Last Sunday we went to visit family because Jason’s dad’s dog died today. His name was KW and he was hit by a car. Later that night, Jason and I were driving home from his Grandma’s and a dog ran out in front of us! As Jason was hitting the break the dog was walking closer to the SUV. He got out and went to her and she was all over him. He took her to the nearest house to see if she belonged to the people that lived there. They said no so we brought her in our car. I couldn’t leave her out there in the cold. She was so lovable and who knows how long she had been out there. She was really dirty and cold. Plus leaving her there would leave her vulnerable to be hit by another car that drives by. We drove all around the area trying to find out where she belonged. Long story short; we had the police called on us and they called animal control. We found out a few days later that she was claimed. It was ironic that of all days for a dog to run out in front of us, it was that day.
My legs continue to get stronger. I am using my walker more and my wheelchair less. Just a couple weeks ago I walked into the Post office, Walgreen’s and Wegman’s using my walker. I walked around inside too except I used the scooter inside Wegman’s. This is huge for me. The last time I walked around in Walgreen’s by myself was before transplant and before I stopped driving. By the time I got to the door I knew it was a bad idea. I couldn’t breathe and I was exhausted. I was already at the door though and decided to push through. That was a big mistake. By the time I was done getting my medicine and got back to the car I felt that I was going to fall over and die. I had to sit in the car for over fifteen minutes just trying to catch my breath. That is when I decided I would not do that again. This time I wasn’t winded at all. My legs were a little sore after and I expect that as they are still getting stronger. The difference though is remarkable.
I would love to be able to walk around without using anything. I know I am going to have to wait awhile for that, baby steps. My PT has really been pushing me and it is all paying off. She has started working on balance with me. She is pushing me front to back and side to side. I have to resist her and not fall over. She also started me with this exercise where I throw a ball at a trampoline and catch it. It is challenging because even though the ball is one pound, I have a hard time just standing on my own with nothing. When that ball comes back at me, my whole body has to be ready for it and keep me up.
Every time I go in there she adds a new exercise or increases the difficulty of one. Besides adding those two exercises I mentioned, I am working on this stepper. I stand on the stepper and put one foot down and then lift it back up. When I first started this I did not know how to lift with one leg and pull the other foot back onto the stepper. After a few tries my legs relearned how to do this. I do this ten times on each leg. When that got too easy she increased the height of the step and now instead of doing just that, she has me doing it sideways too. That is forty steps total. She is impressed that every time she gives me something new I am able to keep up with her. All I need is a few breaks in between because my back gets a little sore with all the standing.
Health wise, I have been up and down. Monday I went to my primary for my annual. I filled her in about transplant, PT and how I was at home. She already knew about most of it because all of my other doctors have been sending her information. My PT was keeping her up to date too. I talked to her about my flu shot and told her how I had been sick, but feeling better. I wasn’t sure if I should get it then or wait a little while longer. After talking to her and telling her about my health, she decided to have me wait one more week. She said that it sounded like I was still recovering from something so she didn’t want to have me take it too soon. It is not hard to go to Walgreen’s and get it there. It turned out to be a good decision because Wednesday night I ended up getting a fever. I was in bed and I woke up really hot. I went downstairs and checked my temp and it was 101. I would of course get sick when Jason is away on business. At least it was not a weekend though. Lol
I called the transplant center the next morning. She put me on Levoquin and told me to get another throat swab done. I called the lung center here and she made me an appointment for today. I went in and she told me that I was the fourth transplant patient to come in for a throat swab that week. Something is obviously going around. As long as it is not the flu! I have an appointment with her to go over my insulin next week. She wanted to try and do that too to save me a trip, but she didn’t have time. She had some CF patients coming in right after and she wanted me out before they got there. This office is really carful about infection control. Being a transplant patient I am very susceptible to the bugs that CF lungs carry. So I will have to come back next week for that. I am OK with that though. I would rather be able to sit and talk to her anyway instead of rush.
After the swab was done I ran it downstairs to the lab. She said I should have all the results by Monday. That part annoyed me a little. If it is the flu I want to know that day. I know they can check it and have the results in fifteen minutes. That is how they did it at AccelCare. The thing with the flu is you want to start taking Tamiflu the second you know. It won’t work if you wait too long. I mentioned that to her and she said, “Oh yeah that is done quickly.” I went home and waited a few hours. I called the lung center and she checked on it. She found the blood work that I had done Wednesday morning. That showed that my Cyclosporine levels were good. She didn’t find the flu results however. This didn’t make me happy. Obviously the woman at the lab just said what I wanted to hear to get rid me. So I have to wait until Monday to know the results for sure.
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