting in any kind of exercise that I can. I've also been doing breathing exercises each and every morning before I get out of bed. Who knows if that has anything to do with my increased lung function but I can tell you that I feel much better and my lungs feel open before I even set foot on the ground in the morning. I would recommend that everyone at least give it a shot. I know for me I have a ton of mucus that just sits there overnight while I'm sleeping and doing those breathing exercises gets everything moving around.

That's it for my exercise update. If you're the praying type keep my foot in mind and if you're not...well then I guess you're not. Any good thoughts, shout outs, well-wishes, or anything else that you can think of that has to do with my foot will be appreciated!

1/2 Mother's Day

We had a jam-packed weekend; full-o-fun. We were down in Tucson Friday night, Saturday and Sunday morning. Friday night we enjoyed dinner with a few of our co-workers/friends, and then enjoyed hanging out with Ronnie's family a bit.

Then Saturday we enjoyed a morning with Ronnie's Grandma and Aunt Mary and then went to breakfast with Ronnie's brothers. Next up was a bridal shower for Ronnie's cousin, which was a blast. For each of his family members, Ronnie's mom and her sisters throw what they call an "Auntie Shower". And these ladies always do an unbelievable job. This shower was "beachy" since their wedding is in June, on the beach in Mexico. It was a blast, as all the Auntie Showers are.

After the shower Ronnie, his brothers, and I ran around getting stuff for Mother's Day (obviously for his mother!) And after the errands were over, it was time to get cleaned up and ready for a CysticLife fundraiser that we had. Our web guru, Mike, organized the whole event and it was a HUGE success. We were thrilled to see it all come together and look forward to this event in years to come (right, Mike ;-) !!)

And after what felt like a very short night of sleep, it was MOTHER'S DAY (or 1/2 Mother's Day as Ronnie and I celebrated it for this little momma to be). Ronnie, his brothers and I made breakfast for their mom. We enjoyed some blueberry pancakes, watermelon, and scrambled eggs. After a nice meal, we packed up, and headed up back home.

The rest of the day we spent laying around - and it was FABULOUS! I had a bit of an upset stomach Saturday night and all of Sunday, so laying around and napping was just what the doctor ordered. Ronnie and I didn't want to celebrate Mother's Day for me this year, since peanut isn't here yet, so instead we celebrated 1/2 Mother's Day. And while we didn't officially celebrate, Ronnie spoiled me all day by doing laundry, waiting on me, and showering me with praise - it was the best 1/2 Mother's Day anyone could ask for.

And while Ronnie already wished everyone a happy Mother's Day, I want to take a second to give my mom a specific Mother's Day shout out, since I wasn't able to spend the day with her (and between you and me, I didn't get her anything either because we'd probably need to take out a second mortgage on our house to pay for shipping!) Luckily my dad picked up the slack and spoiled her all day for me and my brother. But in case she didn't feel the love enough: Momma - Happy Mother's Day! You were the best mom, and have set the bar very high for me. I hope I can be half the mom you are.

So how did you celebrate Mother's Day?

Happy Momma's Day

A big shout out to the special mommas and mommas-to-be in my life! Also a big thank you to all of the mommas out there in the CF community. A lot of cysters and fibros rely on you to "bring it" every single day and many of you continue to knock it out of the park! Being a momma is special, but being a CF momma is SUPER special as you have a lot more riding on the outcome of your performance :)

HAPPY HAPPY MOMMA'S DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Scaring People is Fun

If you haven't seen one of these Scary Maze Pranks before you've got to check this out. These were all shot during a family vacation in Mexico.

Thankful Thursday - Salty & Sweet

Know what time it is? 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. as I mentioned, I no longer have the "linkytools" but I invite you to share your thankful blog in the comments section. Without further ado, here's what we're thankful for:

Mandi's List:

I'm thankful for runs. I am finally able to run again now that my ovaries have shrunk back down to their proper size. I am slowly working back into it, but yesterday I was able to get a 2.5 miler in and it felt SO good. I'm hoping I can continue to work up to running 3-4 at a time, but I'm just so thankful that I can run at all!

I'm thankful for my Harkins Loyalty Cup. It's a cup you pay for at the beginning of the year, and then you get $1 drinks when you go to the movies. And while I'm thankful for that aspect, I'm more thankful that I've had a HUGE cup to drink out of around the house. It's a 32 oz ginormous cup and I've been drinking water out of it all day long. This wonderful cup has helped me drink a TON of water each day! And I'm sure peanut is thankful too.

I'm thankful for tradition. I got up early on Friday morning to watch the royal wedding and I found it all so awesome. I just think all the tradition is so fascinating. I am thankful there is such thing as live television and that I got to watch it all, just like I was there! Side note: Kate may be the most beautiful woman ever!!

Ronnie's List:

I'm thankful for a giving wife who speaks my love language better than any other. If you have no clue what I'm talking about in terms of love languages than you should check out the book The Five Love Languages. It's basically helps you narrow down how you receive love from another person and what you identify as "love". I forget my two main love languages, but I know one of them, acts of service. I feel loved when Mandi is willing to do stuff for me. Tonight was a perfect example of that; I really wanted something sweet and she offered to make me something. I didn't ask for it, but ended up snacking on Golden Graham treats made from scratch. Got to love it! Thanks babe!!!

I'm thankful for sweat. I may not always be thankful for the natural shower that my body gives me once in a while, but today, it was welcomed. Whenever I'm in the gym, I love to sweat. I once heard someone call it a "liquid confirmation that you are working hard" and I couldn't agree more. When I start really sweating in the gym I always get an extra burst of energy cause it feels like I'm "reaping what I sow" so to speak. Today I had a light grey shirt on which turned dark grey by the end of my workout - sort of the icing on top.

I'm thankful for my hospital including me in their CF Taskforce meeting. Basically, my hospital is trying to make the hospital a more enjoyable experience for all parties involved - CFers, nurses, dietitians, etc. They threw together a task force to look at certain issues that may happen during a hospital stay and figure out ways to improve upon the deficiencies. What was cool, was that I got an inside peak into "non-patient" issues and was able to look at certain issues as a healthcare provider. To really understand a lot of the issues we face in the hospital you've got to see it from both sides. I'm fortunate that I was able to hear from their perspective and I can only hope that I added value and a true patient perspective on my end.

So, what are you thankful for today?

Rondi's Recipes: Blackened Chicken w/Avocado Salsa

I think one of the things that I'm most excited about is the fact that Mandi and I are going to be home for 4 consecutive nights! Why am I so excited? Because it means we can get back into our cooking groove. We love to explore new recipes and try our hand at stuff that seems unique. This was our attempt at Blackened Chicken with Avocado Salsa with a review to follow. If you'd like to see the original recipe, click here.

Ingredients: Chicken, Papaya, Salt, Red Bell Peppers, Cilantro, Avocado, Rice Vinegar, Olive Oil, Salt, Cumin, Blackened Seasoning

Lightly seasoned chicken thrown into hot pan with oil

Sliced and diced avocado

Never purchased a papaya before

Rice Vinegar, Oil, Avocado, Bell Pepper and Papaya

Baked chicken

Serve and enjoy!

Prep Time: About 15 minutes (with two people)

Cook Time: About 15 minutes (not including searing chicken)

Total Time: About 25 minutes

What we liked:

I LOVED the salsa. I was a little worried I wouldn't because I'm on the fence about avocado (I keep trying it because it's pretty good, but it's not a home run for me every time). I also didn't know how I felt about papaya. So I was a little nervous if I'd like something that was avocado and papaya together - with a whole bunch of other stuff that I didn't know how the flavors would be. But it was a slam dunk. The flavors were so yummy together. I ate more salsa than I did chicken.

Which brings me to the chicken. The flavor was great. And usually I'm not a fan of chicken breast (but that's all we get because it's all Ronnie will eat - I prefer dark meat), but the way it was cooked (thanks to chef Ronnie) it was moist and not dry (my biggest beef with white meat) and because it was paired with the salsa it was even less dry.

I loved this as a spring/summer meal. It would be just perfect on a hot summer night sitting outside on the patio. It was light and refreshing.

This meal seemed very light, fresh and clean. The three things I love finding in a meal.

The salsa, if broken down into individual ingredients, I probably wouldn't be fond of, but when they were thrown all together it really worked.

For all that it had going on, it was really easy to prepare and put together.

I loved that I was able to go back for seconds and still not feel stuffed.

What we'd change:

I'm actually having a tough time coming up with what I'd change, but:

I'd have a different side. We had it with canned green beans, but I think a corn on the cob or something else summery could be yummy.

I'd consider adding something to the salsa with a bit of a spicy kick. As I said, the salsa was amazing, but I think it could also be good with a little spice to it.

I wish I had more, but this was just too yummy!!

I would probably add another component to the salsa to try and make it even better.

Our avocado wasn't quite as ripe as it could have been and it would have been nice to try with proper avocado.

I would season the chicken just a pinch more than I did.

I had green beans for a side, but would like one that complimented the meal more.

Here's our overall rating (with 1 being the worst meal we've ever had and 10 being the best):

Mandi's Rating:

9.5 - Best meal we've made at home in a long time!! I can't wait to have leftovers for lunch today!!!

Ronnie's Rating: 8.0

Again, if you guys have any suggestions on how this is laid out or what you guys would like to see answered/done differently, please let us know :)

My "Increase Lung Function" Routine

Message from a reader and my response...

Hey Ronnie, Congratulations that must feel awesome! Do you have any tips? Do you practice doing pfts on a regular basis? I recently had my quarterly appt and I had been running about 25 miles per week for the 3 weeks leading up to my appt and I went down in my FEV1 from 51 to 47%. I was so bummed and ended up crying in my appt (which I've never done.) I know that running is great and it gets me to cough up soooo much junk and I do lift weights regularly too but is there anything else you do? I mean that is amazing to jump up like that....12 %?! I have never had an increase like that. my pfts have just been hovering around 50% for the past 6 years. Any tips would be greatly appreciated:)

Great job on running so much these past three weeks!!! One thing to keep in mind is that you've been hovering around the same numbers for 6 years, so you can't expect to see a big jump in only 3 weeks. I had a steady decline for 8 years until I finally said "enough is enough". I was prepared to put in at least 8 years of hard work. Know what I mean? It takes us quite a few years to get to where we are, so it may take quite a few years to get to where we want to be! The key is to just stay after it! Don't be discouraged by one PFT result. PFT tests are very finicky and for all you know your numbers could be better today. Use those results as wind to blow your sail and move the boat forward, don't turn your sail and try to go against the wind. As far as what I do...Before I get out of bed, I lay there for about 5 minutes and take deep deep breaths, as deep as I can, and exhale. I try to get all of that mucus out that made it's way up my lungs while I was sleeping. I do 3 to 4 treatments a day (albuterol/atrovent, Pulmozyme, HTS, Inhaled antibiotic, Advair, Vest) and I make sure to do SOMETHING each and every day. Whether it's the gym, walk/run, bike, skip, whatever. Stick with it and remember, even if your numbers don't go up, imagine them being the same in 5 years...that would be quite a positive thing!!!

**Now, before you comment that you do everything listed above and then some and your numbers won't budge, just keep in mind that I was asked what I do. We all understand that there are some among us that can do everything right yet they still suffer...just as there are some among us who don't need to touch a treatment or exercise in any way and do just fine. The CF population is like a big bell curve with many of us being able to affect how we feel on a day to day basis and then others on the fringe in the categories I mentioned above. For many of us, if we stay committed to treatments and exercise it will have nothing but a positive effect on our health. And please, before you comment that everyone you know gives it their best, just think about that statement a little bit. Our best? How would you define it? For me, a guy who devotes 3-4 hours per day on treatments and exercise, I know that I can still do better. I would contend that we can all do better. If you've mastered the ability of "giving it your best", I beg you, fill me in on the secret. I don't think it's a bad thing at all to wake up every day and try to be the best version of ourselves. Unfortunately, I still fail just about every day :) Maybe I need to lower my standards?

Second Trimester and National News

This week is an exciting week for us in "baby land". We are going to be 14 weeks pregnant tomorrow (Tuesday) and therefore are officially in the second trimester. Quick side note: I keep finding different definitions of when the second trimester officially starts, but 14 weeks is the latest I've seen, so that is what I went with. Anywhoo...I'm thrilled that we are officially out of the "danger zone" that is the first trimester, and we are now allowing ourselves to get fully excited. Well, to be honest, I was pretty fully excited, but I kept trying to remind myself that I should remain a bit reserved until the second trimester mark.

Now starts the "fun" part of pregnancy, or so I read. Supposedly the second trimester is the easiest and the most comfortable. I haven't had any real morning sickness, so I think I'm probably in the lucky bunch that made it through the first trimester happy and comfortable, so this will likely be more of the same for me. I will say, the one thing I'm hoping the second trimester brings is a balance in my hormones, in the hopes of clearing up some of this raging acne I'm experiencing. It has steadily gotten worst over the last 7 weeks or so, and is full blown now. It's a bizarre really - a ton of acne all over my jawline and cheeks. And the worst part is that it itches and burns at times. I'm hopeful that my body will begin to stabilize and my face will steadily clear throughout this trimester, but I'm not holding my breath - my new "friends" may be here to stay until after little peanut is out of my belly. If I can push my vanity aside, we will post pictures of it - and considering Ronnie keeps saying "MAN WE NEED TO TAKE PICTURES OF THIS", my guess is that pictures will be up at some point soon.

Back to the awesome parts of this pregnancy. I am starting to get a little more of a belly (pictures will be posted in the next few weeks, once there's more growth). I'm excited to start showing. Right now it's just big enough to look like I could be pregnant, but not quite big enough that anyone would be confident enough to ask when I was due. Now I'm just counting down the weeks until I have a legit belly, and REALLY eagerly awaiting the day that I can feel our little peanut moving. In the meantime, I'll wonder if every tummy rumble and gas bubble (is that TMI?) is the first little feelings of peanut moving.

And on a totally different note, I feel the need to at least mention the major headline of yesterday. Ronnie and I watched the breaking news of Bin Ladin's death most of the evening last night. Now let me first say, I am not into politics - so I won't get political on you all today. But I will say a few things. First, I think it's great that after 10 years, we finally found him. I am especially thrilled that this day has come for the families affected by 9/11 and for the all the troops that have worked towards this moment. Second, I was pretty impressed by Obama's address. Whoever wrote that address did a really good job. I can't imagine the pressure of having to write something like that in just a few hours time. The thing I liked best about it, is that I think it was very mindful and geared toward an international audience. Anywhoo, I'm no political analyst, just felt like I should at least acknowledge the big current event!

**BE SURE TO WATCH HAWAII FIVE-O TONIGHT ON CBS. THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT SURFING, SALT WATER, AND CYSTIC FIBROSIS. WE ARE SO THANKFUL FOR OUR FRIENDS AT THE MAULI OLA FOUNDATION AND AMBRY GENETICS FOR GETTING CF TO BE WORKED INTO THE SHOW. GREAT AWARENESS!!!

Transitioning to Middle Adulthood

Guest post by Leah Sands

Erik Erikson, social scientist, defined "middle age" as the period between ages 40-65, although the US census has often linked it to the ages of 35-50. Therefore, I feel that I am now at the point where I'm transitioning from early adulthood into middle adulthood. My thoughts on this have been hovering in my head as I realize what this means.

As a child and teenager, I remember looking at adults with gray hair as inferior to my world. They always exuded some kind of confidence as they went about their business. Most of them had horrible fashion sense in my opinion. And why should they be so happy and carefree? After all, they were "old".

After recently celebrating my entrance into my 30's, I began to contemplate a lot of realities about my life. It basically began when I injured my back a few weeks prior. This caused me some major pain issues and an inability to be very active. It made me question why I was having this type of back problem because "I'm too young" to be having these issues already.

In addition, I've even become much more aware of educational and media commentary on the changes that start to occur after you reach age 30 - as if there's some automatic switch that changes you from young and thriving to old and degenerating.

"Young and thriving" - not always the case with people with CF. I was fortunate enough to have been diagnosed when I was born due to meconium ileius; although, I still had difficulties gaining weight and maintaining it. My childhood days were filled with swingsets, coloring, forts, and sleepovers. My daily routine also included enzymes, antibiotics, vitamins, inhaled medications, and chest therapy, which was usually accompanied by exciting games of 'I Spy'.

But as I got older, I came to realize that all of this extra daily routine stuff was actually really a desperate effort to keep me alive and functioning normally. I began reading books from the library, secretly, about CF - only to come to realize my true fate. The encyclopedia told me I'd be dead by age 18. Several non-fiction books told gruesome truths of the tortures of CF. I'd spend nights in my room recording my cough so I could replay it to myself to see how bad it really sounded to others. My family would casually redirect me or suggest alternate options when discussing my future and a family of my own. All of this collectively made me understand that I would never see myself as an old person. No sense in planning things out that far. Plus, who wants to be old anyways.

But hey, I'm still alive. I'm 30 and still surviving. Not only am I surviving, but I'm thriving....And how do I know this?.....I'm now a whopping 192 pounds! Yep, thriving all right! It is true what they say - your metabolism slows as you age. Not only that, but the pregnancy weight you gain also sticks with you for life. And yes, I've even been pregnant - something I didn't think was ever possible. Now I see my two boys running around our back yard and I can only be grateful for all the wonderful things in my life. Not only have I achieved my personal and family goals, but also my educational and career goals. I finished my graduate degree last year and landed my dream job on my 30th birthday. So thriving is an understatement to say the least - I'm living a dream!

Amongst all of these achievements, that I originally thought were impossible, I have maintained my health. I feel guilty and sad when a friend with CF has a difficult time or passes away. Why isn't this me? So many people aren't able to live their dreams and accomplish their goals, so what makes me so special? Everyone deserves a chance.

So I look in the mirror and evaluate my life. I can almost look into my soul and see all of the feelings I have inside. I can look into my eyes and relive the memories that have made me who I am today. I can look into my hair and realize that I'm starting to get grays --- WHAT?!?!?!?!

I never, in a million years, would have thought I'd see this day. Should I pluck them out? Color them? This brings awareness to the fact that I'm not so young anymore and I want to look young. But the other part of me wants to embrace this change. I want to cherish the fact that I'm old enough to get them. I've made it to a point where so many others have not, a point where I hadn't planned for.

I've made it to being....old.

Leah's Bio: I am a 30-year-old cyster, married to my life partner, and we have two beautiful boys ages 4 and 2. I work as an application analyst for medical practices, have an MBA, and also hold a license as a registered nurse. I love playing organized sports, such as soccer and softball. I love spending time outside with my boys teaching them how to play sports and jumping on the trampoline. I also enjoy photography, scrapbooking, and anything crafty really. I am very fortunate that my health has remained stable over the years and my mutations are double DF508.

Note from Ronnie: I can't thank Leah enough for reaching out to me and contributing this blog. We are such a "large" small community and can really learn a lot from each other's story. It's always great to hear stories of cysters my age who are not only living with CF, but THRIVING with CF. Growing up in my generation, we were always left to wonder just what age we would make it to. Now, because of all of the wonderful advances in CF care, we are seeing the next generation carry less of that burden!

Our Week 13 Ultrasound!!

S/he really put on a show this week. Best part of the video is when s/he scratches his/her knee :)

Thankful Thursday - Fibros & RTs

Know what time it is? 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. as I mentioned, I no longer have the "linkytools" but I invite you to share your thankful blog in the comments section. Without further ado, here's what we're thankful for:

Mandi's List:

Mandi was super duper sleepy tonight and I didn't have the heart to wake her up to write her part of this. I'm sure she'll wake up in the morning and whip something out for you guys, so you'll have to check back!

Ronnie's List:

I'm thankful for another great week of workouts so far. We've switched it up quite a bit from walking, to riding, to gym time and it all seems to be going well. I'm really hoping that next week I can test my foot on a light jog. The good news is that my lungs haven't held me back at all from my workouts, just this stupid foot. I guess we'll see if that changes next week. Fingers crossed!

I'm thankful that I'm going to have the opportunity to meet up with my fellow fibro Brian who is currently going across the country on his motorcycle for the CF Riders awareness tour. He started with a simple dream and has been able to set off on this mission with a lot of hard work and determination. I'm really looking forward to finally being able to meet up in person!

I'm thankful that I'm actually enjoying yard work. You have to understand, I grew up doing absolutely no yard work. We didn't have a yard to be worked on and the one time I was in charge of raking the back yard I tore out some phone lines - and that was the end of my yard work duties. Now at our home we have a big ol' yard to take care of and it can be very daunting. Thankfully, I'm starting to get the hang of it and actually look forward to getting out there.

I'm thankful for my opportunity to speak with a respiratory therapy class on Friday. Just about every semester I get invited to speak to a class of aspiring RTs. We all know how important RTs are in our lives when we find ourselves in the Hole and I want to make sure they know that. I'm there to put a face (albeit an ugly one) to this disease that they read about in books and to deliver one key message - if you're not there because you want to see me get better, then find a new job!

So, what are you thankful for today?

So When Do We Tell Our Friends About CF?

Here is an email exchange between a reader and myself about the struggle of wondering when to introduce new friends to our Cystic Fibrosis:

i just realized something, ive made so many videos while i was in the hospital, and NONE of them were about cf...wow! i get so mad that theres no cf awareness in the world and i HAVE cf, and im not even doing anything about it, thats sad. its just i dont wanna be know as the boy with cf, i wanna be know as casey the funny kid. ya know? so i never really thought about making cf videos or telling ppl ALL about cf. this is my strategy when i meet someone new; i give them my name, and say a bunch of stuff to make them laugh, then talk to them for a few days after a few weeks were hangin out with other friends...THEN i tell them i have CF. i let them get to know me for me before i let them know i have cf, and ive realized the ppl i tell right away treat me WAY different from the ppl i tell later on. i have no idea where i was going with this, BUT this is just something i've always went through, and i know from your "CF doesnt define me" blog, you do kinda the same thing.

Response:

Don't worry about being Mr. Awareness for CF, we all get comfortable at different rates. Here's the deal though, we're not contagious so people have no reason to fear us. Also, it's important that YOU explain YOUR CF to people and that they don't "google" it to find out what it is. If they do that they'll probably wonder why you're still alive :) People's reaction to CF is generally a reflection with how we feel about CF. If we seem scared, or sad, or make it a big deal, that's exactly what the people we tell will do. When I tell somebody about CF I usually downplay it a bit, but not to the point that they don't think it's a serious illness that need support. I often tell people that it's like I have pneumonia and asthma all of the time. Everybody knows exactly what those two things are so they can automatically kind of understand what I'm talking about. People are scared and react in different ways to the "unknown", just make sure your friends know what it is. If they don't support you in that, then why in the world would you want them as friends? Know what I mean?

Most people in my high school knew I had CF, but I was also the class clown. That's just me. People know us for our personality. CF is not a personality trait unless you make it one. If you act like a victim, or have a bad attitude, or are a secretive person, it is often because of CF that you are that way. Then, CF becomes part of your personality and that's what people know you as. Who would want to be around a person with all of those negative traits? I know I wouldn't. If you don't make CF part of your personality or let it affect you negatively emotionally, people will only know you as (name withheld). Sure people may know that you HAVE CF, but they won't think that you ARE CF. There is a HUGE difference. See, I HAVE CF, but CF doesn't HAVE me.

Here's what I do as far as when to tell somebody I have CF (and I know that I'll see them again). Generally speaking I have a pretty good "in" if me and that person are at the same table for dinner or something. Know what I do? I pull out the enzymes and set them right on the table. 9 out of 10 times I get the question "what are those?". Then I tell them what they are, what they're for, and why I take them. Then I tell them about CF, but here's the key, I tell them about MY CF. I don't recite statistics or the same jargon you can get on any website about CF. They're not interested in being friends with CF, they want to be friends with me. So I go into MY CF experience; how it affects me. I promise that they care more about that then all of the statistics that they'll forget anyway. But I'm very open about my CF and then encourage them to ask any questions if any ones ever come into their mind because as I tell them "I'm an open book".

I haven't noticed a difference in how people treat me as to whether I tell them right away or not. But I cough a lot so it usually comes up pretty close after meeting someone. Plus, I figure the more people that know about it, the easier time the generations after me will have with explaining CF. Everything to do with CF, from acceptance, research dollars, a cure, education, and involvement stems from awareness. The more aware people are of this disease, the better of a chance we have.

I hope all of that makes sense. Don't hesitate to email me again.

Do Life,

Ronnie

**Originally "aired" on July 16th, 2009**

PFT Results and Update from Clinic

So yesterday I headed down to clinic for the first time since getting out of the Hole. It's always nice to see where you stand after six or so weeks out from a tuneup and I was definitely excited to see how it would go. Now me and CF Clinic have quite a history together...and by history I mean a dysfunctional relationship. To say that I haven't been the best at going to clinic would be a gross understatement. The problem is that I've always had very consistent hospital stays and never really saw the need to check in with my doctors unless I wasn't feeling too hot. And lately I've been doing so many clinical trials that I could tell you almost week to week what my lung function is. Honestly, the biggest reason that I want to go to clinic is to see what my FEV1 is. But after much strong-arming and guilt tripping by my CF team I decided that I would bite the bullet and see them in clinic. I'm very glad that I made that decision.

We did all the regular stuff that I'm sure most of you do each and every clinic visit. My visit started off with the social worker and we just discussed some different themes I see happening in the CF community right now and what we'd like to see in the future. Fortunately, I'm not having any insurance issues or family issues at this time (although with Mandi in the house that could change at the drop of a hat...kidding babe). This was followed by a visit from the dietitian and an intern and Glenda, who is like the CF czar. Glenda makes sure that I'm always on top of my game and was one of the main reasons that I made sure I got to the clinic. She can guilt trip with the best of them :) We went over the basic stuff like how my lungs were doing if I had an increase in cough, how my appetite was and overall how I was feeling. We of course had to go over my medicine list, and you would think at some point I would write it down or have it on my phone, because I seem to always struggle to come up with all of my meds. I'm sure each clinic is a little different from place to place but I'm also sure we have common themes that are similar. But this is basically how clinic goes each and every time.

I almost forgot about the most exciting part! My appointment actually started off with a visit from Darcy who does our PFT testing. Now I felt pretty good heading into the appointment but knowing that my last FEV1 was at 61% and that I haven't been able to run for a few weeks because of my foot, I really wasn't sure what to expect. To my delight and surprise I blew in a FEV1 of 73%! According to them that was one of my best in clinic FEV1 in years. I also blew an 85% FVC which you have to go back to 2003 to match. I got to say it felt really good to see that number increased so much and just validates all of the commitment and hard work I've put in since I've gotten out of the Hole. It's been very rare for us to miss a day in the gym and if we do miss, we make sure to get a walk or a bike ride in. We've also been eating much better and although that may have no effect on the lungs, I can definitely tell and how it affects me overall.

Now the key is to not get comfortable. I can be some fat cat who thinks he has it made just because I have a really good PFT or I can use this as even more motivation. If anything what this shows me is that if I work even harder I may be able to raise those numbers up even more. I haven't been perfect since I got out of the hospital, but I strive to be perfect in taking care of myself each and every day. After the test today I thought to myself what would've happened if I was 100% compliant on both treatments and exercise this entire time? Of course I'll never know the answer, but moving forward I have another chance on trying to achieve perfection. Getting comfortable has always been one of my big battles especially during these times that I feel great. I have to remember that CF never takes a day off and I can't afford to either.

Easter Fun 2011 (Pictures included)

Yesterday we headed down to Tucson to hang out with the family for Easter. Before heading down we would usually go to the Easter service at our church, but the pastor asked for some of the "regular attenders" to go to one of the Saturday services instead. We knocked out the Easter service on 3pm Saturday afternoon. This gave us time to relax Sunday morning and enjoy a nice sit down breakfast together before heading down to Tucson.

As many of you know, when my family get together to celebrate any occasion it's usually a big deal. By big deal I mean that there are a ton of people around. I'm guessing for Easter 2011 we had about 30 peeps there. We do the normal stuff, chit-chat, devotional, chow down, hunt for eggs, dessert and then chat some more. As always, it was a good time and we definitely enjoyed ourselves.

We tried to take as many pictures as we could, but as usual, we suck at taking pictures. Here's what we got though.

Like I said, when we get together, we get together. This was the crowd to my right and doesn't include at least 10 family members who were to my left. It looks like the bulk of family members in this picture are cousins, but I do see some aunts and uncles sprinkled in there. Notice the fresh flower centerpieces in the middle of the table - good work Aunt Janna!!

here's my mom and my aunt Mary hiding some eggs before a handful of younger cousins come looking for them. If you're wondering, yes, I did have a putting competition earlier in the day, and yes, I eeked out a victory over my step-dad Mark.

Somehow I didn't manage to get a picture of the Easter egg hunters, but I did snap a picture of the crowd watching them search for eggs. This year, the oldest searcher was about 5, so we couldn't make the eggs too hard to find. Hiding eggs for kids no taller than 4 feet is quite a challenge and really limits your options.

Dessert table. Three families, including Mandi and I, were in charge of bringing desserts. Mandi and I brought the blonde brownies in the far left hand corner of the table and the trifle looking thing on the right side of the table. Our trifle consisted of chocolate cake, cool whip, crushed peanut butter cups, crushed butterfinger, chocolate pudding, another chocolate cake and topped with more crushed butterfinger and some cool whip. Yummy yummy for my tummy tummy...followed by a slight sick feeling :)

Then of course I tried to play with the "big boys" and I got hurt. A ball unexpectedly made it too my hands and I wasn't quite ready for it - can you guess which pinkie got the raw end of the deal?

Happy Easter Everyone

I hope all of you who actually read this are getting ready to hang out with friends and family. That's exactly what I'll be doing today myself. Mandi and I slaved in the kitchen yesterday making two different desserts to bring to my aunt's house. Luckily, there are two others bringing desserts as well because we should have over 20 peeps around. Anyway, that is it, hope nobody reads this cause you're busy celebrating.

He is risen; He is risen indeed!!