Dear People Who Think I am Lazy

Hey y'all!
I have not been feeling all that great lately again unfortunately. I can't catch my breath and my pulse ox is running 88-91. So to make things simple....I just want to lay in bed all day and sleep. That seems to be the number one thing that people without CF do not understand. They do not understand that we are not being lazy. We simply need days to catch our breath. Even my friends do not understand. They say I need to get out more and get up and do something and to stop being lazy. Even if I explain that I do not feel good, they seem to think that getting up and doing something will magically make me better. In other words....they just think I'm being lazy. It is really aggravating. Especially since they do not understand. This is coming from people who stop their whole lives for a cold. So this is a note to those people who think I'm lazy:

Dear people who just think I'm being lazy,
Please do not pretend to understand how I feel and then criticize me. Sometimes I do not feel good. Sometimes my oxygen is low. Sometimes I'm so sleepy that I cannot get out of bed. Sometimes I cannot breathe and have cough attacks that leave me gasping for air. I am not being lazy. I am not "pulling the sick card." I am sick. Sorry that you do not understand that. Unfortunately I barely have good days. I do not bother you when you lay in bed for days because you have a cold or when you complain loudly when you cannot stop coughing from the cold. Why must you bother me about what I do? Just leave me be, let me have my sick days, my "lazy" days. I do the best I can. I can promise you there are days when I feel like absolute crap but I am still out there going to class, walking tons, cleaning, making dinner, babysitting, all without complaining. You have no idea what it feels like to have to stop and rest after walking for a couple minutes because you're out of breath. You focus on you and I will focus on me.
Love,
Chelsea

Stories of a Rebel Child

I have been babysitting two little boys this week, both 3, and good gracious. These two do not know how to share or get along. I have broken up fights over apple slices. One little boy even slapped the other because he was looking at his face. Its been an adventure. Kudos to you parents out there. But I have been able to use my educational class info to come up with educational activities for them to do. So yay for college.

I was supposed to have a doctor's appointment Tuesday but they canceled on me. Apparently my doctor has the flu. So I decided to go all rebellious and get my nose pierced instead. I must admit I was nervous. My best friend had hers done recently and was trying to tell me it did not hurt hardly at all. The whole way there I was sweating and nervous. Seems like I wouldn't be seeing as how I get needles all the time. The road I had to use was shut down, and I did not know another way. It was like Life was telling me no. But I'm a rebel. I followed other cars, hoping they would lead me to the road I needed. Thank goodness they did. I finally made it to the piercing place. The guys in there were really friendly and joking. It had a very relaxed feeling. I was ready for this. I sat down on the chair. The guy had me take deep breaths and then stuck the needle through. It felt like a lot of pressure and hurt some. The creepy thing is when they have the piercing needle sticking all the way through your nose. Its pretty gruesome to open your eyes and see that. The guy puts the stud in...and the jewel falls off! So he tries to put a different stud through but it just wouldn't go. I was a little upset to say the least. So I had to get pierced again through the same hole. This time the stud stays intact. So I got my nose pierced twice in one day. The second time hurt a lot, I will not lie. My nose is still sore two days out, but I love it.

End of one chapter...beginning of another

Well y'all...this week has been a stressful one. So much has went on.
I had my little brother at my apartment from Tuesday night until Friday night. He is four and quite bossy. He can be sweet too. So I had a taste of being a parent for awhile. He had some spells. He did not want to go to bed. He was also sick which kept him grumpy and unable to sleep well. Despite all this, I decided to take him for a walk to a park to see cannons and the water. Big mistake on my part. It was cold. After we get about 10 minutes away, it starts to rain. Now it had rained earlier that day but had stopped. Then my little brother steps into a puddle and gets his shoe wet. It all went downhill from there. He has a breakdown. He takes his shoe off and will not put it back on. After taking his shoe off, he then proceeds to get his sock wet. He starts screaming and crying in the middle of the sidewalk with people all around. He will not move. He will not put his shoe on. Finally, I get his shoe back on but the crying continues for 20 minutes. The breakdown ended after I bought him some Reese's. So best big sister award. But to be fair, he did tell me "I'm sorry I wouldn't put my shoe back on sissy" later on.

In other news, I moved out of my moldy, wet apartment. I had to move home so that stinks. I am constantly searching for a new apartment. It is hard to move back home after living on your own. This will be like the 4 time I have done this. But hopefully I find a place soon!

Now I am sick. But doctor's on Tuesday!