Hey Debbie I'm still alive and doing well...sorta kinda

OK it's been a while since I posted. Not only do I know this in my heart but also because my aunt Debbie let me know via my uncle John that I needed to update my blog. So this update is for Debbie with lots of love.

Yep as the subject line says I'm still alive and actually doing well...sorta kinda. I felt great yesterday. In fact it's probably the closest to "normal" I've felt for a while. In October my oxygen saturations were not where they should be and I started using supplemental oxygen during exercise or while doing things around the house. A normal person should have an oxygen saturation above 90% even during strenuous exercise. However, mine went down into the mid 80s with exercise. At rest it was above 90% but my heart rate would be above 100. So using supplemental oxygen was a way to give my heart a rest while recovering.

Mentally going on supplemental oxygen is not an easy thing to do. For me it is an indicator that the progression of my disease is accelerating. So what to do? Give it my all to reverse the way things were headed. I decided that December would be my month to do some hardcore rehab. So the last few weeks I've been hitting it hard almost everyday and trying to increase my exercise tolerance each time I work out. And the great news is that my December to remember has been as success!!! I'm not using oxygen at all right now...WOO HOO!!!

So if I'm doing so great what's this "doing well...sorta kinda" stuff? Even though yesterday was great, I woke up in the middle of the night with a killer sore throat and major stuffed up head. Looks like the cold & flu season finally found me. Hopefully I can get through it quickly and back to my workouts. For now I'm enjoying chicken soup lunches with my sweetheart and hoping for the best :)

Love,
Steph