great news !

oh my gawd.. I just got off the phone w the pre lung transplant team again && its official, I HAVE AN APPT ON THE 24TH OF JUNE to go over to seattle && get the testing done to see if I can be listed !

its, of course, still MAY && therefor still #CFawarenessmonth. I love posting stuff everyday on the matter. I've never known what I wanted to do w my life before, but now I think I want to be an advocate for CF. that would be UHmazing. wonder if I could look into that..

" If I never had CF, I’d be a little taller, my lungs a little fuller, && my skin less salty.

If I never had CF, I’d take my sweet time, take it all for granted, be terrified of doctors, && hate the smell of hospitals.

The beach would be for tanning && the gym would be for weight loss. I’d be a little more selfish, have less ambition, less drive, && less pride.

I’d probably slack off knowing I've got my whole life to do great things.

I’d hug you less knowing I've got my whole life to hold onto one.

If I never had CF, I wouldnt be me. "

for as much as I hate CF, I appreciate it at the same time. its taught me a lot about life. && about myself.

CF is ugly&&beautiful.

it makes us feel ugly && look beautiful.

its makes the ugliest things come out of our bodies, && makes the most beautiful hearts go in.

our coughs are ugly, our smiles are beautiful.

our thoughts&&attitudes on life can be ugly, our words can be beautiful.

our lives are ugly, our stories are beautiful.

our pain is ugly, our strength is beautiful.

 
well I have just realized that I have not announced that I got a new kitty! her name is Spice && shes a 1yr old calico :)

shes soo much better than our last kitty (who ran away). for one, she actually acts like a cat.. nice, loving, && is very chill.

I love her! but shes a daddys girl. I dont really mind since our last cat haaated michael, so its a nice change of pace.






good thoughts. good vibes. good wishes. && so it is.
xx

l ♥ v e

 
well lately I've been receiving a lot of random love from friends. && its so lovely :)


I cant even begin to thank my loved ones, acquaintances, && ppl I dont even know yet for reading my posts, blog entrys, viewing my CF pictures, && sending me their love && keeping me in their thoughts! its truly amazing. ♥

I dont know how more times I'll say it.. but I know I've said it many times before, everyday I ask myself why didnt I get more involved in the CF community earlier. honestly, ever since I've opened up about it, I've received nothing but positivity && encouragement. yes theres been a couple tiffs w other CF'rs about different lifestyles, outlooks, etc.. but mostly, I'm lovin it.

speaking of which, if you have been following me then you've seen my posts/pictures for CF awareness month. I've been posting a pic everyday on instagram&&facebook (didnt include twitter because of its lame 140 character limit) to raise awareness. I look forward to it every morning when I wake up && get to inform someone who didnt already know about certain aspects of the disease. I've heard nothing but great feedback. && I'm always surprised by how many ppl want to learn more about it. makes me happy :)


when it comes to CF, theres decent breathing days && then theres bad breathing days.. today I am borderline. its tough when it gets like this because it makes me wanna be extra lazy && just not do anything that might put me out of breath. but at the same time, I also want to exercise my lungs so that I dont plummet. per usual.
&& so I just decided that I will do the latter. walk time it is.. byeee :)


good thoughts. good vibes. good wishes. && so it is.
xx

#CFawarenessmonth !♡

MAY = Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month !

alright so May is CF awareness month && I've been soo excited to bring more awareness to the cause. I've decided to post a picture a day on instagram&&facebook showing awareness && sharing info towards Cystic Fibrosis. I have links on the right to each website/app.

check em out if you wish.

→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→

 
I forgot to blog yesterday :(
but it was such a looong, eventful day that I have an excuse..

yesterday I got back from a girls trip that I took w my mama, sister, && niece. we went to seattle for the Woodland Park Zoo. I guess I went when I was real little, but I dont remember. so to me that was my first time :)

we saw soo many animals. there were even ones that I didnt expect in a zoo, like: owls, cows, sheep, goats, chickens, snails, bugs, wolves, elk, && more..


so since I'm like the only CF'r I know who doesnt exercise a whole lot (broken record, I know), yesterdays zoo activity was a lot of walking but I think I did surprisingly well. I dont recall coughing a whole lot while walking && my feet didnt even hurt til the very end when walking back to the car. we were probably there for like 3hrs too !

this morning I started noticing that when I cough stuff up, theres mostly blood in it. not dark, nor clumps. just light && streaky. I called my dr's office && they told me to just hold off on my cayston&&pulmozyme until sunday. I had to ask them like 3times if they were sure about it because those 2 are my only inhaled parts of my treatment. they understood && were sure, so the vest will be the only thing to do til then. so odd..

oh! soo a quick update about my transplant situation.. when they called me about going over all costs of the transplant, they made it sound like my insurance was going to cover everything. so I dont think I'll really need to fundraise for my actual transplant, but I was really looking forward to doing so! but I think I may still be able to do part for our expenses travel-wise, && the rest for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. as they always strive on donations. &&&& the best part about fundraising now is that its MAY :)

my mom is in charge/leader of my team: Natalie's Hope for the great strides walk. && this year our personal goal was to raise at least $500 && we've already exceeded! our team goal is a bit different, but its going soo great. I'm really proud of my mom, family, friends && acquaintances who are so supportive of the cause && are doing their part to help out. I appreciate everything so much. ❤❤

stay tuned for more CF glittertasticness this month

!!!!

good thoughts. good vibes. good wishes. && so it is.

xx

thursday aka my favorite day of the week!

ello lovelies! its thursday && that means aside from #throwbackthursday, you get to hear from me ;)

( waiting on the doctor )

well I had a dr's appt w my CF doctor today. it went well, nothing really about it caused concern. so thats good! && the only thing that changed was that I asked to be put back on advair && hts (hypertonic saline). coming from someone who refused to do hts at home, its shocking && I understand ;) but at least its only 3.5% for now. much tolerable than 7%. bleh.
my fev1 was 37% today && when I'm in the hospital, it goes up to 42%. however, 37 is an improvement for me. so I'm okay w it for the most part.

so ever since my ICU scare back in january, I've considered myself "scared straight" in a way. && no matter how much this disease actually scares me, I like the fact that I think about it differently now. of course its all for the better. I basically had my head in the sand whenever someone outside from my dr's office or myself wanted to talk to me about it. aka my family. I know that we as CF'rs all deny, to an extent, that we actually have this terrible disease. && its understandable, but also very naive. now it just breaks my heart when I hear from fellow CF'rs who dont exactly take care of themselves like they should. mild case or not.. because I was once there && now I see what my family must have felt. theres just so much you can do for someone. you cant physically make them do their meds/treatments, but I try to be there for others as much as I can. especially now that I'm open about it && love connecting w other CF'rs.

( right after I got the call )

yesterday I got my 2nd call from the pre lung transplant team at the University of Washington. they called to go over cost for each part of transplant. I didnt even come close to guessing! but these baby steps that are being made towards getting my double lung transplant are scary, yet exciting :) they'll call me back in a couple weeks to set up an actual appt in seattle. this is hugeee. this whole process is feeling so surreal now that its actually going. we havent even come close to doing anything big for it yet, but I'm really excited. to be honest, I never even thought about a transplant before I started connecting w other CF'rs.. from what I've learned about it so far from others, I love that I can have time to sort of mentally prepare. especially w my anxiety issues. I dont know all the details that include getting a lung transplant, but I do know that its not an instant "fix" && that it'll take time to readjust && hard work to keep it up. but after that ICU scare, I dont want to come anywhere close to that again....

( improvising at its finest )

my insurance is lame. they kick me out of the hospital after 9days now && I have to continue 5days w at-home IVs. I dont particularly like doing them at home because it adds to my anxiety, but so far we've done pretty good. I'm so glad I have someone like michael to help me w everything. he's truly an AMAZING❤ murse. && we've gotten the routine down pretty good && quick. this time, instead of just 2antibiotics, I had 3. one was brand new to me (forget the name). but we had 2pumps && 1push antibiotic. I prefer the port SO much to the PICC lines. && I am so glad that I got one! seriously. took awhile to get used to though. when I'm accessed, it kind of weighs down on my port && after 2weeks of antibiotics I am soo ready to be deaccessed. showering is definitely the best part about being deaccessed! oh && itching again ;)

back to the whole transplant idea, I would honestly be nowhere w out the support team I have. my family && boyfriend are my rockkk. I got so lucky w them being so supportive && just wanting the best for me, whether that means pushing me to do my treatments/meds or just being active. && I cant thank them enough for all that they do.

its april 25th soooooooooooooooooooooooo that means just 6more days til #CFawarenessmonth !! I've never "celebrated" may as our awareness month before, because I either missed it or just didnt know when it was. so I'm planning on posting a picture every day of the month to help raise awareness. you could say that I'm just a tad excited ;)

good thoughts. good vibes. good wishes. && so it is.
xx

( PS, shoutout to my sister +Nicole Dean, guess what I'm eating atm? nalley chili ! )

I. do not. understand. ppl.

ALRIGHT. so lately there has been a theme in my life: morose. the only reason why it doesnt worry me is because I'm aware of it && am trying to identify its cause && therefor change it. I've just been so down these days && dont really know why. it usually only happens if I miss enough doses of my anti-depressants, but I've been taking all of em! my mom thinks its just my cf getting to my spirit. which I can see that, but its not like anything major or even big happened to put me in this mood. other than the obvious, that is.

along w my mood, a lot of ppl have been acting the same around me: rude. not family. not close friends. but nurses, yes. RT's, yes. ppl online, yes. && I'm pretty much 1 more rude person away from blowing UP. back in highschool, or just my past really, I would've kept quiet && keep to myself. but I'm different now. I speak up for myself. I defend myself when need-be. && most importantly, I stand up for others.

focusing solely on the rude ppl online.. I've had instances lately where ppl have called me an idiot for just voicing my opinion, ppl going out of their way just to bash something that is very close to my heart && that they dont agree w, && the most recent case of someone pretending to have the same lung disease I have all for attention.
I just dont understand where ppls minds/thoughts are at! like really, what in their minds is telling them that its okay to do the things that they are doing? && what is their justification? absolutely ridiculous.

&& speaking of standing up for ppl.. there are 2 subjects that are very close to my heart: self harm && gay equality/rights. always have been. I am neither a self harmer nor gay. but I've always had a sentimental heart towards both. && in honor of both, when I get out of here I want to get 2 tattoos: ; (on my left wrist) = (inside the palm of my right hand between my index && middle fingers)

 
speaking of getting outta here.. I am literally being kicked out of the hospital tomorrow, by my insurance. what is weird is that I was in for exactly 9days, just like last time. I guess I only get 9days in the hospital instead of 14 like usual. anyways, I'll have to finish my IV antibiotics at home. its so stupid because I only have 5days left! at least I'll be w my kitty && boyfriend again. I've missed them both so much :(




onto some GOOD NEWS! I have been contacted by the University of Washington's pre lung transplant team :) we've been playing some phone tag, but still. it makes this so real && scary. but I know it'll be worth it in the long run.

 
I've also been helping my mom, w her fundraising this yr, for my walk team "Natalie's Hope" via Great Strides. the most recent work I've done is a flyer. →
my next project is to make infinity scarves && sell em on Etsy or wherever. I have the technique down, just gotta find the motivation to finish ;)
I also want to look into making wristbands (like the I ❤ boobies/livestrong ones). so if anyone has any helpful info on those, I would really appreciate it!





good thoughts. good vibes. good wishes. && so it is.
xx