Great Strides 2009

Hello friends and family!
Yesterday was Chico, California's very first Great Strides walk, and let me tell you... It was a success!! Even though it was HOT outside, we all had a Great time with one another raising awareness and donations towards finding a cure for Cystic Fibrosis.
The tally hasn't been in yet, but I think we did exceptionally well in raising donations this year. Even though our economy isn't doing so well right now, people are still eager to give to such a good cause! It warms my heart to be surrounded by such caring people. Thank you!!
Our team leader (and fellow CFer) unfortunately had to be admitted into the hospital the night before the walk, so she couldn't be there with us, but like I told her: I'm glad she put her own health first. I was grateful to have some of my closest friends there to support me; I just can't thank them enough!
Here are a few pictures I took at the walk. I took a few others with my 35mm, so once I get those developed I'll be able to post more.

Home from a stay in the hospital

Friends and family,
I wanted to send a big thank you for all the well wishes I received from you during the past week while I was in the hospital. I'm happy to report that I was discharged last night after being poked, prodded, drugged, and watched over for the past 6 days in the hospital. While there I was running a fever (up to 102.4*), a white blood count of 18 (very high for someone post transplant/immunosuppressed), and in a great deal of pain (body aches). My doctors were very confused with what was the cause of me being so sick because all the cultures (blood, urine, and junk from the lungs) came back clean. My fevers and body aches have come down, so my doctors decided to discharge me before I were to pick up any unwanted bugs from the hospital. I'm still feeling pretty weak, running a low grade fever here and there, and body aches come and go, but I'm feeling so much better than this time last week! A big plus is that while in the hospital this time, my CF doctors were able to get me in for a bronch, only to find out that airway I keep having trouble with had closed itself off almost completely again. They went ahead and ballooned it open again and saw that behind the closure was full of nastiness that could have turned into pneumonia in the very near future. I am breathing a lot better than I had been, so them opening the airway was a huge help! It will most likely continue to be a mystery as to what caused all of the awful symptoms that got me admitted into the hospital, but I'm extremely happy to be home in the loving arms of my other half again.
On a side note, I just wanted to tell the world just how lucky I am to have Benito (my other half) in my life. He showed me these past two weeks just how supportive he can be, and I'm in awe at how much our love continues to grow. He brought me dinner every day after work and spent a few hrs holding me in the hospital while I was in such pain before having to make the hourr trip back home to get some sleep before work the next day.

It's that time of year again (and quick update)

Hello All-
It's been over a month since my last posting and I'm so sorry for that. Life has been moving along and I've been trying to keep up with it.
I've been feeling somewhat better since my last posting. I'm still having the same side pain, but I think I'm learning how to better deal with it. I'm in my 4th week of a written communications class and am Extremely happy with how well it's going, as well as the grade I'm getting in it! I must say though - I'll be happy when I'm done with my General Ed!!
I've registered and sent out emails for this years Great Strides walk, so I thought I would also say something here about it. My very good friend, Jennifer is helping put together a walk this year in a much more local location. Benito and I are both excited to help man the stations on the big day, as well as participate in the walk. I reached my goal last year of $1,000 and have set the same goal again for this year. I would be ecstatic if I surpassed this years goal though! With your help, I could very well do it (hint hint). Please visit my Great Strides web page and consider making a donation. That web address is:

www.cff.org/Great_Strides/LeahBailey6180

Thank you so much!

Ups and Downs

Today was my last day of my 3rd class with University of Phoenix. It was a communications class (General Ed) that I originally thought was going to be boring and useless to me. I was proven wrong! I took more from that 5 week class than I had expected and saw my written papers quality increase as the course wore on. That was exciting! I'll be taking a week off of school, then will begin my next class on the 17th.
During this week off, I'll be spending a little time in San Francisco. Unfortunatly I won't be doing anything fun while I'm there. In my last bronch (1/30) my doctors saw that the stent that is supposed to be holding my weak airway open, has lodged itself down further/lower into my airway than it should be. So, not only is it not holding the weak bit open, it's also obstucting the area in which it's lodged itself! My doctors were quite surprised that it hasn't caused me a world of trouble, but I really haven't noticed too much of a change from my shortness of breath and pain I was in before. So, I go in on Friday to see if they can either move, or replace the stent that is currently in my lung. I saw my CF doctors, who are in Sacramento today, and they are quite certain that this procedure is going to be more invasive than my transplant team are expecting because of how difficult it would be to move the stent that's there now. They told me to expect to stay a few days in case they might need me to get an O.R. and surgeon to remove the stent. In case I wasn't nervous enough! lol!
I'm so proud to say that Benito heard today that he will be starting a new job on the 23rd of this month! He'll be the "go to" IT guy for a legal document copying company. He's been working so hard on his schooling and it's paying off! I'm So proud of him!!! :D
So that's about it. Benito and my plans for Valentines day looks like a romantic dinner, which will be whatever the cafeteria workers at the hospital choose to throw together and call food. Oh well... There's always next year! :D

What's New

Hey everyone :)
I'm terribly sorry I haven't posted on here in so long. I was pretty excited about making this blog, but then I got busy with life and haven't had a whole lot of time to be on the computer. After the new year I should be able to post more often.
I'm currently in the process of moving in with my boyfriend an hour away from where I've been living for my entire life. He and I both are really excited about me moving into his apartment. The driving back and forth has gotten old and it's just too hard to spend any time away from one another. My sister along with her family live in the City I'll be moving to, so I'm looking forward to spending more time with them. The moving has worn me thin, but I should be all done soon. I'm looking forward to the day that I can put my feet up and not feel like I should be packing.
I have been feeling pretty sick still. I'm having problems with the stent in my right airway growing scar tissue inside and around it, which leaves very little to no opening for air to pass down in my right lung. It's making me feel awful. I'm in a lot of pain, trouble breathing and not sleeping so well. I've been going back and forth to my transplant doctors to get bronchs and dilitations of the airway, but it just closes itself back up in a matter of a week or two. The three hours (one way) it takes to get to my doctor is getting exhausting in itself. My most recent bronch was yesterday. I talked to my doctor before they knocked me out and discussed what else we can do to keep the airway open for hopefully a longer period of time. Basically all he suggested was adding another stent inside of the existing one, so have two stents in that one area and hope for the best. Not exactly what I wanted to hear, but I guess it's something. My quality of life has been pretty bad the past few months because of this airway thing and I've had to take a month leave from school because I'm just not able to keep up with my 5 week fast paced classes.
I don't have any set Christmas plans yet. I'm sure I'll be spending it with my family, I just don't know who wants to host yet! ;) My best friend Megan and her husband will be home for a week visiting for the holiday, so I hope to see her a lot while she's home. I'm also looking forward to a girls lunch on the 27th with a few high school girlfriends.
I think that's about it. I'll try to post again soon. In case I don't get around to doing it later, I want to wish everyone a Very Safe and Happy Holiday!

Lots of Love!!!