New Changes

Let me start off by saying this is my first blog post, ever.When I was a sophomore in college I decided I wanted to start a blog and just write.  I was tired of only writing for classes and I wanted to be able to write creatively.  However, sports, school, and life got in the way, so now here I am 3 years later finally deciding that I might have just enough time to start.  You know, in between graduate school and planning a wedding.  I'm not exactly sure where this blog is heading, I originally thought I was just going to write about my life because I think that I am hilarious, but decided that it might be too funny for some people to handle.  Then, I decided, "hey I could write about Cystic Fibrosis and just talk about my life."  So, that was an idea and now here I am just rambling on about nothing.  But, guess what?  It's my blog and I can type about nothing if I feel like it.  But, I have finally decided.  After erasing my first four paragraphs I finally have something written.  So let's begin.
First topic, Cystic Fibrosis.
I have been a fighter of this disease for 22 years and refuse to let it define me.  But, let's be honest it is a major factor in my life.  Without getting into the gritty details, Cystic Fibrosis is a genetic disease passed down from a gene from each parent.  That's right, you have to get a defective gene from both Mom and Dad, so no one is to blame.  If you are lucky enough to get both broken genes, you are rewarded with 65 Roses (more details in a later post...maybe).  This is where I get into the fun details about my family.  My Mom and Dad are both wonderful people and have given me everything that I needed in order to survive.  They've both missed multiple days of work to escort me to the hospital in Kansas City and have slept on crummy hospital beds without even a whisper of complaints.  I was blessed with this disease because God knew that I would have the parents who would do whatever it took to keep me fighting and most importantly, alive.  On that note, I just want to throw them a thank you because without them, I wouldn't be who I am today.  I also have a brother, he's pretty normal.  I mean he had his heath issues, but for the most part he's normal.  He did genetic testing and found out that he isn't even a carrier of CF.  Which is awesome, so if someday he ever decides to have adorable little Stalder babies they won't have CF.  We've had our ups and downs along the way, but get along now that we are much older and wiser.  And now he lives in California, so it is much harder to fight over the long distance.  But, I love him and even though he won't admit it, I am sooo his favorite sister.
So, now to the factual stuff.  CF likes to screw with your genetics, but it also likes to just wreck your body.  In my professional doctor terms, CF makes you snotty.  Not like the people who are rude and slightly mean (although sometimes I can be, so I'll blame that on CF too), but it makes your lungs muck up as well as other organs.  There's just too much snot or mucus and your body can't handle it.  So, I do machines that help shake up the extra junk as well as breathing treatments to loosen the phlegm.  But, I also have to take different medications in hopes to help my body better digest food.  This way, I can actually gain weight.  Yes, you read that correctly, I get to GAIN WEIGHT!  That means cheese fries for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if I want.  So yeah, CF kind of messes with everything in my body, but that's okay because I've learned what I need to do to stay healthy and that I can have 6 meals a day, instead of the average 3. Blah, blah, blah about the details, if you really want to freak yourself out, you can Google it and see all the scary statistics and information that is posted by some great doctors.  Trust me, it isn't for the faint of heart.  Prepare yourself before you decide to hit "search."
ANYWAYS, back to the topic that I chose for this blog.  So, I have to do a breathing machine called "The Vest", it is basically a machine that I wear that shakes.  It fills with air and then just rattles for about 30 minutes.  For the past, I don't know, a million years I have had a behemoth vest that weighed like 30 pounds and very rarely moved.  It was bulky, ugly, heavy, and really just a pain in the butt.  So, my wonderful parents and I have been fighting insurance about getting a new one because they are portable and lightweight and just pretty! Yes, I just called an inanimate object pretty. Oh well, it happens.  After what feels like an eternity of fighting (maybe only 4 years), we finally got the go ahead that insurance would cover a brand spanking new vest!  So, here I am just hanging out shaking away while I write this blog.  I've had it for under 24 hours and have moved it to every new area of the house.  Why?  Just because I can.  Seriously, I moved it to the laundry room just because I could. Maybe eventually, I will get around to posting some before and after pictures of the machines, but right now I am lazy and just infatuated with the new one.

So, there's my first blog post.  It didn't really have a point, but it's a start.  If you feel the need, keep checking back.  Maybe my lazy self won't wait three years to start another post.
Sometimes it is okay if the only thing you did today was breathe.
Jordan