Welcome to Joshland

I wanted to share a nice post from fellow blogger and CFer Josh. Not only does Josh have CF, he also lost his sister to the disease. She was only 16 when she passed. Josh recently posted a nice blog promoting charities for CF and some encouraging thoughts on his view on the CF community. I'm glad Josh and I have become friends, as he is not only funny, friendly and easy to talk to, he dedicates a lot of his time to CF. And we also have the same favorite movie (Clue) which is promoting a lot of silliness between us on Facebook. I look forward to getting to know him better. Please check out his blog sometime.

Jess's Journey- New Lungs?

I just found out that fellow CFer and blogger Jess may be getting her new lungs today. Keep Jess in your thoughts and prayers.

Also, I wanted to share my Great Strides video with you all.

Elastase

I generally do not suffer from digestive problems associated with CF. I gain weight, I have a healthy appetite, and my vitamin levels are normal (except D). I have never used enzymes. Perviously, doctors alway made the determination to not use enzymes based on my feed back about my health. Well, at the new clinic the doctor wanted to varify this using a more scientific approach; having my stool analyzed for Elastase.

The results have been reported at >500. According to the doctor this result supports being pancreatic sufficient. She also commented how unusual this result is for someone with CF. A value of 200 signifies pancreatic sufficiency, so CFers are even lower than that.

Obviously, these are favorable results and I am glad they confirm what I always believed to be true. However, I find it interesting that for the past 14 years (# of years ago I was diagnosed) no one ever suggested to run a similar test. While I do have normal vitamin levels, I feel so much better basing decisions of science rather than just a best guest.

Great Strides for Cystic Fibrosis

I have started my fundraising for a Great Strides Walk around Spring Lake in Santa Rosa, California on May 1. My team "Hunt for a Cure" includes me, my husband, my parents, and my husband's cousin Heather. I am very excited to participate in this very meaningful and personal event. I have set a goal of $1,500 dollars for our team to raise. Anyone willing is welcome to join to the team.

Information about my walk can be found at www.cff.org/great_strides/colleenhunt

I also wanted to thank Ronnie (RunSickBoyRun) for his inspiration to spread CF awareness and Cara (Cara Monster) for inspiring me to join my local Great Strides Walk. She walks every year and puts a lot of effort to get a team together to walk with her and to raise money for the CF Foundation.

Home Improvement Project

Ethan and I decided to make a few up grades to our home this year. The project includes a custom kitchen island, new flooring in the kitchen and living room, a new couch, and a new entertainment center which includes a new TV, blu-ray player, surround sound, and a home theater PC. Oh yes, and some additional lighting in the living room. Even though we have owned our home for over 6 years, we have not attempted a project this big. I don't think I have any idea what the cost will be, so it is hard to set a budget.

The first steps have been taken. We have picked out the flooring and we are getting estimates on that. Also, we had some wall paper in the living room that I wanted to take down before the new flooring was installed. I took 5 days off of work to do this project. Our whole house was wall papered when we bought it, and we have gone room by room tearing it down. The living room is the last room...well that and the hall way. The glue was not sticky in the living room and all the paper came down quick and easy...maybe in about 2 hours. Figuring I took all this time off of work to do this, I decided to start out in the hall way too. Big mistake. It took three days to complete a very small section of the hall way. That stuff was really stuck. Not sure when I will have time to finish that, but at least we are in a place to start buying all our new, fun stuff.

Blog Block

I have not posted a blog in two weeks. I guess I have a little writer's block, as I just can't seem to think of anything interesting to write these days. I am however, getting ready to launch my Great Strides campaign , so stay tuned!