Mish Mash

Casey has her first orthodontist appointment today. 

Casey got accepted to a new school, and we went to an informational meeting about it last night. Apparently this school looks better on college resumes than even AP classes in a regular high school. There was a lady there who had interviewed with Dartmouth, and she said they put students from this type of school at the top of the pile!!! Holy cow!!! Dartmouth? Obviously this tells you how challenging this school is, so Casey is definitely in for some hard work! Yikes!

Health is good. I have actually been feeling better in the past 2 weeks than I have in years (well, with the exception of some CF intestinal issues the past 2 days). 

I am SO behind on my photography classes. I have 5 classes to catch up on. I'm being a really bad student.

My house is a mess! What have I been doing all this time I've been feeling good? Not cleaning house, that's for sure! :)

Balin is back to normal. We are giving him a Pepcid everyday, and he hasn't thrown up since. His back seems like the inflammation is completely gone. Yay!

Easter is this weekend. Do any of you have plans? Our plans for Sunday include church, my family, and Jason's family. It will be a busy day.

I head back to Duke next week for a kidney transplant appt. Afterward, I'm meeting a fellow CFer/transplant recipient friend I haven't seen since 2002. I'm really excited to visit with her!

That's all I've got for ya! I hope all of you are having a great week. Happy Wednesday!

Tips

How to save up to $2,000 a year

Look 7 years younger

Eating super foods

Take better pictures

Easy "weighs" to lose weight

10 ways to get more stylish

New uses for common toiletries

Not a Dummy for too much longer

We just received these 2 books in the mail. Yes, we are dummies now, but hopefully that's going to change. The flash is for Jason. The photoshop is for me.

My ENT appointment went well on Tuesday. I haven't heard back from Duke about my lab work though. I know it usually takes a couple of days for some of these viral tests to come back. I've been extremely tired and nauseous the past week. Me thinks it might be the medications, but we'll see.

Casey has a friend coming home with her tomorrow from school. They are going to a youth function at our church tomorrow night, and then on Saturday, we are going to The Cheesecake Factory for lunch and then to some vintage stores in Charlotte. Casey and her friends are all into the vintage look now. We are dragging Jason along. At least he will enjoy the lunch. :) I'm hoping my nausea doesn't rear it's ugly head on Saturday. I would hate to miss out on that meal.

In other news... my sis and her hubby just bought a new house. It's in the same neighborhood as the one they have now, but it's larger. I would love to move in their neighborhood. Hopefully, if Jason and I can sell our house this spring, we can look there. Just not really sure if that's going to happen in this market.

Casey has a consult with the orthodontist soon. She'll be getting the dreaded braces within the next month or so. I am hoping she won't have to have them on long. I only had mine for 18 months.

My new photography class starts next week. I'm really excited about it. This class is going to focus a lot on lighting. Something I'm still having trouble with. There is just so much to learn.

Ok that's all the randomness I can think of now. I hope all of you are having a wonderful week!

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UPDATE: Well, Duke just called. I tested negative for the viruses, but my creatinine is still going up, which is not a good sign. I have an appt. to go see the kidney transplant doc on the 25th, and they said I should plan on staying in the hospital for some tests and a biopsy of the kidney. Two things that she mentioned it could be are Prograf (an anti-rejection med) toxicity or rejection. The biopsy will most likely give them the answer. Please pray that whatever they find can be easily treated.

Photography websites

I just thought I'd share some of my favorite photography websites:

www.dailycoyote.net

www.lyralyra.com

www.jasminestarblog.com

www.photosbyiasha.com

www.alexwisephotography.net

www.catchycolors.blogspot.com

www.tysonandjulia.com/blog

www.pixoflife.com

www.iheartfaces.blogspot.com

Hope you enjoy!!

Creeping Creatinine

I'm sorry I've been MIA the past couple of days. I've so missed out on my fellow blogger's lives. It's been a tough couple of days emotionally and physically, but I'm feeling better today. :)

Ok, so I went to the kidney transplant clinic on Wednesday. It seems that my creatinine is slowly creeping upward. I'll be honest, I'm not really sure what this means, other than my kidney isn't functioning as well as it was in December. It has gone from 0.5 to 1.2. I'm also not sure what the docs are going to do about it, if anything. My transplant coordinator called me today to tell me about it, and said that she has yet to talk to a doctor about it. She has several of them paged, but hasn't heard back from them yet. I've done the dangerous thing and read on the internet that a "creeping creatinine" can mean chronic rejection, but I personally don't think that's what is going on, so I'll just wait to hear back from my nurse.

I am also back to having the nausea that I had prior to kidney transplant. I am convinced now that this is due to the anti-rejection med called Cellcept that I'm taking. I believe that the high doses of prednisone (that make you so hungry you would eat the kitchen sink if there were nothing else in site) were masking this nausea. Now that I'm down to a low dose, it has come back. I'm still eating, but find it a struggle. Yesterday, I had to break down and take a phenergan, which always knocks me out. I see my lung transplant pulmonologist in late March. He is the one who would lower the dose of Cellcept if that's possible. I was put on it, because he thought I was having some chronic rejection of my lungs almost 2 years ago. It did bring my lung function back up, so I know it's working. I would hate to stop it, or lower the dose and have my numbers drop again.

On a different note... I finished my photography class. I take the final exam today after I do some much needed reviewing. I finally got my photoshop/Creative Suite 4 activated yesterday and started playing around with it last night. I have a ton of tutorials to watch. I also start my next photography class on the 18th. I'm really starting to love all of this. I just can't get enough!!

Casey is at her dad's this weekend. I'm not really sure what Jason and I are going to be doing except make a trip to the health food store. It is only about 20 minutes away from here, but we just can't seem to make time to go there. I have a whole shopping list, so we can try to stock up this weekend. They have a lot of low sodium, or sodium-free foods that I just can't find anywhere else.

I'll keep you updated on my kidney :), and I hope all of you have a great weekend.

Recovery

I know I have severely neglected my blog! This has been one tough recovery from sinus surgery. They gave me an IV prednisone burst during surgery, and I think I was riding high on that for awhile. When that wore off, that's when things got worse. I also gained 7 lbs of fluid in 24 hours because of it. I'm slowly losing it, but it's taking time.

Yesterday was my worst day as far as pain and swelling. I could actually see my cheeks when I looked down. I now know what boxers feel like when they get punched in the face. I have been using my pain pills very sparingly since they didn't give me many.

I got out of the house for the first time today since I got home. It's sad when the most exciting part of your week involved Target and Rita's. LOL.

I have been invited by someone to be a guest blogger on their blog. They run a medical blog and have guest bloggers on there to to tell their stories and answer questions. I would have to do one post per day for a week, and I would be available to answer questions. How cool is that? I need to gather my thoughts and think about what I would say. I don't write well under pressure, but I do love telling my story.

Here are some random pics of Casey today. Yes, she still eats with her hands. LOL






I will try to get back to regular posting now. I've missed it.

Update and prayers

I'm sorry I haven't updated on Jenn, but I haven't heard any news at all. I keep checking my CF forums for updates, but so far there are none. I am praying that no news is good news! I will update as soon as I hear/read something.

I've been having some edema (swelling) that I normally don't have, so I am headed out to get blood work to make sure my kidney function is stable. I still haven't heard back from the ENT on a surgery date, so I guess I'll be calling them again in the next day or 2 to see if it's scheduled.

Casey was out of school yesterday because of the tiny amount of snow we had. By 9:00, it was mostly melted.. LOL, but it was really nice having her home all day.

I'm almost caught up on my photography class. I have a few small assignments to do today, and I should be caught up. I have learned a little, and hope to learn a lot more in the next class that I'm taking in March.

Please keep my dear friend (and living-related lobar sister) Lori in your prayers. She was the first transplant recipient I ever met. She had the 2nd living-related lobar transplant at Duke, and I had the 4th. What a great friend she's been to me. It has been almost 9 years since her transplant and she is experiencing some chronic rejection. She also has something else going on with her lungs that the docs can't put their finger on. She'll be getting a bronchoscopy (biopsy of the lobes) in about 2 weeks to hopefully get a diagnosis. Please pray that her numbers come back up and that she's feeling back to normal soon.

Going on a date with Caldwell

Caldwell Luc that is. I'll be getting this surgery in a few weeks. I saw my ENT doc on Tuesday, and he wants to do the surgery before I finish this round of IV's. I should be getting the surgery date in the coming days. I am SO not looking forward to this. My previous sinus surgeries were much easier, and the recovery time was a lot less than it is with the Caldwell Luc procedure. I would be eager to hear from any of you CFers who have had this done.

Desensitization was successful! It lasted for about 5 hours yesterday, and I was discharged about 6:45 last night. We made it home safely, and Jason went into work last night for a few hours.

I am going to be catching up on my photography class today. I am enjoying it, although we are just learning the basics right now. I still haven't finished last Friday's class, and I have to do yesterday's class too. I also need to catch up in the blogging world. I have so many blogs to catch up on!

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and prayers.

Discover Digital Photography

Well, I signed up for my first photography class. It starts January 21st. It's an online class, but has a lot of virtual classroom, discussion boards, and tests/quizzes, so I think I will stay motivated. The reviews for the class were great!!! Everyone loves the instructor. I was worried that it was going to be too "introductory" for me, but according to former students, even those who knew a little about photography learned a great deal. If I like this one, I'll be taking one in March that teaches all about lighting and how to take the best pictures. It's called "Secrets of Better Photography". I think I eventually want to take a class where you learn to develop your own film, but I want to learn more about my SLR first.

Here is the curriculum:

Week One
Wednesday - Lesson 01
In our first lesson, you'll learn what digital photography is and how photography evolved to this exciting new level. We'll go over some of the jargon and terms used in the industry, explore some of the equipment digital photographers use, and highlight the areas where things have changed.

Friday - Lesson 02
In today's lesson, you'll have an opportunity to really get to know your camera or the camera of your dreams. Students find this lesson to be one of the most helpful as they learn about the different features available on digital cameras, find out what to look for both inside and outside the camera itself, and explore the different levels of equipment available.

Week Two
Wednesday - Lesson 03
When it's time to make a decision and buy the camera that's right for you, you'll want to know how to make your best choice. In this lesson, we'll discuss more of the attributes and features of digital photography as you prepare to meet the camera salesman armed with solid knowledge of what's important to you.

Friday - Lesson 04
Digital storage is a big issue, so in this lesson we'll look at ways to address this aspect of digital photography. When it comes to digital images, you'll need storage space not only on your camera, but also on your computer. Today, I'll give you lots of recommendations and guidelines for getting the most out of your storage space, as well as how to set up back up procedures.

Week Three
Wednesday - Lesson 05
The ability to edit your digital images is one of the most compelling features of digital photography. In today's lesson, we'll take a look at several of the software programs available to you and some of the many features you'll find in digital editing programs.

Friday - Lesson 06
Using digital imagery online is another big part of digital photography. In this lesson, you'll discover ways you can easily use digital images with e-mail and on Web sites. We'll also discuss sizing images and using cell phone cameras, Web cams, and other online resources.

Week Four
Wednesday - Lesson 07
Printing digital images is a different process from simply dropping off a roll of film. In this lesson, we'll explore the many options for printing at home and the extensive network of retail printers available for digital work. You'll also learn about the different types of printers available, and how you can obtain archival prints.

Friday - Lesson 08
Film photography hasn't gone away completely, but digital photography is making a strong stand at replacing it. In this lesson, we'll focus on ways camera manufacturers have blended the best features of each format to give photographers great new ways to do traditional techniques. This area is changing rapidly, and students often find it quite interesting to see how quickly digital photography has caught up with film standards.

Week Five
Wednesday - Lesson 09
Scanning printed images is an important option for digital photography. In today's lesson, we'll look at restoring old and damaged photos, using scanners to bring slides, negatives, and prints into a digital format, and even how to capture an image of a 3-D object with a scanner.

Friday - Lesson 10
Travel photography is always a favorite subject for photographers. Digital photography presents some different challenges and opportunities, so in this lesson, we'll look at how professionals in the field handle the challenges, as well as techniques and opportunities you can use when you travel.

Week Six
Wednesday - Lesson 11
Digital photography has emerged in many different work places. In this lesson, we'll take a look at how not only photographers use digital photography for their businesses, but also how other types of businesses have incorporated it as well.

Friday - Lesson 12
In our final lesson together, we'll look at how to compose your pictures with digital options in mind. There's a lot more to being a digital photographer than just owning a digital camera, and today you'll see some great examples of difficult situations that you can remedy with digital solutions.

Photographer in the making!

Photography is something that has always interested me, but I have never taken the time to really learn about it. After talking to my cousin last Christmas, and hearing how she loved her photography class, I started thinking about taking a class or two. She is now on her 6th class, is learning photoshop, and absolutely loves it. I've been looking into some photography classes offered around my area, and am seriously thinking about it. I definitely will wait until after my kidney transplant though, because I would hate to be halfway through the semester and have to miss the rest.

Since my camera was my birthday present (and possibly my Christmas present too), it will be awhile before I can get the lens I want for my camera. Here it is on Amazon! Since I'm not very patient, I really want it now, but yeahh... I'll have to wait.