Humpty Dumpty

January 15, 2011 in Filed Under: Allergies Leave a Comment

Humpty DumptyThat’s exactly how I feel.  I’ve gotten myself into a huge mess with all of this allergy crap.  I was okay with all the life changes at first, but now it’s just getting old.  I wish I could just go back to my favorite, easy meals that we were used to having.

I don’t think I ever would have tried this elimination diet if I knew that I would never be able to go back.  Now that I have been avoiding all of these foods for several months now, I find that I am getting more and more sensitive when I do have them.  I mentioned that to the doctor, and she that can happen… I wish she told me that before.  I used to bring a sandwich to work for lunch almost every day.  Now even the smallest amount of anything with wheat and I feel awful.

The new plan is to (very) slowly start adding the foods back into my diet.  I don’t need to eat these things everyday, but I would really like to be able to tolerate going out to eat or having a piece of cake at a party.  I’ve gotten a lot of cooking practice over the last couple of months.  We’ve tried new foods that I would actually want to keep in my diet.  But it sure would be nice to fall back on our favorite mac ‘n cheese on busy, tired nights like before.

So many social things are centered around food, and I want to be able to go out more or eat with friends like before.  Plus we have a few travel plans coming up later this year.  There is no way that I can eat like this while traveling.  I know it will take some time to get my body readjusted, but I just have to get put back together!

Surgery Day

January 8, 2011 in Filed Under: Cystic Fibrosis, Jesse 3 Comments

Jesse’s sinus surgery went way better than we expected.  We got there a little early, and they took us back to pre-op right away.  It was amazing how smoothly everything went.  We were really hoping, as we were warned, that surgery would not be delayed or postponed because Jesse had already been fasting since midnight.

The only weird thing that happened was that their charts showed that Jesse has MRSA.  We are pretty sure that has to be an old record, because that hasn’t come up at all in clinic.  But because they had that on file, they made me and all the nurses coming into his room take extra precautions.  I had to put on a gown before they would let me come into his room.  After surgery they made we wear a mask and gloves too.  I totally do not understand the point of the gowns.  We slept in the same bed last night, and now I’m not allowed to enter the room without a gown on??  Then I had to take the gown off before leaving the room.  But, what I don’t understand is why Jesse didn’t need to wear a mask.  If he has MRSA, why were they more concerned about me spreading it to other patients than the were about him giving it to other patients.  Whatever… when I tried to understand the rules, the nurse got a rude attitude.  I don’t think she liked us very much for whatever reason.

My lovely gownBefore surgery

Anyways, the waiting room was completely packed.  Tampa General has this cool system for tracking the progress of your surgery.  Every patient gets a number, and you can watch the screen to see what is going on with them.  Sounds great, but it was kinda hard to follow.  It scrolled too fast, and it didn’t update very quickly.  The doctor had already come out to tell me that everything had gone fine before the screen said that he was out of surgery.  I think it is just their way to keep people from constantly asking about the progress of their family member.

Patient tracking screen

So, when they told me I could come out to see him now, I was bracing myself for how bad he would look.  Last time, there was a lot of blood, his pain was so bad, and he was so out of it that he couldn’t talk very well.  This time I walk out of the waiting room, and he says, “Hey baby!”  What?… No bandages, no grogginess, no bruising, he didn’t even have a headache.  We are still trying to figure out how that is possible.  Dr. Tabor is awesome!

After surgery

Last time, we were supposed to go home right after surgery.  But he was it too much pain and way too unsteady for me to be able to take him home.  So, we were planning on the same for this time.  I had packed my pillow, toothbrush, lots of snacks, and clothes for the next morning.  I was way over-prepared… none of that was needed.  We were home a few hours after they had taken him back to the OR.

I guess 10th time’s a charm.  Praise God!