Oops 2015 already?

Hey y'all. I totally forget I have a blog about 98% of the time. I know I always say I am going to do better and blog more, but let's be honest, I do a bad job at it. So for 2015 I would really love to step up my blogging game.
SO so so much has happened since I last blogged.

• I have been in the hospital twice, but have been on IV antibiotics many many times.
• My best friend got married :D
• I finished my first semester of my new major with straight As
• I had a bachlorette party
• I've just been so busy

Yes of course I've been sick a bunch. I just recently got out of the hospital Monday. I was oxygen dependent while in the hospital. I'm out now and hopefully on the road to recovery because classes start Monday!

In other news, my best friend got married and I was a bridesmaid. For the bachlorette party we did a pole dancing class and then went out the eat. It was so fun. For all you tiny CFers out there, should you ever decide to take a pole dancing class or just pole dance in general keep in mind that you will spin around the pole really fast (also upside down moves are a lot easier for smaller people!)

School starts Monday and I excited but not. I am NOT ready for class to start again but I am excited for one of my classes. I have a lab that takes place in the kitchen. We get to cook and bake which is my favorite. I even get to wear a chef's jacket and pants! I can't wait to look so official.

SO now y'all are pretty caught up. My upcoming blog posts should be more exciting I hope.

Tips for the CF College Kid

Hey y'all! So as y'all know I have been to three colleges so I kind of consider myself an expert on college. One day I may even graduate. I have had some ups and downs throughout my ongoing college experience so I figured I would share some tips for all you kids heading off to college this fall.

Chelsea's College Tips

• Do not overpack. This is crucial because your mom will be taking some stuff back home when she leaves you. Your dorm room is not that big, especially when you have to share it. You will not use a quarter of the stuff you bring, I can almost guarantee it. That cool lap desk thing? It will sit under your bed. Make sure you have all of your health stuff!
• You will not need those 50 shirts from high school. You will get tons of free shirts.
• Bring a power strip. There will not be enough outlets for all your things especially once you have your vest and breathing machine going.
• A plastic 3 drawer compartment thing will come in handy to hold all your medicines and CF supplies. If you do not have CF, it is still pretty handy.
• Use ratemyprofessor.com when registering for classes. You will know what to expect from the class and what to expect from the professor. But keep in mind just because some people do not care for a professor does not mean you will hate him too.
• Get out of your dorm. I repeat, get out of your dorm and make friends.
• If you happen to be in your dorm, leave your door open. Believe me, that is how you make friends. People will just walk into your room and BAM instant friends.
• If you go to a party, pour your own drink and watch it the whole party. Do not put it down, this even applies to just soda.
• Do not go off with people you do not know well. I know that sounds like common sense but you will meet so many people in college that you'll feel more comfortable than you should with a stranger. 
• You might decide to drink- make sure you have a friend with you.
• Stay away from smoke-no brainer.
• Be organized- you will lose stuff if you are not.
• If you have CF, be upfront with your roommate and suite mates or get a private room. This eliminates you having to sneak in treatments like I tried to do for the first few weeks. They will understand. If they do not, request a new room or sit down and talk through a solution, such as you doing treatments when she is in class or her leaving when you need to do them.
• Also  sign up with student disability services. I know it may not be something you want to do, but it is better to do it now just in case than having to do it as you are sitting in the hospital. Plus you usually get to register early- better classes!
• Make time for your treatments- its going to be hard at first. You're going to want to skip to do other things but it really is important to make time.
• Take your enzymes because the college cafeteria is going to mess your stomach up.
• With that being said, always have enzymes on you because you will never know when you will eat.
• Make sure you have lots of snacks and little microwave meals. Some dorms even have a kitchen you can cook in. You might not feel like going to the cafeteria or you may get hungry when it is closed. My roommate and I lived off CVS pre-packaged subs for a week because we kept missing dining hours. Gross- I know.
• Your roommate does not have to be your best friend but you do want to get along. I loved all my roommates. They are fantastic.
• College finals are going to stress you out but they will end and you will be fine.
• Get plenty of sleep. All nighters are not as cool as they seem.
• Bring air freshener for that shared bathroom!
• If you can avoid it, do not buy your textbooks from the bookstore. It will drain you financially. Try chegg.com, amazon.com, half.com, and other textbook sites. They are usually much less expensive.
• Also try to sell your books back to those sites or to other students. The bookstore will not give you much. After spending over $550 on textbooks, I got $30 back at the end of the semester. No joke.
• Do not sign up for 8am classes if you do not normally like to get up early. You will skip. Do not think just because you got up in high school that you will get up for that class.
• Do the extra credit.
• Keep a calendar with everything due.
• Make a schedule including treatments and medicine and such.
• It is a lot easier to be upfront about your CF with people in college. It really is.
• It is really easy to get run down in college. Trust me because it happened to me. You have to stay on top of your health.
• Have fun but stay healthy!!

All right y'all...that is my list so far. If I think of anymore I will add to it of course. Feel free to post your own tips in the comment section.

If you don't like Frozen, I suggest you let it go

"Knock knock"

"Who's there?"

"You"

"You who?"

"You-whoooo big summer blowout!"

Well y'all, I won't be blogging this weekend. I am going to visit my dad. It's going to be a three hour drive there and back which sounds awful. Good news, I will be blaring the Frozen soundtrack the whole way. Just because I'm 20 and obsessed with Frozen doesn't mean anything. Its a really great movie okay? The music is awesome. Its just fantastic. I suggest seeing it right away.If you don't like frozen I suggest you just let it go (haha see what I did there?) I know all the words to every song and will sing them at the top of my lungs. No shame.

Why I'm done with Walmart and other ramblings

Hey y'all! So one thing about me is that I eat, a lot, like a lot a lot. You would not be able to tell by looking at me but I could probably out eat any one of you. I am constantly starving and can eat like two grown men. I just cannot seem to gain weight. So the doctor's put me on Periactin which is an appetite stimulant. I am going to go broke just buying food to sustain me. I'll probably eat myself out of a house and home. Did you know periactin is also an antihistamine? Weird right? It makes me a tad tired. I'm also trying to drink at least one scandishake a day to up my weight.

I'm not sure how many of y'all have sinus issues but I have them and they bother the heck out of me. My ENT says to try doing my TOBI and Colistin with a mask to get the antibiotics in my sinuses as well. So maybe that might bee something for y'all to try as well, but of course I'm no doctor. Some of my sinus cavities are getting gross again so I'm also taking a nasal steroid. This will be my first month trying Colistin. Has anyone else used it before? How did y'all like it? I've tried Cayston before but it made me cough up tons of blood so I had to stop using it.

Let me tell y'all one thing about doctor's that just annoys me. You fill out all this paperwork right? You have to write down every single medication you take, then you go back and they ask you the same thing. I'm just always like ugh really and repeat them all over again.

I got to spend the weekend with my boyfriend who I'm ever so thankful for. But....everything went downhill yesterday. I took my car to Wal-Mart (which was my first mistake) to get an old change. It took them 3 and a half hours! There were barely any other costumers there, just one other. I should have expected that I guess. Wal-Mart is the home of 30 something registers and they only open 2 at a time. The oil change cost me $74 which hurt my pockets. I was also told I needed a new battery which is another $105. My poor college kid pockets are getting emptier and emptier. After all that, I go out to my car and it doesn't start. The guy says "well the car won't start because the battery is bad" no really? despite his comment, he brings the jumper cables and a battery out to jump my car off. He hooks the cables to my car, but had the other two cables hooked to the metal cart which promptly started to spark and almost electrocuted him. So I am done with Walmart. I shall find a new place to do my auto care.

Sorry this is kind of a rambling post. I guess y'all are used to that by now though.

Blessing in Disguise

When people find out I have Cystic Fibrosis, they usually respond with sympathy and pity. Oh how I hate pity! Some ask if I have ever thought about what it would be like to be normal. What is normal? My CF and my diabetes and everything else are my normal. My normal is a day filled with medications, shots, and treatments. My normal is hacking up a lung and gasping for breath. My normal is visiting doctors and spending weeks in the hospital. My normal is coughing up blood (this really scares a lot of people). I honestly could not imagine a different normal. Like what would that even be like? I would not wish for a day without my CF and other problems. What is the point in that? A day of "normalcy" would only be a tease. A life I would never have access to. Seems like torture to me. I have CF, it will not go away. People always seem to feel bad for me but I alway wonder why because I have never once felt bad for myself. Even though my life may be cut short from these problems, I live more than most people! I do not take for granted the time I have. I love more deeply and laugh more loudly than I would if I thought I had all the time in the world.
I feel normal. I do what "normal" college kids do. I have friends. I go to parties. I go out on dates. I have fun. I spend too much money. I choose fun over class sometimes. I have a life. One thing I refuse to participate in is smoking though, anything at all.
If I did not have my CF and other medical problems, I would not cough everyday (seriously, it blows my mind that some people do not cough even once a day...seriously BLOWS MY MIND!) I would not spend forever doing treatments and taking medications. I would not constantly be pricking my fingers or giving myself shots. I would be taller and be, let's be honest, probably as big as a house the way I eat. I would be terrified of needles and hospitals. I would not have an expiration date stamped across my forehead. If I did not have CF, I would not be the person I am today. Make no mistake, CF does not define me, but it has shaped me.
CF has made me appreciate more. I call it a blessing in disguise. I always wonder "would I value these things as much if I did not have CF?" and "would I be this awesome if I didn't have CF?" I'd like to think I would. CF makes me value my education (even though it seems to be taking forever to get that bachelor's degree!). It drives me to keep going and to be successful. It allowed me to obtain a part in a TV show (I wanted to be an actress. It was my wish. The show went off the air a couple months after my on air performance.). It makes me love and trust more than I probably should. It helps me to jump over life's hurdles. It makes me value the time I have with my family and friends. It makes me hold them closer to my heart. It makes me more eager to be outgoing and to treat everyone with kindness because every person I meet is fighting a battle I cannot see. It allows me to make a difference and to educate others about CF so maybe one day it will stand for cure found. It tries to help me not sweat the small stuff (but I stress easily). It forces me to look at the bigger picture, but to also appreciate the little snapshots. 
Everyone dies sooner or later. I just do what I need to do to live as long as I can while living my life to the fullest extent.