First order of business is check out this post by fellow bloggy Cystic Gal. She talks about our mutual influence in a semi-recent online study of influential CF bloggers :) Yay to us!
This study, conducted by the makers of TOBI, is pretty nifty. The data was taken in 2009 when I was still a fairly new blogger. My stats have changed since then. And the fact that I now have Twitter too.
But check it out yourself:
2011 CLIO Awards
This award/research thingy got my mind thinking last night. Coupled with my lack of health insurance (see previous post about that one), I had much to ponder as I tried to fall asleep last night.
What did I ponder about? Medications. Or in my case lack of medications. In reality I don't take that many CF medications. Most of the daily pills in my sorter are vitamins and supplements. For example....I take Women's One A Day multi vitamin, Calcium, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, Motrin, stool softener, and melatonin. The medications I take are Singulair, Prevacid and Azithromycin in pill form at least. Once I stopped the anti-depressant and the hormones I have nothing! There is Creon 24 with meals, DuoNeb 2-3 times a day, Pulmozyme once a day, 3% 1-2 times a day and Symbicort.
Gone are the days where I was taking medication after medication. No longer do I take oral antibiotics (2-3 at a time) or inhaled antibiotics (off month I added Cipro oral). My routine seems so slim compared to so many others. I can do my morning and night treatments in an hour each because I don't have to use all that extra stuff. Sounds great huh? But the reasoning sucks. My lung bugs don't respond to the orals like they used to, and my lungs themselves don't like anything being inhaled into them besides the ones I do already (the exception might be Symbicort. I have noticed some tightness when I do it vs when I don't).
Its so weird to me, to read about 3 hour treatment schedules for other CFers when I barely do that in a day. But I have been there. I have done the 2 hour treatment, the 1 hour rushed treatment and the finish in the car treatment. I feel like the backwards patient. The one whose regimen gets easier as she gets sicker.
So. Freaking. Weird.
I am sure it has become streamlined and is munch easier and effective these days.Good to bring the notification which will give a kind of support and positive feeling to the patients of today.
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