Cystic Fibrosis Fatboy — Page 85 — The daily quest to gain weight

I Will Survive

April 19, 2010

Two full weeks of college remain and then a week of finals with commencement on that Friday, May 7th. I’ve got 2 little things left to do for Advanced Composition, my 5-7 page paper for Biblical Archaeology, and a final exam for Spanish 2 and Archaeology.

Then I’ll be done. Forever.

Until then, stress is high, and it’s taking its toll on my appetite and cough. When I get stressed, I don’t eat as much when I’m hungry and don’t get hungry as often. I’m counter-acting with Xanax today and hoping I return to normal tomorrow with all of the invoices that have come in from business over the last few days.

I’ve been bouncing between 116-119lbs in the last week. I know that’s a loss, but not bad considering the stress. I’ll get fatter again next week, I’m sure.

That’s all I have time for, as it’s really that busy today trying to wrap up projects so I can get paid and thus pay the mortgage, buy groceries, and hopefully pay some medical bills.

Why you NEED an eFlow a.k.a. Trio and Altera

April 16, 2010

I’ve been using an eFlow nebulizer since March 2006, and it has single-handedly changed my ability to do all of the nebulized treatments that are prescribed. Like everyone else, I was raised on a pneumatic nebulizer pump. They’re loud and take forever and a day to run through 3mL of dosage, usually 20-30 minutes each, right? You have to have an outlet nearby or have a DC/AC converter for your car.

What if I told you that you can do a dose in 90 seconds to 3 minutes running on rechargeable AA batteries? It pretty much eliminates every excuse in your book about not having enough time or an outlet available. You can see by my list of meds how long 30 minutes per dose would take me every day with old technology.

My first eFlow was a first generation machine and was eventually determined to be ruining the little aerosol head that microscopically disperses the medicine into a mist much finer than any air-driven neb can. My doses were taking longer and longer, until it was taking as long as a regular neb, and I pretty much gave up on my treatments because I really didn’t have that much time. I got a new machine, now the current Trio by switching to another specialty pharmacy.
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As Graduation Approaches

April 13, 2010

I have mixed feelings about graduating from the University of South Florida (go BULLS!) next month. Not strange feelings, but just trying to decide whether I should be happy, elated, or just proud of what I’ve accomplished.

The two main sides I’m coming from are:

It’s no big deal because thousands of people graduate from USF alone each semester, yet I’ve been here for 39 semesters if you count summers. Many more go on to graduate school and even get PhDs.
I’ve got cystic fibrosis, so even going to college is a big deal, let alone getting started with a full-ride, getting my A.A. and starting a career, getting married, buying a house, and starting a home-based business and going to college to finish my B.A.

I’m extremely proud of how much I’ve busted my butt for the last 9 months, taking 31 credit hours to wrap up my senior year… even if it started 12 years after I was initially accepted to USF in 1997.

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Eating With Cystic Fibrosis: It’s a Full-time Job

April 11, 2010

I realized this morning how much of my day is spent contemplating my next meal or two, snacks, and whether or not I think I will meet my daily caloric goal. Today, Beautiful suggested that I explain how much I need to eat just to maintain my weight, so here it goes.

Requirements

According to a nutritional calculator at Mayo Clinic’s website, with my lightly active lifestyle, I should only need 1,900 Calories per day to maintain my weight as a 31 yr-old, 5′ 4″ male weighing ~120lbs. That would be nice! I also calculated Beautiful’s daily requirement as being 1,750 Calories. You’ll see the problem with that in a second.

If I go through a normal day of eating (pre-Fatboy) to just get through life without paying attention to eating enough, I’ll probably encounter 2,000-2,500 Calories and lose 2-3lbs by the next morning. If I make an effort to be sure I get enough to eat to get in the neighborhood of 4,000 Calories, I’ll break even. It’s not unless I intake 5,000-6,000 Calories that I can have any expectation of seeing the scale budge upward.
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I Will Survive

April 19, 2010

Two full weeks of college remain and then a week of finals with commencement on that Friday, May 7th. I've got 2 little things left to do for Advanced Composition, my 5-7 page paper for Biblical Archaeology, and a final exam for Spanish 2 and … [Read more]

Why you NEED an eFlow a.k.a. Trio and Altera

April 16, 2010

I've been using an eFlow nebulizer since March 2006, and it has single-handedly changed my ability to do all of the nebulized treatments that are prescribed. Like everyone else, I was raised on a pneumatic nebulizer pump. They're loud and take … [Read more]

As Graduation Approaches

April 13, 2010

Eating With Cystic Fibrosis: It’s a Full-time Job

April 11, 2010

Requirements

Time Elapsed Since IVs