Back in the Hospital: Life When You're 25 With Cystic Fibrosis
By Rachel Whidden
(CBS) — Somewhere in between Saturday morning and Sunday night, I caught a cold. It got worse and worse until I had no choice but to call my doctor and set up a hospital admission.
I checked in bright and early last Tuesday. The hospital team wasted no time in accessing my port, which is a small metal disc under the skin in my chest. It connects to a vein and can be accessed with a small needle for IV antibiotics and blood draws.
They set up a strict schedule of breathing treatments and airway clearance every four hours and two IV antibiotics. One every eight hours and one every 24. They got all my medication orders in and set me up on a general diet.
After blood work and x-rays were done they found I had a lung infection. That's typically the situation when I'm sick. These types of admissions are referred to as tune-ups.
This is a fairly common occurrence for people with Cystic Fibrosis. I usually end up in the hospital about every two to three months when the medicine and treatments I do at home are no longer able to keep my lungs in check.
I usually do one week on IVs in the hospital as an inpatient and then I get to play nurse and do a second week of IVs at home. While its nice to be able to sleep while someone else hooks up my medicine for me, nothing beats being at home and having my own bed, home cooked food, and my puppy by my side.
My week here started with some pretty severe headaches. A CT scan found totally blocked sinuses. This means that I'll now need to schedule surgery to correct it and get some relief.
After a few days of rest and a lot of movies and Ghost Adventures marathons, I finally started to feel better. But I still have a little ways to go before I'm back to my old self.
The hospital is like my second home and the nurses and doctors are like family. Yet this place has a cold feel to it. It gets lonely in the hospital. Friends and family can only be here so much. The needles and tests are painful and uncomfortable. But it's all worth the end result of breathing better and going home in better health.
I'm excited to get back to my life and babysitting my adorable nephew, not to mention a hot shower without needing to wrap my accessed port up with saran wrap to avoid getting it wet!
This is just a part of CF life and always will be. There will always be things I'll have to miss out on. Things I can't do because of my health. A transplant won't end all of this, but hopefully it will make it less common. For now, I'll take being able to pack up my bags and leave the hospital behind me for a few more months.
Rachel's previous post:
"I Have Cystic Fibrosis But It Doesn't Have Me"
Rachel Whidden is a professional patient with cystic fibrosis who resides in the Chicago suburbs. She works hards to live each day to the fullest. In addition to contributing to CBSChicago, Rachel blogs at Living Fast Dying Young: My CF Life. You can also follow her over on new Facebook page!
What is cystic fibrosis (CF)?
CF a genetic disease that leads to severe damage to the lungs and digestive systems. Here's how the Mayo Clinic describes it: "A defective gene causes the secretions to become thick and sticky. Instead of acting as a lubricant, the secretions plug up tubes, ducts and passageways, especially in the lungs and pancreas."
