Day 13 of 30 Day Blog challenge

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*FYI* I skipped Day 12 which was, Your relationship status. That was clearly identified on Day 7.

A few of your favorite quotes, mottos, or versus.

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

"You can't change your cards, so you might as well play the hand you were dealt." I don't know if this is someone else's, it's just something I've always said, kinda my motto.

"No matter how bad you have it remember someone else always has it worse" Mom and Dad told me this growing up if I was dwelling on the bad in my life and feeling sorry for myself.

"Be still and know that He is God" Psalms 46:10

Day 11 of 30 Day Blog challenge

What's in your makeup bag/purse.

I have loved purse's and carried one for as long as I can remember. Funny little story. I was about 5 or 6 and was with my Grandma and Mom somewhere I don't recall the exact place, in fact I don't really recall this story at all but it has been told to me by Grandma, she still thinks it's funny. I caught her getting in my purse and I declared "Get out of there, I got important stuff in there", who knows what was in it, probably one of my Mom's old drivers licenses, a chap stick, and maybe some change.

Today's list of "important stuff" includes.
-My wallet
-My checkbook
-My truck keys
-My new prescription for sleepiness
-Pill container with enzymes, pain reliever, and vitamins in it
-A small note pad with a little pen that sticks in the side, it was just to cute to pass up a JoAnn Fabrics for a $1
-3 Pens
-A pair of Purple knit gloves
-A portable hair brush, this thing is the size of a pocket mirror with a bruch that folds in and out, got it at Wal-Mart for .97 cents, my long hair get snarled easily.
-JACKPOT found a quarter in the bottom!
-My house keys
-A travel size bottle of lotion from Bath and Body Works
-3 lip glosses
-4 Chap sticks, what can I say I like options!
-A pair of earrings I thought I lost!
-3 peppermints
-2 Lens cleaner wipes
-2 AA Batteries, I have no idea why!?
-5 Hair ties, again with the long hair!
-My brothers SD card, again I have no idea!
-My flash drive with all my picture on it
-A pen light, I stole it from Brad! hehe
-A digital photo key chain Brad got me for Christmas
-These tiny little bolts that go to my alternator pulley for my car, I've almost lost them like 3 times, and when I just pulled them out I almost threw them away! That would be BAD!
-And the most favorite thing I carry in my purse is a sterling silver frog, about the size of a pea, he was a gift from my Mom or my cousin one time when I was in the hospital, he is said to be carried at all times to bring good luck. I don't know if he's from my cousin or my Mom because they both got me one and I carried them both until I lost one. I do not switch purses without my good luck frog!

So there you have it my "important" things I carry. I only use a medium size purse, imagine the possibilities if I carried a large one!

Day 10 of 30 Day Blog challenge

A picture of your favorite place to eat.



Okay so this is a picture of Colton from a couple years ago making homemade lemonaid. But it's in my Mom's kitchen which is my favorite place to eat. Favorite meal? Spaghetti

Day 9 of 30 Day Blog challenge

A photo of the item you last purchased.



Engine cleaner and degreaser

I am a gearhead, motorhead, grease monkey and I love my '69 Chevelle. She is currently in pieces at the body shop getting a full frame and body restoration with shiny new paint. My dad and I had to pull the motor out of her, again, for the work. So I am taking it and power washing it tomorrow and I needed some degreaser to help with the process. Once it's all cleaned I will re-paint the block and other parts that go on the motor, put it back together and put it on the car frame. That way my body guy can put the body over the frame and motor with no worries of messing up the new paint job. This post would have been about toilet paper had I not forgotten to buy it, I think that would have made a good blog! LOL

Fianlly Answers to my constent fatigue!!!

I'm not sure who knows what I have been dealing with over the course of a year. But in a nut shell I had a lot of exacerbation's and have had a lot of sleepiness during the day, needing naps a lot! I have been searching for answers and after several night sleep studies and one day time nap study I finally have answers.

My doctor diagnosed me as Narcoleptic without Cataplexy, I don't have the spells that are called cataplexy where I just seemingly fall asleep with no warning. Mine is classified more of excessive sleepiness.During my daytime sleep study I fell into REM sleep within 5 minutes at every nap time, actually the longest it took me was 4 minutes 45 seconds! The sleep study started at 10am I napped for the 15 minutes (the max they allow, it's how they test) and then every 2 hours after for 5 times did it again. I had a total of 5, 15 minute naps every 2 hours. If you read the definition it takes a person with normal sleep patterns a hour or so to reach REM sleep. It is not that I don't get enough sleep during the night, I do. My brain just tells my body that I need sleep all the time, it's a protein malfunction. It is completely un-CF related, although in the definition is does say it can be caused by a virus during brain development, maybe I had one when mine was developing, it's very possible. I am starting a stimulant pill I will take 2 times a day. The doctor said I should see results within a couple days. And that with my sleep disorder being treated he is optimistic that my overall health will improve, like my PFT's and maybe some weight gain. I have had this feeling something has been wrong for a long time and I would only get so far with doctors. It started in high school, they tested my iron and that was low fixed that and it helped, and then when I brought it up again they blamed hypoxia (lack of O2) and restless leg syndrome, both treated and I had improvement. But it was never enough I have always been excessively tired. Recently some have told me it was the progression of my CF, I had a rough year with my baseline dropping about 10%, I refused to believe it was progression. I am SO VERY THANKFUL TO GOD for giving me my CF doctor who believed in me and didn't dismiss my complaints, and who also happens to be not only a CF pulmonologist but a specialist in sleep disorders as well. I almost cried today and I wanted to hug him, I am just so relieved to have an answer and be vindicated. I am very hopeful and so is Dr. Fitch that the med will help me and I can get some sort of normalcy in my life that is not revolved around whether I need to sleep or if I have had enough sleep. Let me be clear I'm not happy I have this, I don't think anyone thinks I am, but since I do have it I'm just happy to finally be treated :)
In closing I just want to say follow your instincts, and don't back down because a doctor tells you it's nothing, don't leave any stones un-turned! I have suffered a long time and although I'm happy to have answers now, I just wish it wouldn't have taken over 10 years, I believe my path in life may have been different had I been treated sooner. I think of all the things I have missed because of my constant fatigue, that makes me sad, especially things that effected Colton. He begs me every afternoon to not fall asleep, and because I have no control over it I do. I hope now I can spend afternoons with him and have quality son/mom time where I'm not half with it.

Here is the definition from Wikipedia of Narcolepsy

Narcolepsy is a chronic sleep disorder, or dyssomnia, characterized by excessive sleepiness and sleep attacks at inappropriate times, such as while at work. People with narcolepsy often experience disturbed nocturnal sleep and an abnormal daytime sleep pattern, which often is confused with insomnia. Narcoleptics, when falling asleep, generally experience the REM stage of sleep within 5 minutes; whereas most people do not experience REM sleep until an hour or so later.[1]

Another one of the many problems that some narcoleptics experience is cataplexy, a sudden muscular weakness brought on by strong emotions (though many people experience cataplexy without having an emotional trigger).[2] It often manifests as muscular weaknesses ranging from a barely perceptible slackening of the facial muscles to the dropping of the jaw or head, weakness at the knees, or a total collapse. Usually speech is slurred and vision is impaired (double vision, inability to focus), but hearing and awareness remain normal. In some rare cases, an individual's body becomes paralyzed and muscles become stiff. Some narcolepsy affected persons also experience heightened senses of taste and smell.

Narcolepsy is a neurological sleep disorder. It is not caused by mental illness or psychological problems. It is most likely affected by a number of genetic mutations and abnormalities that affect specific biologic factors in the brain, combined with an environmental trigger during the brain's development, such as a virus.[3]

The term narcolepsy derives from the French word narcolepsie created by the French physician Jean-Baptiste-Édouard Gélineau by combining the Greek νάρκη (narkē, "numbness" or "stupor"),[4][5] and λῆψις (lepsis), "attack" or "seizure".[6]

Liebster Award

Liebster Award



I was honored this morning to learn that my cyber cyster over at My Life as Livingston http://adamandjennylivingston.blogspot.com/2012/02/liebster-award.html chose me for the Liebster Blog Award. Jenny and I are Mom's fighting CF, we have become close friends via blog and facebook. Our lives seem to parallel each other quite often with our illness, being in the hospital at the same time and dealing with what this disease happens to throw at us both ironically at the same time. We share many of the same interest and find ourselves continually shocked, but not really, at the things we have in common. We both have no doubt that if we lived close to each other we would be the best of friends and most likely inseparable :)

Liebster is a German word that literally translates to "favorite", "dearest" or "beloved". By one blogger giving it to another, they are essentially saying, your blog is a favorite of mine. I think it's great that I have been awarded this. I blog mostly to get things off my mind, it's like a journal to me. I find myself surprised people want to read it or find it interesting, but there is a few that do I guess.

The rules of the Liebster Blog Award are:
1) Acknowledge the blogger who gave the award by linking back to them
2) Give this award to 5 other bloggers (who have fewer than 200 readers), and let them know through a comment on their blog
3) Post the award on your blog
4) Best of all - bask in the glory, have fun and share the love!
My link tool has not been working or I can't make it work right, so I am just going to post their links.


The Breathing Room- Krista is a mom of 2 little girls Ayla who has CF and 2 month old Autumn Faith who by the grace of God does not have CF. Krista blogs about her life as a mom of a CF'er and their struggles, her faith and life in general. I enjoy reading her writings I think because I can relate as a mom and someone with CF. http://thebreathingroomcf.blogspot.com/

Salty Superstar- Salty Superstar has a great way of writing in a matter of fact way, I love reading her personal stories that have affected her outlook and changes in her life. I have read as she struggled with the changes in her CF, and not wanting to be defeated, I relate to her in those struggles. http://cfsuperstar.blogspot.com/

JAMIEBUG CF CEPACIA LUNG TRANSPLANT- My fellow Jamie had a lung transplant 4 years ago after almost dying from CF. I was attracted to her blog first off because of her honesty about the end stages of her CF before her transplant. I had never heard someone talk about what it was really like, and I wanted to know. We also share a love of horse's and particularly palominos. http://jamiebug.blogspot.com/

Inhaling Hope- Inhaling Hope is a 27 year old CF fighter. She also happens to be expecting her first baby this summer. I found her on Cystic Life looking for information about other CF moms as she was taking the journey to become a mom. I wanted to share any info I could with her about my experience. I enjoy reading her writing about her pregnancy. http://hopefulwithcf.blogspot.com/

Eleanor's Life- Eleanor is a 3 year old with CF, her mom writes the blog about Eleanor. She just got a baby brother Thomas who does not have CF. I enjoy reading her moms writings about the way Eleanor takes on the world and seems to love every minute of it. http://eleanorguilford.blogspot.com/

Day 8 of 30 Day Blog challenge

A song that fits my mood.

I'm not sure if it fits my mood, but it's been stuck in my head. I don't usually care for most country music, but I have been into a few songs lately.

Blake Shelton - God Gave Me You