CF CLINIC WAS TODAY! YES! VICTORY!
You can see the Victory dance on Instagram but here's just a freeze-frame!!! Let's just say good clinic visits are always celebrated. Usually with yummy food in Shreveport since we dont live within an hour to a variety of restaurants. You see, in 2 short days I can fly the friendly skies to our Alaskan Adventure with full confidence and security! I am sooo grateful to have received such improvement in my test results. So, are you curious about what goes down at a 2-4 hour clinic visit that happens every few months? Here you go:
1) Checkin includes getting masked up (germs that you breathe in and out get caught in our lungs and lead to fatal infections - these germs are prevalent in the CF community so that's why we mask and dont hang out socially). Then off to Weights and Measures - yep! Blood pressure, temp, height, oxygen saturation, weight (goal is 22-23 BMI for patients--- no less than that so that when illness strikes we aren't already at a risky BMI), measures of sternum (barrel-chest happens as lung disease progression occurs).
2. Off the the exam room. Here we will enter a room that's been thoroughly santized from the previous patient. Remember, we pretend like the person touching surfaces before us has the most serious bug or virus to be cautious. So many CF deaths are caused by the growth of a simple bacteria that 'normal' folks breath in and out everyday. More on the super bugs in another blog :) IN the exam room, we wait for PFTs. These are the standard by which we measure lung disease progression. I'll snag a photo at our december visit. These monitors measure small and large airways, total lung capacity and responsiveness, and much more. Keeping this number high is our PRIMARY Goal as patients and medical personnel. We react to any changes in this number. Once PFTs are complete, we had back to the exam room.
3. In the exam room, a PA or NP will come and access (used to be the CF doctor but not so much anymore). Asking questions about the previous 3 months regarding breathing, wheezing, bleeding, energy levels, oxygen,fever, tummy issues, etc. A physical exam is done to include listening to the lungs, heart, stomach plus ears, nose looking for signs of polyps or sinusitis, and mouth (the usual) for any signs of respiratory infection. Then the Nutritionist (Lisa) comes in to review vitamin levels and deficiencies, weight and BMI goals, access caloric intake and proper amount of enzymes taken with meals, Cf related Diabetes questions, those awkward stool questions, and more depending on a patients individual health challenges which could include feeding tubes for night feedings, supplements, etc.
Once you've seen the crew, based on your results, decisions are made --- stay the course, make changes, or go inpatient. A STAY THE COURSE verdict is the BEST!!! We celebrate! We Dance! We Eat! We go Home - which is HUGE!!!!! SO today, WE CELEBRATE!!!!! OFF to Superior Grill for some yummy Fajitas and Salsa ------ Oh and maybe a little shopping for our Alaskan Adventure that is in TWO=DAYS!!!
