Sorry for this monthly health update being a bit overdue.. I have been working in a new position at work and am still in the transitioning phase. My life has just been a little hectic with all that on my mind in addition to a surprise hospitalization. I’ll get more into that in the break down of how my health has been. Something that I have been working very hard on is learning to listen to my body and recognize its needs. It is no surprise at my disappointment when I learned that I failed myself. However, I realize that it is a relatively new skill that takes a grand amount of time to master. It has reminded me to stay focused and have patience. I choose to use these moments as lessons rather than “set backs”.

Lung Health

Once again, I have been having bad symptoms in the lung department. Right after I got off of IVs last month, my cough and lung fatigue started right back up again. I have been working my hardest to exercise my lungs, but they are just so tired that some days it’s hard enough just to go to work. My frustration has grown at the stubbornness my lungs have been showing me. It seems like no matter how much work I put in, they just want to fight with me! Grrr. Just obey me, lungs!

PFT Update

During the month of September, I was not seen at clinic at all. I probably should have been, but I already had an appointment scheduled for the beginning of October. This is when I learned just how much my health had gotten away from me. My PFTs took a pretty significant drop. Especially for just having been on IV antibiotics for 3 weeks just 2 months ago.

My doctor tried to get me to go to the hospital straight from clinic, while I wanted to just go home with IVs. We compromised on me coming in the next day. Like I mentioned earlier, I am just starting at a new position and did not want to be missing out on work. After taking almost half an hour to deliberate on a game plan, we drove back home so I could take care of some last-minute arrangements.

Cough Update

For as long as I can remember, this has always been the worst part of my health. The week after I ended IVs in August, my cough came back worse than ever. I was up every night that week coughing and having to do 4am treatments. NOT FUN. Perhaps my body got used to the cough, but by the next week I was at least sleeping through the night. My cough had not subsided, though. As I sat on the exam chair at my clinic appointment, my doctor was horrified by my cough. I was coughing HARD the entire appointment. Now we are trying a new antibiotic to see if that might help?

Mucus Update

Woo, the mucus talk! The cough that I have had for the past year or so has been pretty dry (meaning that I am not coughing up much mucus). However, I have been slightly more junky than not at all. What I have been coughing up is dark green. Hopefully that is good and means that I am getting all that infected junk out? For those of you that may not know – the general rule is that the darker and greener the mucus, the worse the infection in the lungs.

Other Health

The severity of the symptoms in my lungs have led my other health to be affected, as well. Even though we may not always realize it, our bodies are connected in such an intricate design. Something in one part of the body can affect another part of the body in a way you never even knew possible or a way you may not always think about. I have been experiencing quite a bit of this during the past month.

Weight Update

I lost quite a bit of weight this past month, especially for it being in such a short span of time. My body has been taking a lot of extra calories away for the energy of non-stop, harsh coughing. With the help of nutritional supplements and rest, I have been able to stabilize my weight. Luckily, I am still within my buffer weight range. The goal for the next month will be to keep my weight from dropping any more, and potentially gaining a couple of pounds.

I am excited that all of my clothes that I had to tuck away when I started on prednisone are back in action! Don’t forget to look for the positives in every situation.

Energy Update

The start of the month was extremely productive. I was doing awesome with exercise and all the activities that I fill my time with. I was keeping up with my blog, training Finn, cooking, and working. I even FINALLY started my YouTube channel. It was as if I was on top of the world. Finally having the energy to do all of these things that I had been missing out on for the bulk of the summer was an incredible feeling. However, looking back on the last week or so of September, I realize that I had been slacking on all of those activities. I had fallen back into the pattern of working and only working. The energy for anything else just did not exist. Rest has been good so far. Hopefully I can return to my normal life soon.

Mental Update

At the beginning of the month, I was so exited to have the energy to live the way that I wanted. I felt whole and alive again. If there is one thing that I have learned about myself, it is that I am most happy when I feel like I am being productive. I find I have dips in my overall happiness when I am no longer able to productive. The days that start turning into laying on the couch, too tired to embark in my ambitions is when the feelings of guilt, uselessness, and unfulfilled desire begin to well up inside me.

Lately the biggest concern weighing on my head is not being well enough to train Finn well enough to be my service dog. I have greatly enjoyed training him and am so in love with the bond we are creating. Having to work through his fear of hard flooring, which he developed during the “second fear stage“, has been weighing on my mind greatly. What if he never gets over it? What if I keep having these health dips that prevent me from keeping consistency? It has been a lot to think about lately.

OCTOBER GOALS

Expose Finn to hard flooring EVERY day, even if it is just for a small amount of time; Continue daily yoga while going to the gym twice a week; Post another YouTube video; blog two more times this month.

How do you stay motivated and complete your goals?