Up The Farway Tree

Newcastle Update

I headed down to Newcastle on Monday afternoon with dad as I had clinic early Tuesday morning. Poor dad had to drive here and collect me as my foot has been playing up a bit so I thought it wise to rest it for a few days (I think it might be the rowing machine at the gym so am going to avoid this for a while!) We were in clinic by 7.15 am .....so were done and dusted test wise by 9 am but the doctors don't start until 10.30am! Luckily my friend Louise was at clinic as well so we got to sit and chat for ages and it was fantastic finally getting to meet the lady herself in person! She is looking great and making progress now, but it will take time to get back to full strength.

I had an excellent report once again! Lung function was the same at 97% - the doctor said he couldn't ask for better than that, although I suggested 100% might be even better ;-) Oxygen sats were 100%, BP fine and chest x-ray perfect. I had lost a couple of kilos but I suspect this is due to all the problems I'm having with my stomach at the moment, which is causing me to eat less than usual. The stomach cramps I had last week didn't settle so I had to go to hospital last week for some treatment. You basically get something called DIOS (Distal intestinal obstructive syndrome) in CF, which I used to get all the time as a child but not so often as an adult. There is mucus in the bowel, the same as in the chest in CF, which can cause an obstruction from time to time, so needs treated. It still doesn't seem to have resolved completely so I am getting an abdominal ultrasound next week to take a closer look.

On the subject of stomachs, I had the barium swallow yesterday also, which showed that the stomach is not emptying fast enough - this will be contributing to the reflux and could also be the reason my blood sugars have been erratic. It may be a pre existing problem, but might have been caused by the transplant surgery(it is apparently very common post transplant). The main problem just now is that it might affect whether I can get surgery for the reflux but I will just have to wait and see as the surgeon won't even have seen the report yet! It's quite frustrating having these issues at the moment as I am not really enjoying my food the same and getting a lot of discomfort, but at the same time as long as my lungs are working then I think I can cope with just about anything!

I went into work this morning to sit in on a clinic as I am feeling rather apprehensive about going back in the new year! I was reassured that I had not in fact forgotten everything and really enjoyed the morning. The current plan is to start back in February for 2 sessions a week, with the hope of securing some more funding for extra sessions soon after. I am also planning to do some work at the university as a PBL facilitator (the course I went on a couple of months ago) so I am looking forward to trying that! It might be a bit difficult juggling all these hospital appointments with work but hopefully both will be flexible and I can fit everything in.

I am off for a Christmas meal tonight with my friends so looking forward to that. I am definitely feeling a lot more festive this year and it won't be long until I am counting the sleeps until Christmas...

...14 I believe :-)