College and ports

Hey y'all!
So as y'all know from my last post, I have not been feeling well at all. I ended up going to the doctor's Monday to get a quick check before I started school Thursday (TOMORROW!!). My numbers were the lowest they have ever been. My pulse ox was also 92% and when I did the walking test, it dipped down to 87%. My weight dropped too (of course). Well I was put straight on antibiotics through my port. So I am starting my senior year of college with a port, not that this will be my last year at college haha.

I am so excited to start school. I sound like a total nerd but when you have to miss school, it makes you want it more. Although I am classified as a senior, I still have more than a year left at college. It is fine because I mean if you don't take forever to graduate then are you really even doing college right? Just kidding, I would be graduating had I not decided to transfer and change major but you win some, you lose some. I am just a little concerned walking to class because I think I might actually collapse on the sidewalk. I have no energy and can not catch my breath. We will see!
See y'all next time!

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

Snow day in SC

Hey y'all! Now I know all you northerners are laughing your heads off at us southern folk, but we are not used to this weather! Now we only got a few inches, like 2 or 3, but that was enough to shut down all the schools and businesses in my area. Schools even got out early yesterday before anything happened at all, just in case. We had a wonderful snow day today filled with sledding and warm chicken soup. Schools in the area are delayed tomorrow but still in session, much to the dismay of my little sister.

But as the snow day ends my chest is now hurting a bunch, especially when I cough. My cough is never ending. But according to my doctor's appointment Monday, my pfts were up higher than they have been in a long while. So that's good! But what is not good is I still feel awful and my doctor is at a loss at what to do. My pfts never seem to stay up anymore. It is almost as if I can feel them dropping with every breath I take.

So it has been awhile....

Looking back on my last post I realize it has been forever and a day since I have blogged. So much has happened in my life that blogging just kind of took a backseat. I switched schools again...I know, I know... so indecisive. I'm finally at a college for good. I'll be starting my junior year soon...so excited! My boyfriend and I broke up for a couple months but recently reconnected and started dating again. I spent time with old and new friends. I've had the time of my life. I've experienced so much and learned so many lessons. I even went to Dayglow or Life in Color as its now called. So fun!!!

 My semester ended and then I went to have sinus surgery performed. My doctor recommended I go to an ENT who then decided sinus surgery would be the best thing. They were both under the assumption that bacteria in my sinuses were reinfecting my lungs causing exacerbations. They thought maybe it would help my CF. It seemed like a simple procedure. The ENT even said that I would most likely keep getting the procedure because I wanted it! He said it would make me feel so much better. The place I had my surgery at was two hours away from my home. I arrived and got prepped for surgery. I went back and they started putting something through my IV, not sure what but it made me very calm. I  heard the doctors talking but couldn't really understand. A surgery that wasn't suppose to take very long ended up taking several hours. In recovery my mom was told they wanted to transport me to a hospital. My doctor from home called my mom and let her know my oxygen was low before surgery and dropped pretty low during surgery. None of the people at the surgery place bothered to tell us before or during the surgery. Needless to say I went home that day, not the hospital, but was on oxygen for weeks after the surgery.  My functions plummeted from the 50s to the low 30s. I was in bad shape. I had to go in for a PICC line a couple days after.

 The sinus headaches never went away and I never felt better. My functions are back up but I would not consider getting the surgery again. I recently had to go back to the ENT where they removed scabs from inside my sinuses. If you look close you can see the red light shining through my mouth, nose, and eyes.

 I  wonder if anyone else had an experience like mine. I am going to get back on my blogging game. I just feel like my life isn't exciting enough to blog all the time but I'll try.

Fall Break!

Well I've been on fall break these past two days and I thought I would enjoy what every college kid dreams of: 4 whole glorious days of sleep. No such luck. First, I was roped into going to family day lunch with my little sister and babysitting my baby brother. Secondly, my mom decided to sign me up to make cupcakes for my little sister's school fall carnival. Now I do love baking so this was not such a horrible thing for me to do. I decided to do two batches. Halloween cupcakes with sprinkles for the kids to decorate and I made chocolate cupcakes with ghosts on top. This is a little sample of my ghost cupcakes:

They were a hit.  My duties did not stop there. I also had to help get my little sister and brother ready. I put together both costumes (being the creative one in the family gets a little tiring). The fall carnival was a blast. I got college kid wasted on some cotton candy (meaning I simply ate cotton candy until I wanted to puke). Here's some picture of my little siblings in their Halloween best:

Now I have to figure out just what I'm going to be for Halloween. I don't like costumes that show off my stomach because of my awful g-tube scar. So after hours on Pinterest, I have narrowed my options down to two: A toddlers and tiaras girl or Juno and Bleaker(courtesy of my boyfriend who will dress up like a nerd if I want him to. So sweet!)

Baker's the last name and my chosen profession.

Before I get on with my blog post for the day I have devastating news...
I had my hands full and dropped my ipod touch. The screen shattered and a piece broke off the side. My poor baby:

You can't really see all the damage in the picture but its cracked all over. Sad day.
Now back to my post for the day. I know in my last post I talked about how I'm so indecisive. Its completely true! I'm 19 so its completely okay for me to be! But baking has always been the one thing I loved since as far back as I can remember. For Christmas one year I clearly remember getting cookbooks and baking supplies. That's why I have decided to go to culinary school to get my bachelor's in Baking and Pastry and food management.  This college is located in another state than my own although its not too far. Eventually I want to open up my own bakery or even like a bakery truck. How awesome would that be?! I have a crazy cupcake book called Hello Cupcake! and just checked out What's New Cupcake? from the library sooo here are some of my cupcakes I've made:

    

Okay so the apple ones (bottom picture) were kind of a fail but cute nonetheless. At least I figured out my mistake. Note to anyone who wants to attempt the apples: make sure you use doughnuts that are big enough to cover the whole cupcake top. It calls for mini but obviously you can tell that did not cut it.

As much as I would love to be a baker I feel that people wouldn't exactly like to hear someone constantly hacking who is making their yummy baked goods. Some might get paranoid about it. Mucus frosting anyone? So I figured I could wear a face mask but I'd want a super cool mask. All Cfers know what I'm talking about. Those hot annoying face masks we have to wear around the hospital or at CF functions. Maybe I can design my own! I'm not going to let CF stop me from being a baker. My cough would make people cringe in any career I'm in so why not? To those who do not know why CF, or Cystic Fibrosis is: A disease tat affects both the lungs and digestive system of a person's body. Abnormally thick mucus is created clogging up airways and the digestive track. This mucus that clogs the lungs can allow life threatening infections grow in the lungs. The mucus clogging up the digestive system stops food from being properly digestive and prevents the nutrients from being absorbed. For more info go to: www.cff.org

One more thing: Hopefully soon I will be posting a post about a project I'm doing that I found on Pinterest!