Showing posts with label CF and Vacations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CF and Vacations. Show all posts

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Labor Day Weekend, Nausea, and Crazy Temps

Happy Sunday everyone!

I hope everyone is enjoying their three day holiday weekend! The hubby and I had a wonderful time up at Lake Geneva with our family, even though it was a very short trip.  I didn't, however, think we were going to ever make it up there between packing, loading the car, and the unfortunate incident about an hour into our trip.

When we pack for trips, my hubby always makes me go through a mental checklist as to ensure we have everything.  So I went through my checklist, four times in my head, confident I had everything we needed.  So we scurried out the door, put on some favorite tunes, and started singing loudly as we made our way to Lake Geneva. After making two wrong turns (courtesy of my poor directing skills and unfocused brain) we were finally headed in the right direction - still singing away and happy until . . . I realized I left my nebulizers at home.

Had I left a medication or an article of clothing or toiletries, we could always pick those up.  Instead, I leave one of the only things we can NOT get anywhere else.  So, an hour into our drive, we had to turn around and grab the nebulizers from the house. It wasn't terrible, but it meant missing dinner with our family which made us upset.

Other than that drama, the weekend was great and I even purchased some yummy caramel corn with pecans.

  Mmmm!!

Now onto pregnancy related things. My doctor made a strict deal with me. She was fine with our TTC as long as I gained 5 pounds. I am 4 pounds of the way there, thanks to the addition of insulin, which I did NOT want to start but realized I would have to use with a baby anyway so it seemed silly to put it off any longer. Up until this point, I had been managing my sugars with diet and keeping my A1C at 6.0 or around there which is great, except I wasn't putting on any weight. So now, in two months time I am up almost five pounds and enjoying foods like caramel corn and milkshakes, which I haven't enjoyed in a couple years.  Well, last night I had a scare with my new insulin program.

I took my insulin, prepared to sit down and have an awesome meal (Mac and cheese with a caramel apple..yes I love caramel).  All was good until I smelled the food and then felt like I couldn't take a bite or I would upchuck it everywhere! I ate slowly, feeling sick with every bite but I managed to get it down. It did, however, make me nervous about morning sickness with insulin. If I can't eat, or I throw up, then my sugars are going to bottom out. Definitely a question for my endocrinologist at my next appointment.

So, I was nervous but the nausea stayed at bay until today at lunch time. We got home and when I walked into the house, a certain smell triggered a wave of nausea again. My dear hubby thinks I'm crazy because he has a cold and can't smell anything. Well, it passed and we sat down to eat another big meal (more insulin) and sure enough, I thought it was all going to come up again.  Then, as soon as I smelled dinner tonight, I thought so again.

Now despite the fact that it's way too early for nausea, I was getting myself excited thinking it could be a pregnancy!! However, my BBTs (Basal Body Temps) haven't even indicated that I've ovulated yet this cycle. I had one day of higher temps and then it fell right back down to around 96.8 and has been hovering there for the last few days. So as much as I want to get my hopes up, it seems like it's just a stomach flu of some kind.

I'm thinking it's going to be awhile until I get my dear AF also because my BBTs are so low, even though I'm on day 28 of my cycle. It's irritating because now I don't know when I will be "late" or when to expect anything. This charting thing is harder than it sounds, that's for sure.  I guess the only thing to do is keep trying all the way until my temp spikes and hope this nausea goes away very soon because it sure is disrupting my days!

Friday, September 2, 2011

A simple 2 day vacation??


Before I begin the arduous task of packing for a two day vacation, I figured I would take the time to write out what a mini vacation details for us CFers. 

In my opinion, I would much rather take a long vacation than a short vacation because of the amount of time which goes into packing for either.  With CF, a small weekend getaway doesn’t mean that we can throw our clothes into a bag, bring toothbrush/toothpaste, and deodorant and be on the road.  Instead, it means we need to get our vest (airway clearance machine) packed up in its own roll along case, our nebulizer machine, our nebulizers sterilized and in plastic bags for transport, our medications (always bring more than two days worth..just in case) packed in a bag, which means about 6 or more different pill bottles, our flutter device packed to go, our nasal rinse packed to go, and a backup inhaler.  Oh, and I almost forgot the least-favorite part.  At the last minute (I HATE last minute..too afraid I will forget it), we have to pack our refrigerated medicines in a cooling case for the duration of the trip.  In addition, I also have to bring a baby bottle sterilizer so that my nebulizers can be sterilized every day while I’m away.  All this for a two day trip. 

As you can imagine, I prefer lengthy vacations because I need to pack the exact same items, just in larger quantities, and then packing all of it up seems worth it.  For a weekend getaway, it seems crazy.  Plus, even with family, I always get the comments such as, “WOW! You packed for a month!” or something similar. When we look at our luggage, over half of it is always medications and CF related items.  


Here it is - two days worth of packing.  Even the suitcaseto the far left is half-filled with medications. Needless to say, it takes awhile to pack.

Since I have so much cleaning and packing to do today, I figured I would splurge and drink coffee.  I’ve been trying to give it up since we’re trying to get pregnant, but today I definitely needed a caffeine boost.  Back to no coffee tomorrow J 

I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful labor day weekend!! I’ll probably post when I get back!