Oh no, not again....

Well, here I am again--back at the Denver Bed and Breakfast.  Is it:
a.  because I can't get enough of the all-you-can-eat gourmet food?
b.  because I miss my friends who work while wearing lounge wear and accessorizing with stethoscopes?
c.  because I sleep so much better in a bed that sports side rails and nifty buttons?
d.  all of the above

Actually, another early morning bout of lung bleeding teamed with an increased shortness of breath and rib pain led to this admission last Thursday.  Thankfully the antibiotics are kicking in and I'm breathing much easier.  I'm also glad a ct scan figured out the source of my rib pain, a small pleural infusion with heavy plugging.  At least now I can stop financing my chiropractor's next Caribbean cruise.  

Yesterday I had a bit of excitement.  About 3  o'clock I decided to take my little self outside to bask in the record setting 80 degree sunshine.  Just before leaving my room, I noticed my cell phone hanging out on my bed and thought, "Self, you shouldn't leave your cell phone lying around in plain sight when you're not in your room."  So I quickly pushed said cell phone under the bunched up sheets at the foot of my bed and left before any medical person could put a stop to my intended field trip.

An hour and a half later I was happy to return to the confines of my nice cool room.  Imagine my surprise when I saw my bed all spiffy and hospital cornered when I walked in. After ascertaining there was no little blue cell phone anywhere to be seen, my stomach just dropped.  Long story short, the CNA decided to change my sheets "just to be nice" and didn't notice the cell phone.  She had offered to change them earlier that morning and I told her they were just fine.  So with a colorful word, off she flew to the laundry on a cell phone rescue mission.   I guess I did a good job of hiding it after all--but lesson learned.

After the beautiful day yesterday, today I watched as a winter storm began forming over the mountains.  It is now snowing and the forecasters say we could get up to 12 inches of snow by tomorrow.  This is life in Colorado.

Nirvana, we have a problem...

These past few days have been extremely discouraging.  What I thought might be my ticket to less IV's and hospitalizations became instead a fast pass to shortness of breath, chest tightness, a need for additional oxygen, and overall huffing and puffing with the least bit of exertion.  By Friday I knew it wasn't just my imagination, people kept asking me if I was okay.  I couldn't carry on a decent conversation without sounding and feeling winded.  It was a TOBI flashback--like a bad trip.

So I fired off an email to clinic Friday afternoon and they told me to stop the inhalations and see if I felt better by Monday.  I was kind of hesitant to stop in case my symptoms had nothing to do with the Colistin and I had a bad infection taking over instead.   Well, I think it is safe to conclude that my experience with Colistin has come to an end.  Today I am breathing much easier--not great, but so much better.  Argh!  I really wanted my body to cooperate with this inhaled drug.  It could have made a huge difference--instead it created a huge problem.

Maybe the next big thing will be my answer...I sure hope so!

Move over for this bad boy....

It is not enough that all my medical paraphernalia takes up two cupboards and one drawer at my house and a fair share of countertop to boot...move over and make way for the newest in high-tech gadgetry.   Meet my newest nemesis buddy!

Kinda looks like R2D2 flying a space pod getting ready to shoot enemy invaders from Endor--right??!!  Well maybe not, but I swear you need a rocket science degree to figure out how to put the critter together.  Don't even get me started on the 50 step process to clean (immediately after each use) and disinfect (every day) the thing.  If it weren't for the speedy delivery this doohicky claims, it would be hurtling towards the death star right now.  And let me just say, if you've got a bit of extra money lying around, now would be the perfect time to invest in distilled water because there is gonna be a huge upsurge in sales courtesy of this little bad boy.

I officially began my inhaled Colistin today.  I was a wee bit nervous but I managed it all by myself without any allergic issues--wahoo.    Inhaled antibiotics and I don't generally play well together.  I was all excited when Tobi first came out but it was a dismal failure.  It actually made my breathing worse and after sticking it out for a month (I was determined this was going to be my nirvana), I ended up in the hospital fixing myself from the miracle drug that wasn't.  Never again I vowed.

No worries, I was told.  They are working on a new inhaled drug that is showing promising results.  Great!  But by the time Cayston was finally approved, I had already developed an allergy to the IV form.  Ugh.  So that was a no go.

Since my Tobi trauma happened years earlier while I was living in Utah, my Colorado care team thought I should give it another try.  Because my medication options are so limited, I reluctantly decided to try again.  Hello--what part of never again didn't I remember?  Dismal failure part two--but at least this time I only gave it a week before I pulled the plug on that experiment.

So that brings me to Colistin.  I've got a lot riding on our relationship.  If this works out between the two of us, it could mean less frequent trips to the hospital and feeling better in between times.  Here's to a new beginning.