"Like breathing through a straw"

So about a half-hour ago I (Jonny) ran 3.1 miles outside in 29 minutes. That's pretty slow for me, but there was a reason: I did the whole thing breathing only through a McDonalds straw. There is a reason behind this too, I'm not just crazy despite what more than a few people have told me. When people talk to me about my job or my workouts they always ask "Does your wife do all that stuff with you?". When I tell them that she can't right now because of her CF, I explain to them that for her to exercise it'd be like someone with normal lungs trying to workout while breathing only through a straw. I use this analogy a lot, but until today I had never actually felt what it's like to run with that limited of breathing.

I wore nose plugs to make sure that I only breathed through my mouth. I also brought along two straws to alternate between since they fill up with spit (haha, ok even I think I sound crazy right now). It started out rough trying to find a breathing rhythm, since it actually took force and concentration to exhale and inhale without doing it too fast. After convincing my body that there was no chance of quitting, I zoned out (probably also from oxygen depravation) and kept running. A few times on some hills I really wanted to take it out, but I never did. As soon as I finished the 5k, a crouched down on the grass, threw off the nose plugs and the straw, and said a prayer for Rachel to receive her new lungs. After personally feeling what complications with CF can be like, I want so badly for Rachel to be able to breath easily and someday run with me. And with God's help I know that's possible.

Just the other day I was talking to one of my clients and she was asking me about the transplant. She asked if Rachel would be able to have children of her own. I explained to her that although the doctors don't think it's a great idea, we don't rule out the possibility. She replied "Hey, with God nothing is impossible." I agreed with her, then she looked at me and while laughing said, "You don't know the meaning of the word 'can't' anyway, do you!" She's right...

I don't.
We don't.
And God doesn't either.

Wedding, Emergency Room, and Roasted Chicken

We made it! The wedding was amazing and Mary and Peter are heading home from their honeymoon today. Everything was beautiful. Every moment was special. And I cried like a baby all day long. I really thought I would do better…but no…I was a mess. It was so much fun! I had to take it easy though… I wish I could have done more to help but these lungs just wouldn’t have it. I am so thankful that I was there at all...I really didn’t think I was going to be able to be there. I thought for sure that I would be in the hospital recovering so something like that. But God listened to all of our prayers! Thanks God! And thank you for praying!

The rest of the week was… well… interesting. On Monday, (our 6 month anniversary and my daddy’s birthday!) I had a really bad pain in my lung. Mom came over right away and we called my nurses at Hopkins. I could hardly talk on the phone…I’ve never felt pain like that. My nurse said to go to the ER right away because it sounded like a might have a collapsed lung. We went over and had an xray done, but it didn’t show anything. I had taken advil and that started to really help. So after 4 hours we went home. Tuesday I woke up with a really bad pain in my shoulder but my lung was fine. I started to think that I might be having a flair up of some type of CF related arthritis…I’ve had times before where my whole body will ache and I feel like an old lady for a few days. It normally goes away and then I’m fine. Thursday we went down to Hopkins just to make sure everything was alright. My doctor said that although CF related arthritis is uncommon, it does exist. I seem to get all the strange side effects and symptoms from everything, so it doesn’t really surprise me. My lung function was down, but not too much. There wasn’t really anything to change or to do so he said to just hang in there and see what the next few days would bring. Thankfully I am feeling much better and my aches are gone! Still coughing and not feeling so great, but you know, it is ok. If nothing else, I had a great week with my momma! She always takes care of me when I’m sick. She even cleaned our apartment for me yesterday. I just love her.

And now for the funny story of the week! After spending the day on the couch and taking plenty of advil, I was feeling ok on Tuesday evening. I had been wanting to try to roast a chicken for several weeks and we bought one last Sunday. So I decided to give it a whirl. I found a recipe for Herb Roasted Chicken (which looked amazing) and I pulled out all the spices and made the rub. Opened the chicken, put it in the roasting pan, rubbed it with the rub, and stuck it in the oven. IT SMELLED SUPER IF I DO SAY SO MYSELF!!! After 2 hours it was finished and Jonathan and I could hardly wait! We pulled it out and Jonathan began to cut it up. He was getting so frustrated because there was almost no white meat! He kept saying that he was cutting into ribs. Finally we realized that the chicken was upide down…yes, I had actually arranged, seasoned, and roasted the chicken the wrong direction. It was hilarious. I wasn’t even angry! We laughed so hard! In my defense it really did look like it was sitting in the pan breasts up. Jonathan didn’t notice either! In the end, it was still so delicious and I can now say that I have roasted a chicken. And that is my story of Upside-Down Chicken.

- Rachel

Doesn't it look like it is the right direction?!

Sauteed Green Beans and Barley as sides : )

Me and my Upside-Down Chicken