Fun stuff outta the way

I got the fun stuff out of the way in my last blog. Now time for an update about the serious stuff!

So the big, huge, ginormous news in my life is that my dad, who has emphysema and has had increasing difficulties over the last two years, has decided to see whether or not he is eligible for a lung transplant. The last time he was in the hospital, which is when I was in Montana, a transplant coordinator approached him and said that ostensibly he seems like a good candidate. So we will see how it goes.

I had talked to my dad about transplant a couple of times. I really thought that he was not open to the idea. But now, I think that "dismissal" was at least partly because his situation did not seem serious enough to him. But after having had a rough summer, things changed.

Even being the veteran I am dealing with lung disease and transplant, this is a lot of emotions to deal with. And I'm not quite sure how far I've gotten with it all. It is so hard to be so far from my dad (he is in Cleveland, OH and I am in Raleigh, NC.) It is hard to gauge how someone really is just by the phone. I'm currently planning to go up to visit him the entire week of Thanksgiving. I went up there for a week in April and it is so much better than the short visits. So I am focusing on that.

So that is the dad news. Now for the 'me' news:

1. I came down with a cold in Montana and I have been slowly, SLOWLY coming back from it. I have not been to yoga or exercised since we got back two weeks ago because I was worn out at the end of the day. Finally, today, Todd and I rode bikes downtown. It felt good to move again. And I will be back to yoga this week, too.

This is my first cold since starting on the NAC hard core and I have to say - again - I think it helped me a lot. My one year since IVs anniversary is coming up (Sept 29, baby!) and so I was really depressed at the thought that I would not make that mark because of situation that was preventable. Hopefully I won't have to worry about that now. My lungs are still a little more congested than usual, but each day seems a little better.

2. I went for a consult for another GI doctor about my gallbladder issues last week, this one at UNC, where all of my other doctors are. I really liked the woman. It was nice that she wasn't stumbling over the names of my CF medications and she didn't have to ask why I was on things. I completely agreed with her course of action 1. redraw my liver functions to make sure they are still not elevated; 2. redo the ultrasound from July to see the status of my sludge (since I have not been having too many symptoms, it may have gotten better); and 3. after seeing those results, then think about referral to a surgeon.

She did not agree with the previous doctor's recommendation of an endoscopy (nor did I). And, unlike the other doctor, she said my pain very well could be a result of my gall bladder. (Another interesting thing I found out was that the difference between sludge and stones is not a matter of consistency but rather size; so, enough sludge can cause the same sorts of pain and problems that stones do. But sludge, unlike stones, has the ability to be reabsorbed by your intestines and go away.)

3. My brother came down for a visit last weekend from Michigan. It was so good to see him! I love me some brother. He actually came down because we took my mom to see Garrison Keilor (of whom she is a huge fan) as our mother's day present for her this year (Summer of Love Tour, above). She had a great time. I was feeling pretty awful because of the cold, but I still enjoyed his visit. :)

4. My soap partner, Elaine, and I are getting ready for a big soap event in three weeks. We are going to be selling at a women's charity bicycle race called le tour de femme. So we are busy not only making soap but also trying to figure out how we are going to set up under a tent. We hope to do more craft type shows (there is this really cool thing in Raleigh called the Handmade Market that we want to get in on) but this will be our first one! Unfortunately, Elaine is going to be in NY during the event, but I will have a friend or two to keep me company.