SASsy CASTLE: Head up, shoulders back...

I've been waiting to give an update on my clinic results and I finally got most of my questions answered. So here goes the run down: pft's remained at baseline--yippee; blood levels looked good except for iron (very anaemic even after upping the iron supplements); no rib fracture seen in x-ray so ribs rubbing against inflamed tissues is the diagnosis--might get some relief after a course of IV's or might not; x-rays did show more infection present; sputum culture at first showed no MRSA (got cocky and did the happy dance) only to find out today that MRSA did indeed grow out but in smaller numbers (grateful for decrease but bummed it's still there) so clinic will try to get a 2 week course of Zyvox approved through insurance to hit the MRSA; pseudo is the current attention hog in the germ department but I'm trying to hold off on IV's for a bit longer; found out I am officially 5'2" now instead of the 5'3" I've been since junior high, just part of my geriatric charm ...shrinkage; A1C score was a 7.5 which surprised me since my blood sugars have been lower without the steroids; and then for the first time my hormone levels were checked and they are all out of whack--which explains a lot! That's it. That's enough.

Today was my first ever physical therapy session (please notice the "physical" part of therapy although I could definitely use the other kind, especially after days like today.) Look up compliant patient in the dictionary and there will be my picture. Last week my CF team again admonished me to work on strengthening and growing bone because of bone density issues thanks to the prednisone and malabsorption of nutrients. So off I went to PT to learn how to "properly" exercise so I don't fracture anything while trying to fix things. Not sure what I expected but that wasn't it. I did learn I have horrible posture however so I'm to focus on correcting that first. My "good posture" muscles didn't much enjoy finding out they were slackers and pitched a fit but I showed them who's really in charge. On a fun note, I did surprise and impress the therapist with my strong abs--the only perk to coughing for a living. I also scored a cool stretchy band as part of my workout routine.

Since my departure from National Jewish coincided with the departure of 35,000 fans from Coors Field (Go Rockies!) I decided to stop by a quilt store and let the traffic dissipate a bit. I'd already had my fill of Denver traffic earlier when it took me a half hour to go less than a mile due to a semi accident in a construction zone. I completely broke the "check in 30 minutes before scheduled appointment" rule and was even 15 minutes late for the actual appointment. I was working myself up in the car until realizing getting frustrated wasn't going to get the parking lot moving so I went to a zen place and prayed they wouldn't make me reschedule. They do have scary signs posted telling you that is their prerogative. Being told I needed to reschedule, I could just picture myself beginning to babble incoherently with words such as gas prices and time being the only words the receptionist could understand before I exploded into little bitty pieces...did I mention something about hormones earlier! At my traffic oasis I found the backing for my latest quilt project I'm doing with a group of girlfriends. I'm excited to see how it all pieces together.

Keep catching myself slumping over while typing this blog--think this posture thing is going to get on my nerves.

p.s. Oops, forgot. Here is the photo I promised last week. Did I mention hormones?