I blogged about organ donation a year ago, about a young mother with cystic fibrosis, who received a lung transplant in the nick of time. Well today, 2 years later, that same young mother is enjoying life with her healthy lungs and 2.5 year old daughter.
Today, another young lady was lucky enough to receive a double lung transplant, after being diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, which is a condition that causes permanent scarring of the lungs. Hélène Campbell is truly an inspirational person, since unlike what a lot of people (including myself) which is feel depressed when they are ill and ask 'why me' she made a goal of raising awareness, and got the attention of Justin Bieber, Ellen Degeneres, and was able to show how life-changing it could be if more people became organ donors.
Every day we read more and more about the negativity in the world, and it is rare to learn about a person that is so positive and wants nothing more than to help others that it made me (a very pessimistic person usually) believe there is hope, kindness still present in the world. We often focus on our busy lives, commutes, problems present, but don't really think about what would happen if we did indeed had a significantly shortened lifespan.
It made me realize that I really should be thankful for what I have, and to try to look on the positive side more often. I also need to stop asking 'why me' with my bronchitis and asthma, and start enjoying life more, going outside, meeting new people, because hey you never know when it will end.
Here are the links to a few of her inspirational sites:
http://www.alungstory.ca/a-lung-story-blog
https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Lung-Story/163425797101073
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YO7703V3XPY
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1158099--why-we-re-all-cheering-for-helene-campbell-s-new-lungs?bn=1
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Friday, April 6, 2012
Fatigue during/after a cold
The hardest thing to overcome after being sick for me is the long-lasting fatigue. I always think, what's fatigue? Why can't people just shake off that feeling and go to work right? I mean there's no conclusive explanation for it, and people can overcome anything right?
Yeah, I realize now, that its not always about 'overcoming' something, the fact is, if you have no energy to actually get up out of bed, where you're so sleepy all you can really think about it going back to bed, when getting up is possible but walking feels like your muscles are protesting every move and your knees are semi-collapsing, and after even some small chores you feel so exhausted you need to have a 2 hour nap.
Yeah I'm at the border of almost feeling well, but the coughing, mucus, sniffles, and the fatigue is keeping me from crossing over that line. Yesterday I probably overdid it by studying for 8 hours and walking outside for a whole 10min, and today I felt awful. Woke up at 9am, helped vaccum for 10min, and then went back to sleep from 11-12...yeah...definitely frustrating. I shouldn't be too surprised since it hasn't been quite 2 weeks yet, and it was a bad flu with a fever and spending a week in bed is definitely not helpful for my fatigue and energy level, but I only have a week to go before I have to start my placement, and basically be on my feet treating people for 8hours a day. In addition, I really need to seriously start studying, since I'm already behind the schedule I set for myself...
I think this is why I'm usually very careful, and try my best to avoid being sick, and one of the reasons why I avoided and continue to avoid going out to parties, and to clubs, and even to restaurants, because if I do get sick, I'm out for at least 2 weeks, and that's if I'm lucky. I can't even take any meds such as tylenol, or buckley's to deal with my symptoms because they give me palpitations and then I have problems falling asleep, and end up not getting enough, so it is counter-productive.
Hopefully the weekend improves at least a little...
Others Happy Passover and Happy Easter to everyone!
Yeah, I realize now, that its not always about 'overcoming' something, the fact is, if you have no energy to actually get up out of bed, where you're so sleepy all you can really think about it going back to bed, when getting up is possible but walking feels like your muscles are protesting every move and your knees are semi-collapsing, and after even some small chores you feel so exhausted you need to have a 2 hour nap.
Yeah I'm at the border of almost feeling well, but the coughing, mucus, sniffles, and the fatigue is keeping me from crossing over that line. Yesterday I probably overdid it by studying for 8 hours and walking outside for a whole 10min, and today I felt awful. Woke up at 9am, helped vaccum for 10min, and then went back to sleep from 11-12...yeah...definitely frustrating. I shouldn't be too surprised since it hasn't been quite 2 weeks yet, and it was a bad flu with a fever and spending a week in bed is definitely not helpful for my fatigue and energy level, but I only have a week to go before I have to start my placement, and basically be on my feet treating people for 8hours a day. In addition, I really need to seriously start studying, since I'm already behind the schedule I set for myself...
I think this is why I'm usually very careful, and try my best to avoid being sick, and one of the reasons why I avoided and continue to avoid going out to parties, and to clubs, and even to restaurants, because if I do get sick, I'm out for at least 2 weeks, and that's if I'm lucky. I can't even take any meds such as tylenol, or buckley's to deal with my symptoms because they give me palpitations and then I have problems falling asleep, and end up not getting enough, so it is counter-productive.
Hopefully the weekend improves at least a little...
Others Happy Passover and Happy Easter to everyone!
Monday, April 2, 2012
Progress in getting better...
So I'm finally out of bed! Believe it or not, that is a big accomplishment for me, considering I've been living in my bed for a whole week, its actually feels really nice to be able to sit in my chair at my desk, and type on a solid surface. I feel a new empathy for hospital patients who are so frustrated being in bed.
Slowly but surely and of course with the help of antibiotics I feel myself getting stronger and I was able to go downstairs today a couple of times without gasping for air and without the somewhat scary wheezing sound that my lungs make when they're very unhappy. Now I'm not completely better yet though, still have a very runny nose, still have the occasional cough, and still very fatigued, but I know that will take time to resolve, and with lots of rest in the next 2 weeks, I'll hopefully be well enough to start my placement with more energy and not feeling so depleted.
My main issue now that remains, is how to organize myself to study for the national exam and try to review some relevent information for my upcoming placement, and while some information does overlap, unfortunately a lot is not different.
P.S. Can you believe that my posts are actually starting to be more optimistic, even though I'm sick? Must be something in the water...
Well time to get back to the books!
Slowly but surely and of course with the help of antibiotics I feel myself getting stronger and I was able to go downstairs today a couple of times without gasping for air and without the somewhat scary wheezing sound that my lungs make when they're very unhappy. Now I'm not completely better yet though, still have a very runny nose, still have the occasional cough, and still very fatigued, but I know that will take time to resolve, and with lots of rest in the next 2 weeks, I'll hopefully be well enough to start my placement with more energy and not feeling so depleted.
My main issue now that remains, is how to organize myself to study for the national exam and try to review some relevent information for my upcoming placement, and while some information does overlap, unfortunately a lot is not different.
P.S. Can you believe that my posts are actually starting to be more optimistic, even though I'm sick? Must be something in the water...
Well time to get back to the books!
Saturday, March 31, 2012
What I do when I get sick
So another boring post by moi still sick....with a few lessons I learned during previous colds/flu's.
So as I mentioned before I used to be sick a lot, especially when I was younger, and then when I got older in times during great stress such as high school and 1st year. This actually caught me by surprise because I was done all the exams, was actually sleeping 8hours and was not stressed, all my family members were better..but I quess it strikes when you least expect it.
Anyway, I was saying...when I was in high school and 1st year, I would get sick during my school term, and it would be very stressful...you know missing classes, not knowing how I would catch up...so even if I was coughing and with a fever, I would study in bed, then take some extra strength tylenol to reduce my fever, and go to class and actually take the test...I prided myself for never actually getting a sick note to postpone a test..even when I was genuinely sick. The reason for that was so that I wouldn't get even further behind because with each midterm that I postpone, another one is around the corner, so my semi-logical thinking was that I should do my best and move on to the next one and not dwell on it. The problem was there was a real price to pay for that strategy..
First off, I was very stressed and studying while being fairly sick, meant that I was not letting my body relax and fight the illness, and that meant a prolonged flu that could last for 2 months and of course complications such as bronchitis which meant antibiotics and of course that contributed to my long-term asthma problems. If I knew what I know now, I'd realize that the stress and marks aren't worth it in the long-run and I'd probably just drop the course if possible, or indeed get that extension for the test, but hindsight is 20/20.
Now, I know that the best way to get better is to provide my body with the most optimum environment. That means drinking lots and lots of fluids (in my case tea), getting lots of natural vitamin C (5 oranges a day), getting lots of rest (10-12hours), and the big one is reducing my stress level. The last one means, choosing not to study my books which are sort of staring at me, trying to not stress about the coming board exam and in general trying to relax. In previous times, this meant getting a good leisure book and reading, this time it means watching 8 hours of online tv to relax. The shows are a good distraction for me and a way to not start wallowing in self-pity, or start feeling guilty about not studying. The way I look at it is any studying I do now would not be very productive because I can't really concentrate and am basically falling asleep, plus its hard to study when you're either coughing or blowing your nose every minute.
Thankfully, I hope that the flu is running its course and my fever is almost gone, and hopefully my cough will also soon be history, and then it will be back to the books to study for the looming boards but for now, I get to relax in bed and continue watching some of my favourite shows, and hey its good for my recovery!
So as I mentioned before I used to be sick a lot, especially when I was younger, and then when I got older in times during great stress such as high school and 1st year. This actually caught me by surprise because I was done all the exams, was actually sleeping 8hours and was not stressed, all my family members were better..but I quess it strikes when you least expect it.
Anyway, I was saying...when I was in high school and 1st year, I would get sick during my school term, and it would be very stressful...you know missing classes, not knowing how I would catch up...so even if I was coughing and with a fever, I would study in bed, then take some extra strength tylenol to reduce my fever, and go to class and actually take the test...I prided myself for never actually getting a sick note to postpone a test..even when I was genuinely sick. The reason for that was so that I wouldn't get even further behind because with each midterm that I postpone, another one is around the corner, so my semi-logical thinking was that I should do my best and move on to the next one and not dwell on it. The problem was there was a real price to pay for that strategy..
First off, I was very stressed and studying while being fairly sick, meant that I was not letting my body relax and fight the illness, and that meant a prolonged flu that could last for 2 months and of course complications such as bronchitis which meant antibiotics and of course that contributed to my long-term asthma problems. If I knew what I know now, I'd realize that the stress and marks aren't worth it in the long-run and I'd probably just drop the course if possible, or indeed get that extension for the test, but hindsight is 20/20.
Now, I know that the best way to get better is to provide my body with the most optimum environment. That means drinking lots and lots of fluids (in my case tea), getting lots of natural vitamin C (5 oranges a day), getting lots of rest (10-12hours), and the big one is reducing my stress level. The last one means, choosing not to study my books which are sort of staring at me, trying to not stress about the coming board exam and in general trying to relax. In previous times, this meant getting a good leisure book and reading, this time it means watching 8 hours of online tv to relax. The shows are a good distraction for me and a way to not start wallowing in self-pity, or start feeling guilty about not studying. The way I look at it is any studying I do now would not be very productive because I can't really concentrate and am basically falling asleep, plus its hard to study when you're either coughing or blowing your nose every minute.
Thankfully, I hope that the flu is running its course and my fever is almost gone, and hopefully my cough will also soon be history, and then it will be back to the books to study for the looming boards but for now, I get to relax in bed and continue watching some of my favourite shows, and hey its good for my recovery!
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Doing too much and Getting sick
So I'm sick, with the flu. At least I think its the flu, or its a really really bad cold. I think this is my punishment for doing too much and enjoying my freedom too much for the past week.
I've been really lucky so far, since I haven't gotten seriously sick with the flu for 6 years...and this is something I was really scared of, and actually doubted if I could commute every day, considering I'm surrounding by people, some of them who are sick.
But I definitely know I overdid last week, when I started exercising every day, and going shopping for 3 days in a row, and then on sat, I went shoe shopping, and went to the doctor's for a quick appointment, and then went to my friend's place and 'gasp' had a cupcake and a few cookies...then on sunday I tried jogging and failed miserably and mostly was gasping and half fainting after 3min, did a bit more weights and then actually went for a haircut for the first time in a year....yeah it was too much, too soon, and my body told me so. It also doesn't help that everyone in my family has already had this flu..and I might have just gotten it from them.
I wouldn't have minded a quick cold, but this flu just knocked me out. Complete with fever, chills, stuffy nose, sore throat, and a cough that felt and sounded like I was coughing my lungs out and actually included chest pain. What's most annoying is that its the 4th day, and I'm still in bed, and now will have to miss a cool trip with my PT friends that took a while to plan. I'm also missing a few days of class, but I'm not that worried since I know my friend can give me good notes, and plus I finished most of the tests that I had to do already.
What's different this time though from my previous times I got sick, was I didn't wait for 2 weeks until the coughing progressed and I wasn't getting better and I actually on the advice of my friend, started antibiotics early, to treat the infection early enough so it doesn't progress to sever bronchitis and make my asthma even worse. The chest pain after breathing and coughing clued me in that its not a simple infection and that I better treat it soon. Thankfully, the antibiotics seem to be doing the trick and the chest pain is gone, my coughing is a lot less severe, and the phlegm is not green anymore (I know, not appetizing). But I'm still weak, tired, and am still in bed for now...and it will take prob another week until I'm back to being semi functional and can start studying for my boards...for now I can enjoy watching a actually finite supply of shows available online and having room service.
When I get better, I definitely will slow down, and not try to do 4 hours of shopping for 4 days in a row..not try exercising 4 days in a row, and will go back to avoiding cookies and cupcakes, since its a small price to pay to avoid being miserably sick and in bed for a week.
I've been really lucky so far, since I haven't gotten seriously sick with the flu for 6 years...and this is something I was really scared of, and actually doubted if I could commute every day, considering I'm surrounding by people, some of them who are sick.
But I definitely know I overdid last week, when I started exercising every day, and going shopping for 3 days in a row, and then on sat, I went shoe shopping, and went to the doctor's for a quick appointment, and then went to my friend's place and 'gasp' had a cupcake and a few cookies...then on sunday I tried jogging and failed miserably and mostly was gasping and half fainting after 3min, did a bit more weights and then actually went for a haircut for the first time in a year....yeah it was too much, too soon, and my body told me so. It also doesn't help that everyone in my family has already had this flu..and I might have just gotten it from them.
I wouldn't have minded a quick cold, but this flu just knocked me out. Complete with fever, chills, stuffy nose, sore throat, and a cough that felt and sounded like I was coughing my lungs out and actually included chest pain. What's most annoying is that its the 4th day, and I'm still in bed, and now will have to miss a cool trip with my PT friends that took a while to plan. I'm also missing a few days of class, but I'm not that worried since I know my friend can give me good notes, and plus I finished most of the tests that I had to do already.
What's different this time though from my previous times I got sick, was I didn't wait for 2 weeks until the coughing progressed and I wasn't getting better and I actually on the advice of my friend, started antibiotics early, to treat the infection early enough so it doesn't progress to sever bronchitis and make my asthma even worse. The chest pain after breathing and coughing clued me in that its not a simple infection and that I better treat it soon. Thankfully, the antibiotics seem to be doing the trick and the chest pain is gone, my coughing is a lot less severe, and the phlegm is not green anymore (I know, not appetizing). But I'm still weak, tired, and am still in bed for now...and it will take prob another week until I'm back to being semi functional and can start studying for my boards...for now I can enjoy watching a actually finite supply of shows available online and having room service.
When I get better, I definitely will slow down, and not try to do 4 hours of shopping for 4 days in a row..not try exercising 4 days in a row, and will go back to avoiding cookies and cupcakes, since its a small price to pay to avoid being miserably sick and in bed for a week.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
The benefits and drawbacks of living at home
Things have calmed down a bit, and I'm enjoying my newfound freedom from the endless tests and exams, I finally have time to start exercising, something I should be doing since hey I am supposed to be promoting a healthy lifestyle! I've started with some weight training and bought a book and have been doing some variations for the basic weight training (bicep curl, rows, crunches), yes I know its a little crazy that I need a book and shouldn't I know these exercises anyway? Well..theoretically...if I was a kine + personal trainer I would...but I'm not...and we're not taught any exercises in school, so its all basically learn on our own, which is a little annoying but it is what it is. I've accepted the fact that they teach us the mostly useless theory in class, and we're supposed to figure things out on our own in practice...sigh.
So back on topic, I've lived at home for the last 6 years of my uni education and wanted to talk a bit about my experiences. For the first 4 years it was undergrad, and I didn't really mind, since the uni was close by and I was able to get there in 10min in the morning by car (ride) or 30min by bus (back). So it was convenient, and it was nice to be able to come home, to be in a familiar environment, have food ready, not have to live with roomates....of course this was all good because my workload was manageable and I only had class for about 4hours/day and not every day. This all changed in the last 2 years in my master's program....first off I don't live close, it takes me an hour each way with at 1-2 transfers, secondly my courseload was a lot crazier with classes 9-4 every day....so when you add 2-3hours of commuting each day, and you have to still study for 4hours at home something definitely suffers. For me its been usually hygiene, eating, exercise and sleep. So basically in the past month as an example, I have only taken showers once a week, scarfed down most of my meals in 5 min, not exercised at all, and have gotten a max of 5hours of sleep per day. Definitely not healthy, and I realized this after I got my eye infection which is taking a while to resolve even with antibiotics. A high stress level, little sleep and little food, definitely doesn't promote the best immunity.
I
The other issues is of course that living at home means that there are a lot of distractions and chores to do, and constant nagging and worry...this also contributed to me having to study at night instead of during the day even on weekends, so my study schedule would be from 8pm-3am, conveniently when everyone else was sleeping and no distractions..again not very healthy.
The commuting not only takes time, but is also somewhat exhausting and even though I often sleep when in transit, I would come home too exhausted to actually study. It also meant that most mornings I would have 20min to wake up, eat and get dressed, no joke! Which means I would swallow my breakfast, in a hurry pack my books, and be off, no time to actually take time to look good, brush my hair, because that would involve getting even less sleep and feeling even more like a zombie.
I'm actually conflicted whether knowing what I know now, would I live on campus? If it wasn't so expensive, and I could have a place to myself and not have to share, or share with one person, I probably would do it, but that's not realistic since it would be expensive, and I'm not sure I would actually get along with the roomate. Then of course there's the issue of having to go buy food, and cook it which mostly I've been lucky since my mom does.
Keep in mind that I live relatively close (20km away), there are people in my class that commute 35km, and a few that commute for 60km each way!
I think, if money isn't an issue and the campus is far, and there aren't a lot of partying distractions and you can do well, living on campus is probably a better option, but there are benefits and drawbacks to everything.
So back on topic, I've lived at home for the last 6 years of my uni education and wanted to talk a bit about my experiences. For the first 4 years it was undergrad, and I didn't really mind, since the uni was close by and I was able to get there in 10min in the morning by car (ride) or 30min by bus (back). So it was convenient, and it was nice to be able to come home, to be in a familiar environment, have food ready, not have to live with roomates....of course this was all good because my workload was manageable and I only had class for about 4hours/day and not every day. This all changed in the last 2 years in my master's program....first off I don't live close, it takes me an hour each way with at 1-2 transfers, secondly my courseload was a lot crazier with classes 9-4 every day....so when you add 2-3hours of commuting each day, and you have to still study for 4hours at home something definitely suffers. For me its been usually hygiene, eating, exercise and sleep. So basically in the past month as an example, I have only taken showers once a week, scarfed down most of my meals in 5 min, not exercised at all, and have gotten a max of 5hours of sleep per day. Definitely not healthy, and I realized this after I got my eye infection which is taking a while to resolve even with antibiotics. A high stress level, little sleep and little food, definitely doesn't promote the best immunity.
I
The other issues is of course that living at home means that there are a lot of distractions and chores to do, and constant nagging and worry...this also contributed to me having to study at night instead of during the day even on weekends, so my study schedule would be from 8pm-3am, conveniently when everyone else was sleeping and no distractions..again not very healthy.
The commuting not only takes time, but is also somewhat exhausting and even though I often sleep when in transit, I would come home too exhausted to actually study. It also meant that most mornings I would have 20min to wake up, eat and get dressed, no joke! Which means I would swallow my breakfast, in a hurry pack my books, and be off, no time to actually take time to look good, brush my hair, because that would involve getting even less sleep and feeling even more like a zombie.
I'm actually conflicted whether knowing what I know now, would I live on campus? If it wasn't so expensive, and I could have a place to myself and not have to share, or share with one person, I probably would do it, but that's not realistic since it would be expensive, and I'm not sure I would actually get along with the roomate. Then of course there's the issue of having to go buy food, and cook it which mostly I've been lucky since my mom does.
Keep in mind that I live relatively close (20km away), there are people in my class that commute 35km, and a few that commute for 60km each way!
I think, if money isn't an issue and the campus is far, and there aren't a lot of partying distractions and you can do well, living on campus is probably a better option, but there are benefits and drawbacks to everything.
Friday, March 16, 2012
March craziness is over
The last 2 weeks have definitely been very very stressful and I'm really glad they are finally over. In the past week alone we've had a quiz, a presentation and a practical skills test.
We've been so stressed about the practical exam that we were staying in school practicing our practical skills from 8am-9pm for the past 3 days, in addition to going there on the weekend. So add to that 2 hours of commuting and another 4 hours of studying at home, means that I was getting a max of 5 hours of sleep for almost 2 weeks....and not showering....and barely having time to eat....
In that span I also managed to pick up an eye infection, which my self-treatment so far isn't working and got an infection from a cat bite due to my poor disinfection techniques.
It has been worth it since I found out that I passed the practical! We also found out our new clinical placements and I was really lucky to get my top choice! Will post another update once I catch up on some sleep. Did I mention that its march and it 22C outside?
Hope everyone enjoys the weekend!
We've been so stressed about the practical exam that we were staying in school practicing our practical skills from 8am-9pm for the past 3 days, in addition to going there on the weekend. So add to that 2 hours of commuting and another 4 hours of studying at home, means that I was getting a max of 5 hours of sleep for almost 2 weeks....and not showering....and barely having time to eat....
In that span I also managed to pick up an eye infection, which my self-treatment so far isn't working and got an infection from a cat bite due to my poor disinfection techniques.
It has been worth it since I found out that I passed the practical! We also found out our new clinical placements and I was really lucky to get my top choice! Will post another update once I catch up on some sleep. Did I mention that its march and it 22C outside?
Hope everyone enjoys the weekend!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)