Back that thing up

Well, well, well... To address the elephant in the room, the Braves lost the stinkin' playoff game. They made three errors that gave up five unearned runs. Painful. They lost their best scoring opportunity on a pop-up to left field, on which the umpires absurdly applied the infield fly rule. The horrid call got a lot of air time, and the remainder of the game was played under protest. It wouldn't be Braves baseball without some insane drama! Despite the loss, I'm glad I went.

I was supposed to go to the doctor on Monday for a check-up and my annual labs, which meant fasting since Sunday night. When I was getting ready on Monday morning, Noodle took it upon herself to open a cabinet and find the only chocolate that exists in the house. In addition to half of a huge chocolate bar (ahem, dark chocolate, the worst kind for dogs), she ate an entire bag of craisins.

I obviously started freaking out about the chocolate, and my friend (IK) gave me a recipe for a potion to make her throw up. At this time in the saga, it's literally impossible for me to make it to the doctor on time. She drank one dose and I could tell she wanted to vomit, but she was holding it back. I whipped up another dose, but she'd realized it was awful by this point, so I tried adding some peanut butter. Not thinking, I ate a fingerful of peanut butter, accidentally breaking my 12-hour fast. After this, I just threw in the towel and canceled my appointment all together.

When she threw up, boy, did she throw up! Tons and tons of it. The only casualty I suffered was one rug. If you were to make a baked bean and craisin casserole... TMI.

I am slowly injuring every player in the NFL through my fantasy football efforts. I have now injured my back-up running back's back-up. This one was season-ending. In case you aren't following, I'm now on my fourth different starting running back for one slot. Quite impressive, if I do say so myself. I'm 3-2 for the season, so I could be doing much worse given all of my injuries.

I'm sure I have more to say, but I'm very tired. The Falcons are 5-0, which is AWESOME!!!!!

Peace!

Viva la vida

I'm going to Mexico! For real. Necesito una vacacion.

Well, I performed in a private show last night for some consultants. It was a blast! We did one set for a great crowd! I played Sit Stand Lean Oscar, Musical Styles, and Remote Control Styles. It was definitely the turning point in my week... WOOOHOOO!

Tuesday didn't quite go as expected considering I missed the Patient Family Advisor lunch AND my doctor's appointment, but oh well. I went to the doctor yesterday instead and all was well. It was my final appointment for the protein study, and my PFTs were through-the-roof and my veins were cooperative. Perhaps that was the turning point in my week.

I can't wait to be in the SUNSHINE!

I guess it's about time to start crankin' out some mass emails. I can't believe it's Friday. I've lost track of the day with all of the non-routine craziness lately.

Another day, another dollar.

Laaaaaaaaaaaabor Day

I am getting so bad at blogging. I cut myself some slack, though, because it feels like I haven't been home much at all this week.

Well, Thursday was an eventful day. Because of all of the kidney issues, the doctor mentioned wanting to hospitalize me to give me fluids to help flush out my kidneys. They went ahead and moved next Tuesday's CF appointment up to Thursday so that they could put me in the hospital with as much information as possible. So, I went to get bloodwork so they'd have the results by the time of my appointment. Now, for the dramatic turn in all of this - my kidney bloodwork was almost back to normal and my PFTs were up another three percent. Nobody understands at this point, but the hospital talk was merely a scare and now it's only a matter of scheduling sinus surgery. This has been such an emotional roller coaster!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday night I spoke at a CF fundraising cultivation event. It was fun! Since I was running around all day, I really had zero preparation time, but I still think it went well. Yeehaw!

Yesterday (Friday) was a good day. My roommate was working from home, too, so it was a lot of fun. I wish she got to work from home with me every Friday. :-) When I got off work early, I went to meet Claire at the pool. We hung out and chatted for a few hours. On my way to work at the theatre, I treated myself to Yogli Mogli and ate many things shunned by my low-oxalate diet.

I worked the lights without any supervision last night, so that was fun. Light-wise, all went extremely well. However, the lights person is also in charge of recording the DVD, and I got the dreaded "Disc cannot be finalized" message. Thankfully everyone was really laid back, but it made me so mad. That was the easiest part of the last three shows. People were like, "Oh lord. I know that message." So, OOPS, although I heard I couldn't have done anything to fix it.

Right now I'm sitting at my parents' kitchen table. I'm about to go get my hair did(!).

Happy birthday to my brother (yesterday), and happy Labor Day to all!

Party in my mouth

Cherries make the day better.

Well, today was an interesting one, I must say. Early this morning I got an email from the study coordinator. Although the blood level we were originally concerned about was normal, I've had two abnormal creatinine levels. Basically, from my understanding, if this level is high, it indicates poor kidney function. So, I got taken off of the drug. Now, I don't know if this is a permanent or temporary thing. I believe I am going to be getting an ultrasound done tomorrow, but I don't know for sure. The study folks are consulting other folks and I guess I'll learn more. It's got me wondering if the bouts of pain were from an actual kidney stone or just my kidney. I WANT AN ULTRASOUND! In other news, I have GOT to be on the real thing, right? Vanilla doesn't make your body go haywire.

I went to the grocery store today during lunchtime. I picked up a few items, and one of those items was CHERRIES. They have made me happy despite my angry kidneys.

I had rehearsal tonight and we worked on dialects. I was in a surprisingly good mood and laughed A LOT. Dialects are funny.

The Braves blew a 9-run lead today, so that was impressive. Thankfully the Phillies have also lost three games in a row, so we're still hanging on to our 2 1/2 game lead. Today's game was an absolute embarrassment. I kind of wished I hadn't been telecommuting so I didn't have to see it unfold.

I better rest up for tomorrow. I'd like to exercise in the morning and I have NO IDEA if I'm in the show or not. Plus, since I may or may not be getting an ultrasound, tomorrow will be spontaneous.

SLEEP WELL!

Upside down

I guess it's officially Tuesday. Booooo! I mean, I have no problem with Monday being over, but I wish it was about an hour earlier so I could get enough sleep tonight. Oh well! I'm over it.

Sunday was a good day. I slept in pretty late - almost until 11:00 a.m. It felt GOOD. I headed to the pool for a bit and it was literally unbearably hot. It caught me off-guard. It was almost impossible to sit there. I read a little bit and spent the rest of the time people-watching.

The Braves then DESTROYED the Cubs 16-5. It felt so good.

I then headed down to an improv workshop at the theatre. We worked with someone named Chelsea from Upright Citizens Brigade. While UCB does longform improv and we do not, it made me think about some things differently. The three hours passed by really quickly, but I had fun. It was neat to hear a different perspective on improv.

Monday was a good day! I don't like saying "Monday" because it still feels like it's Monday. Anyway, I hoped to work out before work, but I simply couldn't make myself get up. I headed to work and had some meetings. The Willy's group went on Monday instead of Tuesday, so that was a fun start to the week. I ended up leaving work a bit early so I could...............drumroll...............

get bloodwork done! When they drew (THAT'S ME!) blood for the study last week, one of my levels came back pretty low, so they needed to retest it. I should find out on Wednesday (hopefully) whether or not it is back to normal. If it isn't, I'm pretty sure I have to temporarily discontinue the drug.

I also got my official diet recommendations regarding this oxalate thing, and basically the list of restrictions is a mile long. The saddest part I read today was that I am not supposed to eat pretzels. That was surprising.

I worked out after work and hope to go in the morning if I can get some solid sleep. We had 9:00 p.m. rehearsal tonight, which explains why I'm up so late. We spent the time talking about strengths/weaknesses/goals, so I've done a lot of self-reflection today.

Looking forward to a new day... <3

One last thing! Today I checked my mail and got summoned for JURY DUTY! I am way excited. I'm in a standby group, so I am super-hopeful that we have to go. Then, after that, I hope I get selected to be on the jury. I love learning how things work.

You will be there

Yo! It's Tuesday night.

The Braves won big tonight and it made me proud. They've been scoring a lot of runs lately, so that makes me smile! I was kinda hoping to go to the game tonight since my theatre schedule isn't exactly conducive to seeing games. Buuuut, I wasn't feeling all that great and already had plans to meet my friend (MV) at Starbucks (AGAIN!), so I didn't go. It would have been fun, but perhaps I'll be able to go to some more games in the coming weeks... Before we head to the play-offs. UNNNH!

Well, let me go ahead and say that this Cipro oral antibiotic is not making my body happy. Lung-wise I'm doing fine. Stomach-wise... NO. "Food" sounds like a curse word. That didn't stop me from eating Willy's today, which may or may not have been a bad idea.

I got blood drawn yesterday! It only took two tries, so I was very pleased. I sat there using a space heater for about 20 or 30 minutes before we even attempted. I don't know if that actually helps, but it comforts me from a mental standpoint.

I'm telecommuting tomorrow. I need to go to the gym either before work or during lunch. I went for a hot second this morning, but I felt too sick to my stomach to continue. So, it's time to kick it back into gear. I feel a little lazy lately.

Tomorrow will probably be a late(ish) night at the theatre. Our annual fundraiser is on Thursday, so tomorrow will likely include a lot of last-minute prep. Friday is the only night I don't have to be at the theatre until next Tuesday. Sometimes I understand why my body doesn't like me so much anymore.

Enough yapping. Life is a cool thing.

Riddle me this

Even though I don't feel like I have a lot to show for it, today was a very worthwhile day.

Yesterday I ended up finagling my way onto the doctor's calendar for today - both the CF doctor (not my usual one, but a good one!) and the endocrinologist. So, I ended up waking around the same time as usual to head to the doctor.

My study coordinator was there to try to get blood from me and we gave up after three sticks. Trying again Monday...

The endocrinologist had all the reports from my blood and urine fiascoes, so that was a relief. It sounds like many things checked out well, but it looks like the tests showed that I need to go on a low-oxalate diet. Basically my risk of forming kidney stones is extremely high because of the overabundance of oxalate in my body. Now, I don't really even know what oxalate it, but I did learn a few things. I remember the doctor specifically mentioning not consuming wine and chocolate. I was pleased to hear that a lot of vegetables were blacklisted, so that's a perk. All I know is that I need to touch base with the nutritionist next week to talk about this new diet. As for the funny part, I also need to go on a low-calcium diet, but I'm bordering on osteoporosis. RIDDLE ME THAT!

Now, the CF doctor went surprisingly well. My PFTs had risen from my study appointment, and had only dropped slightly from my pre-vacation appointment. I actually couldn't believe it. They think it can probably be attributed to my new inhaled antibiotic. The doctor mentioned throwing me in the hospital since I feel bad, but said that she thought we should try 21 days of oral antibiotics. Obviously they want me to feel well, but it's also hard to warrant putting me in the hospital when my numbers are pretty good. I guess that's a good problem to have...

I met my old boss for lunch at El Azteca after the visits. We had a really great conversation, per usual, and it had my mind spinning for the remainder of the day. I was thinking a lot about vulnerability and taking chances. Sometimes it's hard to live vulnerably in a world where being 'tough' is the socially acceptable way to be. The more I do improv, the more I become comfortable with being vulnerable in many aspects of my life. I really cherish life and I value the relationships in my life, but sometimes I think I ought to do a better job of demonstrating that. I want to know that, no matter what happens in my life, I stayed true to myself and I wasn't afraid of being open and honest.

Tomorrow I'm performing in the 8:00 p.m. show. It hasn't quite hit me yet. The closer it gets, though, the more excited I am.

The Braves won. YEAH!

Until you're back here, baby...

Mlaaaah, mlaaaaaaaaah. Before I forget, I want to say that I was super thankful last Thursday. I went to Willy's (me??? Willy's???) and the owner was like, "You come here all the time." I was like, "What up." Then he gave me half-off. What a wonderful man he is.

The Braves just pulled out a mega-win in the 9th inning. It was a miracle after last night's debacle. Thankfully, though, I didn't have the TV on to witness what happened last night. I had a difficult time getting to sleep last night. I think it's this whole not-feeling-well thing.

Today was an odd day. I had a ton of meetings on my calendar, but I didn't end up making it to two of them. The first one included biscuits from Chick-fil-A! The second one was with my team at work. The meeting went well, but then I got into a conversation about possibly going into the hospital and the day steadily went downhill beginning at that moment. I ended up heading home because I didn't feel well mentally or physically, so I've been home since about 4:00 p.m.

I have nothing to say. I am going to read a bit before I head to bed. I was supposed to go to a meeting at the hospital tomorrow followed by some bloodwork (me??? bloodwork???), but I'm gonna stay home.

<3

Hmmmmmph

I am blanking on what to even say. I think that means that I'm either tired or that my life is uneventful.

Congrats to me for working out. I got up and exercised before work. I consider this a pretty big feat since I ended up backing out on Monday. I did about 30 minutes of cardio this morning, so I felt pretty accomplished before I headed to work.

I ate Willy's for lunch with the Tuesday crew.

Well, I went by the lab today to get some bloodwork done and to pick up my new 24-hour urine collection jug. Doesn't it seem like I get blood drawn every five seconds? It sure does to me. Today only took two sticks, so that was relieving. It was funny because they were all like, "Oooh, it's 'Dotson.'" I am a Laboratory Celebrity - a Celaboratory. Hey, that's close to "celebratory." Anyway, the endocrinologist saw some abnormal levels on previous my lab tests, so I was doing a few repeats today to make sure I'm screwed up.

I took a journey to Publix tonight. I got more of my new favorite thing - CHERRIES! Last week I was in a meeting and people were eating an unusual-looking fruit. Coincidentally, people had been eating them at the hospital meeting a few weeks ago, and I meant to Google images of fruit so I could figure out what they were. Well, it turns out they were cherries! I tried one and LOVED THEM! I got some when we were down at the beach and got a big ol' bag tonight. I think I could get carried away. CHERRIED AWAY! Can you see my enthusiasm?

There was a drunk guy in the Publix parking lot. He stumbled out of the liquor store and was cussing about how Applebee's wouldn't serve him (it's in the same shopping center). For one of few times in my life, I was glad I looked like a pre-teen because he didn't try to ask me to get him alcohol. However, he did look at me and give me a friendly smile and greeting. He actually seemed like a really caring person. It kind of made me sad. He was a good-looking, 50-something man and it just made me want to learn about him. I'm well aware that interviewing him would not have been a good idea, but it just kinda made me wonder about his story. The words "his story" are basically "history." Do you think there's a connection?

Okay, this is what happens when my day wasn't eventful. I just ramble about random things and pretty much let you in on the thoughts inside my head.

Happy Wednesday almost!

One last thing - The Bachelorette season finale was last night. She was down to Prince Charming and Prince Not-Quite-As-Charming-But-More-Real. I was really hoping the latter would win, but he didn't. I really admired him because, having lost his mom less than two years ago, he was really focused on quality of time versus quantity. I think that's very important.

That was my last hoorah for the night.

Bump in the road

Today was a pretty good day, all things considered. I think I'm getting pretty desensitized to life's shenanigans.

I received an email at work from a colleague who was doing a fundraiser, so I went to double-check the balance in my online account before I made a donation. When I logged into my account, I noticed a lot of money was missing. It turns out some rotten fool has apparently stolen my card number and was spending my money in Conyers. I put an end to that nonsense ASAP, and hope that all of yesterday's charges (and today's declined ones, SUCKER) land that clown in jail. I truly have no sympathy for anyone who does anything like that. I almost feel like I shouldn't even be talking about it - like it's off-limits or something - but I do hope the investigation lands someone in a lot of trouble. One mo' thing to take care of. Less money, mo' problems.

I had sushi for lunch today, and it was OH. SO. GOOD.

My bloodwork was such a breeze today! It literally took all of ten minutes from sign-in to completion. I wrote my name down. I gave a urine sample. I got stuck with a needle. Lots of blood filled up lots of tubes. I got my jar to collect urine at home. I walked out. DONE! I'm not sure when I'll hear results, but I guess the endocrinologist should receive the results from the lab once they've done whatever they need to do.

What else? I came home and chilled out a little bit before rehearsal. I went to the gym and got in a solid workout. Even though I felt really lethargic, I forced myself to exercise and I'm glad I did; I felt much more energized afterwards. We had late rehearsal tonight, so I only got to watch about 25 minutes of the Bachelorette before I headed to the theatre.

I watched the rest when I got home, and tonight's episode was remarkably uneventful... probably because I was too busy judging Frank and comparing him to people I know in my day-to-day life. Anyway, she has two good guys left and I like them for different reasons. If I was looking for a husband, I'd totally go with Chris. Kinda dorky, I know. Judge your little heart out.

Tomorrow equals Tuesday.

Givin' Lip

Well, well, well... Where to even begin. I'd say Shoot the Hooch 2010 was a success if I've ever seen one. By the time we got to the end of the course, there were literally cops waiting for us. Now, I'm not a fan of law-breaking and what not, but I've got to admit that I am impressed we could cause so much uproar on a river that there would be cops awaiting our arrival on land. Perhaps this year's pirate theme was appropriate. There were 16 girls, and we sure caused a lot of chaos. I don't think it's smart to negotiate with a cop while wearing a shirt that says "Givin' Lip."

My uncle graciously picked my roommate and I up. However, in our post-Hooch stupor, I forgot that my house key was in my car at the put-in. So, we got home and had to sit outside while my uncle and cousin went to retrieve my car. We successfully made it into the house and were pretty useless for the rest of the night...until Burial 2010.

When my roommate went up to bed, she came down and told me that one of her hamsters had died. Between the way we were feeling and the way she was acting, I was laughing entirely too much about poor Goober. My roommate was talking to Goober's child saying, "Nothing to see here, Peanut, " and "Your mama's not doing so well, Peanut." What an end to our day!

Today I met a few Wolf Camera friends (DH and MS) at the Cheesecake Factory for lunch. I devoured a BLT Blue Cheese Burger and we all split a piece of Snickers cheesecake. It was so fun to catch up and talk about everything under the sun. I love lunches like that. It was the perfect start (and end!) to my Sunday afternoon.

The Braves scored lots o' runs today, so they're still carrying the NL East by five games. Ballllerrrrrr! All of those disappointing seasons feel well-worth it this year.

I guess I'm gonna go get all of my crazy bloodwork done tomorrow afternoon. I have a lunch meeting, but it should be a relatively calm day otherwise.

It's like thunda...lightnin'

Well, the weather doesn't exactly look glorious for Shoot the Hooch 2010, but WE WILL PREVAIL! According to the hourly forecast, it's supposed to rain pretty much all day. We'll see where the day takes us, but I'm positive we'll have fun!

So, let's talk about the doctor. Booooooo. Yesterday's appointment with the endocrinologist went pretty well. I have to get about 8 million blood tests done for different things, so I guess I'll be knocking those puppies out on Monday. My bone density has been dropping and they want to check out all kinds of stuff. They also want me to collect my urine over a 24-hour period to see if my parathyroid is jacking up my calcium levels. There is a nice little rhyme that indicates something is wrong with the parathyroid, "moans, groans, stones, and bones." The most ironic thing is that the kidney stone debacle hadn't even happened when I was forced to make this appointment. WE SHALL SEE!

Then, onto the study appointment. Well, we successfully got blood on the first stick today! *round of applause* Basically I sat in a chair and we had a space heater in the chair in front of me blowing right at me. It worked like a charm! Then, onto the dreaded PFTs. I didn't realize the PFTs were dreaded until I saw the results. I last went to the doctor on June 1 - before the travels and the Series of Unfortunate Events. My numbers have dropped pretty significantly in that short time. These are hospitalization-worthy, hands-down, but we'll see if the information is relayed along to my doctor. I don't feel bad enough to warrant going into the hospital, but I do know these are pretty much the worst numbers I've ever seen. Laaaaaaaaame.

Yesterday I had lunch with my friend (ED), her mom, and her brother. It was fun to catch up and eat MEXICAN FOOD! We got kicked out of the restaurant because we're cool like that. And they were also closing for the afternoon.

I operated the camera at the theatre last night. The show was sold out and a lot o' fun.

Off to tackle the Chattahoochee!

I've fallen and I can't get up

Yes, my back hurts. I mean, ouch. I was somewhat numb for the first portion of the day, probably because I took some of the prescription Motrin I got when I was in the ER several months back. Now, though, my back is just screaming at me again. I didn't hear a response from the doctor, but I will say that today was an improvement from yesterday, so I'm hoping it's just something muscular... The good news is that my SC joint hasn't hurt since I got back in town. I sound like such a hypochondriac right now.

While I'm on the topic of health and what not, my bloodwork was a breeze today! I dressed warmly and put on a jacket for about 30 minutes before the actual blood draw. As I walked into the clinic building, the study coordinator came down the steps and told me to stay there in the lobby versus coming up to the lab where it's COLD. So, I got needled in the middle of the lobby of the building. Either way, it was beautiful. I know a lot of people hate needles and blood, but it was so refreshing after the unsuccessful sticks yesterday. Plus, this means I don't have to withdraw from the study over something ridiculous.

There was some major improvement on the appetite front today. I went to Willy's and was able to sustain my appetite throughout the entire meal! Maybe I was just having Willydrawals. Man, those nachos were good.

The Braves lost tonight, which was disappointing after a good winning streak. I handled it very well, though, because they've been playing so well lately.

What else? I need to do my annual self-evaluation for work when I'm telecommuting tomorrow. I've tried to work on it the past two days, but I get so distracted when I'm trying to answer the narratives at work. Plus, I wanted to give it some time to get over the shock of returning to work after vacation. I did it at this same time last year (the day I returned from Florida), and wasn't the most positive person.

Last night I couldn't sleep for anything. I literally got about two hours of sleep. I have no idea why I'm still up at 1:00 a.m. I thought I would have crashed a long time ago. I took a small nap tonight, but I'm surprised I've lasted this long. Tomorrow's probably going to be tough.

Cheers to all. Life is precious.

Oh me, oh my

There is no justifiable reason why I should be up this late on a Monday night. Like I mentioned, we had 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. rehearsal, and I felt surprisingly awake on the way home. So, I decided to go ahead and watch the Bachelorette from tonight. If this isn't pure entertainment, I don't know what is. We're about to start giving out some roses! She's already sent the psycho home, and now there's a clear underdog in my opinion. We'll see if I'm right... YES! Good girl.

Today was an interesting day back to work. I went to Starbucks on the way and got my Iced White Chocolate Mocha goodness. It was the perfect start to the day, especially because I didn't realize I'd be in four hours of meetings. Because of the meeting craziness, we got pizza delivered, which was a nice treat even though I'm not a pizza fanatic. Then my friend KQ and I went to Yoforia. I got pineapple yogurt with Sour Patch Kids, kiwi and strawberries. Mmm!

I went by the doctor's office to get blood drawn for the study. However, things didn't quite go as planned. After six sticks, there was literally no indication that my arm was willing to relinquish any blood. Sooo, we pretty much gave up and are trying for tomorrow. I wore a dress today and was really cold, which didn't help the cause. I'm gonna dress warmly tomorrow.

What else? I just feel like good things are on the way for me. It's funny that I felt the exact opposite at this time last week.

Oh, and today was not very good on the stomach/appetite front. I forgot to mention (I think) that my back started bothering me at one point during the beach trip. Saturday afternoon the pain was so bad that I was nauseous. Today was like that, too. It's really weird because no painkiller I took was helping the cause. I hope it's just a strain or something and will be headed out of the door ASAP. I emailed my doctor just to get an opinion. We'll see what she says.

Happy birthday to my mom!

May I apologize...

Well, I can't believe that I haven't posted since April 28. I mean, I can because it technically just became May 1, but I didn't mean to leave you all desperately hanging for so long. So, let me rehash the last few days...

THURSDAY!

I ended up waking up really early; I was having a difficult time sleeping for some odd reason. I woke up a little before 5:00 a.m., and finally gave up and got up at around 5:30 a.m. I went to the gym, as promised, and ran three miles, which was pretty awesome. It's nice to run three miles by the time 6:00 a.m. rolls around. I got ready to head to Emory for the study, and pulled in there at 8:30 a.m. on the nose.

The study was pretty interesting. It ended up taking waaaay longer than expected because my arms weren't cooperating. It's so odd because bloodwork has never been a problem for me. However, in these study appointments, I've had a difficult time. It's like my veins know when it actually matters that they cooperate, and then choose to do the opposite. It took so many tries for them to get the blood they needed. I don't mind needles all that much, though.

I did get into something called a BodPod which measured my body fat percentage. It's supposed to be a pretty accurate measurement because it's not pinching a certain area or anything. I had to put on a bathing suit and swim cap and sit in this little egg-like thing. I'm annoyed because I am trying to post a picture in here and it won't let me. Oh well, click here if you want, but come back to my blog. I'm 25.7% body fat, so take that. Man, I need to put on some more muscle for real. That's a goal of mine. I used to be so much more muscular and felt better.

I finished the study stuff much later than expected, and went to work where we celebrated a colleague's upcoming wedding. It was a nice break to the day, even though I'd just gotten to work. We had wine and cheese and it was a cute little get-together. Then, I finished up some work, got some packages ready for FedEx, and darted out to drop them off before I needed to be at the theatre.

I got to the theatre with about three minutes to spare. Man, it was such a fun show! I can't exactly put my finger on the cause, but the audience was just great and the energy in the theatre was spectacular. I played theeeeeeese things: Buzzer, Foreign-Dubbed Soap Opera (translator), Sit Stand Lean Oscar, Script in Hand (on book), and Musical Styles. I am still excited about the show! I had a friend from work come with her mom, as well as a friend from another job, so those were fun surprises. As always, my number one fan (Mom!) was cracking up in the audience. Loooove her. It was a great end to my birthday week.

FRIDAY!

Well, I'm happy to have witnessed the end to the nine-game losing streak the Braves had going for them. I am officially 2-0 this season, which is a good start. Tonight Heyward hit a home run, so I'm pretty sure he likes when I'm in the crowd. I had so much fun at the game with one of my friends and some of his friends. We were making puns out of the batters' names and it was just a hoot. It was so dorky and awesome!

What else did I do today? I got up and exercised, so yeehaw. I'm trying for three in a row tomorrow.

I also met an old coworker for lunch at Taco Mac. I literally hadn't seen him in two years since I left that job, so it was a ton of fun to catch up. We could have sat there and talked all day. I hope we'll do it again soon because it was a nice use of the lunch hour!

I am too tired to say anything else. I know this post was kinda boring, but I am so exhausted!

Yawn

What a day! Well, today I got up and hit the fitness center before work. I surprisingly ran two miles without stopping, and then walked for a couple minutes before heading back home. I reset my alarm a few times, so I didn't have as much time to exercise as usual when I go before work. Oh well! It was better than nothing. I was really excited to run for 20 minutes without ever even stepping my feet on the side of the treadmill; I haven't done that in a bit!

I went to work and knocked out a TON of stuff all in a few hours of time. I was in the office from a little before 9 until a little before 1, then headed to my CF study appointment.

So, the appointment went really well. Well, it didn't, but it did. When I did my PFTs, they were surprisingly low - lower than my appointment last week, and about on-par with my first study appointment. The doctor basically told me there were two options... 1) try IV antibiotics and see what happens, or 2) have him declare me 'stable' so I would be eligible for the study. Since a drop of a few percentage points can be attributed to many things other than my true lung function, I went with the tell-me-I'm-stable route.

I then proceeded with my EKG, bloodwork, nasal PD (measuring electrical activity in your nasal cells - WILD!), sweat tests, etc. All in all, it took about five hours to complete all of the necessary testing. It looks like I'm good to get randomized as long as today's results come back looking good! It's funny because, after all of the things that could have kept me from being in the study, the biggest issue today was getting blood out of my arms. We moved from arm to arm with multiple people trying to get a good result. Finally we got a good vein and, of the nine tubes that needed to get filled, we got to the ninth one and my arm gave out. Someone else had to come save the day by poking and prodding around to get that final BIG tube filled. Thankfully I don't mind needles in the arms.

After all of that, I met a few theatre friends at El Azteca (Midtown area) before the improv show tonight. It was a showcase put on by the folks in the Improv Studies group, and I had a lot of fun. I probably stayed out later than I should have, as you can probably tell, so I'm about to hit the hay. I have a crew shift at the theatre tomorrow night, so it looks like it will be Saturday before I can relax.

Dodging a bullet

Well, y'aaaaaaaaalllllllllll........ My doctor's appointment went surprisingly well today! I'll start at the beginning. I got to Emory right at 10:00 a.m. to start my glucose tolerance test. When they finally drew (DREW!) my blood at about 10:30 a.m., I felt like I was going to faint. I survived the blood draws and then drank the special orange drink, which actually tastes pretty decent when you're starved beyond rational thinking. I then headed over for my DEXA bone density scan. After that, I headed back to the lab and had to wait until 12:30 p.m. for my post-orange DRANK stick. The worker was so helpful and, given how weak I was feeling she packed me a baggie with two 4-packs of Oreos and two apple juices, which I thought was really sweet. I want to write her boss and commend her work, but every time I plan to do that it's difficult to follow through...

From there, I headed up to the real doozie - the CF appointment. I didn't have to wait too exceptionally long before completing my PFTs. Believe it or not, my numbers had IMPROVED from the study visit, but were still down a little bit from my baseline. I couldn't believe that I would have improved considering the fact that I didn't feel so great, but I did...so I'll take it! My bloodwork from the morning looked great, with my glucose tolerance test showing that I was normal.

Interestingly, though, the doctor did notice that a particular liver enzyme was elevated. It didn't worry her too much, but she did take note of it since some CFers end up with liver disease for a variety of reasons. Then, we got to talking about the pain that I'd had (the ER-inspiring pain), and she was convinced that the pain was in my gall bladder/liver area. She said that lungs don't really have pain censors, with the exception of when the lining is inflamed, but my pain didn't seem to be affected by my breathing. So, with the combination of the pain and the elevated enzymes, she wants to do an ultrasound of my gall bladder/liver if the pain returns. Hopefully it was just an odd occurrence, and I'm optimistic since I've been painkiller- and pain-free for a week.

Needless to say, after all of that news, I don't have to go to the hospital and I don't have to return for a follow-up until June 1. YAAAAAY! The doctor also mentioned trying to get me back in the study, so I'm hopeful for that. I let that fall to the back-burner temporarily because obviously my current health is the most pressing, but lately I'd been thinking how I really hope to get to participate in the study even though my initial screening indicated otherwise. I'll keep you posted on that.

I don't really have too much to say, as the doctor's appointment was the bulk of my day. Drew's Crew is at $9,367. I'm excited! I think my next endeavor is to encourage friends to email everyone they know. We've come a long way, but we're still only halfway to my aspirational goal!
Thank you to everyone who sent well wishes my way; they helped!

Trial and error

Well, today was a big ol' waste of time.

As you know, I emailed the doctor in the middle of the night to try to get some sort of answer for the unusual pain I was having in my chest/lungs. Well, I got a return phone call right as I walked into an 11:00 a.m. appointment at work, so I made a quick exit. The nurse recommended that I go to the ER because the pain in my lungs was concerning and the doctor didn't have clinic hours until Thursday. Sooooooo, one of my coworkers and I headed over to the ER. Mind you, I hate the ER, so I hope that illustrates the desperation I was facing.

Upon arriving, we had to wait practically forever to check in, even though I marked chest pain and shortness-of-breath as symptoms (two of the top things to acknowledge according to the signs all over the walls). When they finally took me back to check out my vitals, my blood pressure was by far the highest it's ever been - 154/96. That's absolutely unheard of for me, but they didn't seem too concerned.

After a while, they opted to do some bloodwork and a chest x-ray. The bloodwork came back showing elevated white blood cell counts, and the chest x-ray came back looking really good. Soooo, thinking the x-ray would be the tell-tale sign of what was causing the lung pain, we were left with really no indications. However, we got one of my doctors on the phone who highly encouraged that I be admitted to the hospital, but I wasn't quite buying the argument since there aren't any symptoms that are typical of when I have a lung infection that requires IV antibiotics.

So, after spending six hours in different holding areas of the ER, I walked out with a prescription for a different, higher-dose oral antibiotic, as well as prescription pain medicine. I promptly went to Target and got my prescriptions filled and enjoyed a medicine cocktail for dinner. I'm not even sure what to think of today's colossal waste of time, but I guess it's relieving to know that they didn't see pneumonia or a collapsed lung or anything. I was honestly terrified after the way last night went.

Well, I am just ready to try to sleep. I haven't yet decided what I'll do workwise tomorrow, but I guess it will depend on if I feel well-rested after tonight. I'm happy to report that nothing seems to be overly concerning...just the usual shenanigans.

Thanks to everyone who was looking out for me today. :o) If I didn't get back to you, that's where I was - between the guy with the sliced-open hand and the perforated-bowel dude.