I had a little set back a couple weeks ago. Nothing too major, but enough to land me on more antibiotics.
As my disease has progressed I have come to despise stairs. All stairs frustrate me, but none more than the stairs that lead from the first floor to the second story of my home. In the olden days, I used to whip up the stairs with no problem. Now, my ability (or inability) to master the stairs has become an indicator how well my lungs are functioning.
Prior to the 4+ months of IV's that I had in 2010 I needed to take a good 2 minute break to catch my breath after navigating the 13 steps to the second floor of my house. If I was on the phone I had to discontinue my conversation and call the person back after I caught my breath enough to speak again. It was as if I had just finished a 100 meter dash. I would avoid unnecessary trips upstairs. My steps got piled high with things that needed to be taken upstairs, but had to wait until I was going up to stay. Once I was up, forget about asking to me to get something from downstairs...it wasn't happening.
A couple weeks ago I was feeling off. I barely got through my work day, then collapsed in bed each night. My belly felt horrible, my body felt horrible, my lungs felt horrible...I plain and simple felt horrible. The last straw was when I didn't have the energy to walk my son upstairs for a time-out after he misbehaved. While my son was enjoying this version of mommy, I was feeling rough.
A call to my doctor resulted in prescriptions for Flagyl and Levaquin. Dr. Dazzle thinks that this was an exacerbation of the H flu that I cultured in February, but we didn't treat. I took two doses of the Flagyl and experienced the worst peripheral neuropathy I've ever had. It was much worse than the neuropathy I got from the Zyvox I was taking a couple months ago. There goes another drug that I can no longer tolerate. The list of options decreases once again. Unfortunately, I am still experiencing neuropathy at night. This condition can become permanent. It's really annoying, so I hope this isn't the case for me.
The Levaquin, however, has done the trick. My lungs feel great! The stairs have become slightly less daunting. I have to admit that I have had THE conversation with my husband recently. The same conversation my parents had several years back. The conversation most people have when nearing 60 years of age. I had the "I think we should look into buying a ranch-style house soon" conversation. I've been dreaming about whisking freely about the house, punishing my children without a second thought, and feeling like less of a prisoner on whatever floor I happen to be on at any given moment. Easy access is my goal...
10 comments:
Oh man, I hear ya on the stairs! I don't tolerate Flagyl well at all... no neuropathy, but the one time I was on it, I swear I was like Jekyll & Hyde. I yelled at my mother for the first, and only, time in my life! It got so bad that I eventually stopped even eating dinner with my family because the littlest things would just set me off so bad. It was insane.
With age comes wisdom. You've done a good job of exemplifying that here in this post. Good call on the talk!
stairs are the absolute worst! no doubt about that. i can walk at a fast pace for miles, but just one flight of stairs makes me huff and puff and feel like i'm suffocating. that probably should be motivation to do stairs as exercise, but instead, like you, i just avoid them like the plague. i'm glad you're feeling better and i really hope the neuropathy goes away!
Thanks for the love! It's good to know I'm not alone on the stairs thing. Emily, I can also walk and even work out with FAR less shortness of breath than I get when trying to navigate stairs. Crazy!
I totally understand the stair thing, stairs are not my friend either! We live in a 2 story also and I go up as little as possible, I get everything done that I need to and then stay downstairs!
You should see the pile at the bottom of my stairs right now:). I totally relate. Sorry about the setbacks, I hope you can get on top of things!
Oh I defently know this feeling, Im currently waiting for a stair lift to be fitted, at the moment I virtually live upstairs unless I must go downstairs. So the only times I eat are when stu, my mum or my carers are here, which luckly my carers come twice a day so I am feed well and inbetween mum pops in and then stus home. I was going to have to move to a bungalow, not through choice though and away from my family. Im so glad my stair lift is coming.
I hope you stay feeling less worried about the stairs as long as possible xxx
I can definitely relate to this post Stacey. I have to go up and down the stairs a *minimum* of 6 times a day. We have a colonial. My vest and treadmill are in the basement and our bedroom is on the top floor.
I, too, can tell if I am getting sick by whether or not I pause at the bottom of the stairs before I start going up. There were times back in 2005 when I was really sick that my husband actually carried me up the steps. That was not fun.
The crazy thing is in October 2004 we went to Mexico and visited some ruins. There were at least 60 steps and they were very steep. I walked up those bad boys only stoping once, it was impressive! I look back on that and recall how great it felt. I look forward to facing that challenge again someday.
For now, the stairs are a necessary evil. When I am feeling very positive, I thank them for keeping my legs strong. Other days I curse them :-)
I hate how CF forces couples to have talks that they would normally have in their 60s, 70s or 80s, suddenly become a commonplace discussion in their 20s or 30s. So glad to hear that the Levaquin worked for you!
Liz
CF wife
I soooo understand the stairs. We did buy a ranch, but it has a basement and that's where the laundry is. I gauge my health often by if I can carry laundry up and down the stairs without having the rest midway up (or not be able to do it at all). Even on good days I admit I avoid the stairs if I can, simply because it will cause coughing and getting winded. On sick days, I feel humbled by standing on the fifth step, legs crossed so I don't pee, hacking and hacking and hacking. boo. When I was actively going to school all the grad classes were on the third floor of the building, which is 4 flights of stairs up. It seems no one in college uses elevators, it's like a faux pas. SO I would have a lot of anxiety about those stairs. If i took the stairs and someone from class wanted to walk with me, it was over. No way could I have a conversation and do the stairs. But I didn't want to be seen taking the elevator though. I developed a way to breathe up the stairs by pursing my lips and blowing out slowly as I waked up. then I'd immediately go to the restroom after I made it u so I could (hopefully) cough in privacy. It's funny to me now how much I worried over those stairs. Now that I've been teaching and I carry a heavy bag to the classroom, I don't think twice about the elevator. No one ever says a word, either. This was a ramble just to say I totally feel you!
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