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DarceyMaysey
Guest
<img src="i/expressions/oxygen.gif" border="0">
I haven't visited this site in a long time. I was non-compliant and drinking heavily for too long.
I stopped drinking cold turkey on September 10th trying to get ready for a trip to Peru. I got VERY VERY sick, but I tried to play it out like I was OK because I really wanted to go to Peru. I actually felt better for about 3 days while we were there, it may have been pure adrenaline. Anyway, I ended up going to a clinic on the 7th day we were there after laying in the mission sick for several days. The plan was to exchange our tickets and go home that evening after getting a quick fix-up of IV antibiotics and a breathing treatment at the clinic. The doctor said that there is no way I should travel and recommended that I stay in the hospital and get IV antibiotics until Tuesday. We were scheduled to leave on Saturday. We explained that I really wanted to go home and he agreed to give me a dose of IV antibiotics and let me go. All of this information was passed through a translator who knew nothing of CF/symptoms/treatment, etc. because, unfortunately, I do not speak Spanish. It was an extremely scary situation- the combination of being very ill and not speaking the language. We went to the airport and the tickets could not be exchanged for that evening so we would have to wait until Friday. We were scheduled to leave on Saturday anyway and it would have cost $600 to change the tickets so we decided to stick it out until Saturday. A doctor that worked at the mission gave me antibiotic shots twice a day until we left. I was so afraid that they would not let me on the plane because of my cough and my obvious illness (i had to go through the airport in a wheelchair because I could barely breathe) with the H1N1 scare and everything. Apparently we didn't have any trouble getting on the plane. I don't remember getting on the plane or getting to the airport or going to the hospital. My husband took me straight from the airport to the hospital. My pulse ox was 72. They admitted me to ICU and ended up sedating me and intubating me for a week. I stayed in the hospital for 2 weeks after that. My FEV1 has dropped from 57 to 34. I am at home now but I am on oxygen and I sleep with a CPAP at night. I am doing 5 nebs twice a day and Tobi once a day. I also use the vest for airway clearance.
I plan to be totally compliant and I know that I can get my FEV1 back up.
I used to think that I had a "mild" case and the fact that I had CF never really sunk in. I felt like I was relatively healthy. I guess it took something like this to wake me up. I am still sober (almost 2 months now). This is the longest I have been sober in probably at least 20 years. I have no desire to drink today and with God's help I won't have a desire to drink tomorrow. I take it one day at a time. Sometimes I take it one hour at a time. I know alcohol didn't directly cause this exaserbation, but I know that it definately did indirectly. When I was drinking I didn't take care of myself. I sure didn't do my CF stuff. If I had been doing everything (or anything) that I was supposed to be doing maybe I wouldn't have ended up on a vent in ICU.
However, I believe God has a plan for me and if it took me going to another country and almost dying to realize that then I can give it to Him and trust that if I remain compliant I will regain my strength, my lungs will get stronger and I will bring my FEV1 back up even higher than it was before!
Sorry this is so long- I guess I should have done a blog or something...
I would just like to hear from someone who may be going through some of these same things or who has had these kind of experiences.
Thanks!
I haven't visited this site in a long time. I was non-compliant and drinking heavily for too long.
I stopped drinking cold turkey on September 10th trying to get ready for a trip to Peru. I got VERY VERY sick, but I tried to play it out like I was OK because I really wanted to go to Peru. I actually felt better for about 3 days while we were there, it may have been pure adrenaline. Anyway, I ended up going to a clinic on the 7th day we were there after laying in the mission sick for several days. The plan was to exchange our tickets and go home that evening after getting a quick fix-up of IV antibiotics and a breathing treatment at the clinic. The doctor said that there is no way I should travel and recommended that I stay in the hospital and get IV antibiotics until Tuesday. We were scheduled to leave on Saturday. We explained that I really wanted to go home and he agreed to give me a dose of IV antibiotics and let me go. All of this information was passed through a translator who knew nothing of CF/symptoms/treatment, etc. because, unfortunately, I do not speak Spanish. It was an extremely scary situation- the combination of being very ill and not speaking the language. We went to the airport and the tickets could not be exchanged for that evening so we would have to wait until Friday. We were scheduled to leave on Saturday anyway and it would have cost $600 to change the tickets so we decided to stick it out until Saturday. A doctor that worked at the mission gave me antibiotic shots twice a day until we left. I was so afraid that they would not let me on the plane because of my cough and my obvious illness (i had to go through the airport in a wheelchair because I could barely breathe) with the H1N1 scare and everything. Apparently we didn't have any trouble getting on the plane. I don't remember getting on the plane or getting to the airport or going to the hospital. My husband took me straight from the airport to the hospital. My pulse ox was 72. They admitted me to ICU and ended up sedating me and intubating me for a week. I stayed in the hospital for 2 weeks after that. My FEV1 has dropped from 57 to 34. I am at home now but I am on oxygen and I sleep with a CPAP at night. I am doing 5 nebs twice a day and Tobi once a day. I also use the vest for airway clearance.
I plan to be totally compliant and I know that I can get my FEV1 back up.
I used to think that I had a "mild" case and the fact that I had CF never really sunk in. I felt like I was relatively healthy. I guess it took something like this to wake me up. I am still sober (almost 2 months now). This is the longest I have been sober in probably at least 20 years. I have no desire to drink today and with God's help I won't have a desire to drink tomorrow. I take it one day at a time. Sometimes I take it one hour at a time. I know alcohol didn't directly cause this exaserbation, but I know that it definately did indirectly. When I was drinking I didn't take care of myself. I sure didn't do my CF stuff. If I had been doing everything (or anything) that I was supposed to be doing maybe I wouldn't have ended up on a vent in ICU.
However, I believe God has a plan for me and if it took me going to another country and almost dying to realize that then I can give it to Him and trust that if I remain compliant I will regain my strength, my lungs will get stronger and I will bring my FEV1 back up even higher than it was before!
Sorry this is so long- I guess I should have done a blog or something...
I would just like to hear from someone who may be going through some of these same things or who has had these kind of experiences.
Thanks!