4th Lungaversary

This Sunday (5th March) marks 4 whole years since I received my 2 beautiful lungs! 

Doctors Orders - How to gain weight.

Last year I was asked by Lisa Raleigh to do an interview about my weight. She wanted to know what kind of struggles I faced and what food I typically ate on any given day. She then gave me some fitness and nutrition advice.

When this clip was done 1 -

• Still had my feeding tube.
• Was a lot more under weight than I currently am now. (I hate looking at pics/vids of me so skinny!) 
• Was still eating a high carb diet which wasn't getting me anywhere. 
• And I still had my little pink car ;) 

Behind the scenes

I've done a few articles now for various media but this was the first tv production I have been in. VERY different! I'm not a photo person at all so even at photo shoots I struggle. With this, I had a camera on me constantly and I think I was shaking the entire time. Luckily they do about 3 takes and then edit a lot so you don't see all my mistakes. I was told to nod a lot and as you can clearly see, I did a good job of that! 

There were a few uncontrollable aspects when we were filming, which were quite funny. There was a fly that kept hovering around us and for a nutrition programme that isn't really ideal. There were also hadedas screeching in the background so we kept having to stop and wait for them to fly by! 

The crew was great, Lisa was absolutely lovely and then there was the camera guy, the sound guy and then the production manager. We shot the first part in my flat and then went to the Raphael Hotel gym in Sandton. Very fancy hotel but a surprisingly small gym facility! 

It was the first time I had been in a gym in YEARS let alone pick up a weight or do any form of exercise. As I said earlier they do about 3 takes for each section so you can imagine after 3 takes of dead lifts etc how 'dead' I was. I know the weights were relatively small (We actually couldn't find any smaller weights) but for someone who was bedridden for years, it was quite a strain! By the end of the shoot I was fully exhausted and went back home to finish eating the packet of Doritos I was made to eat. Oh yes, eating with a camera watching you is very hard! I've never been so self conscious of myself chewing!

Hopefully some of Lisa's tips helped those of you struggling to put on weight. I'm sure this is pretty much only my fellow CF'ers but for the rest of you, appreciate the fact that your weight, even though it may not be perfect, isn't a health struggle every day!

Pegless

My last check-up was a pretty good one, there's always room for improvement but in terms of goals I was pretty happy with all my results.

First off, as most of you know I have given up carbs and have been following a diabetic diet for the past 4 or so months. Due to my weight being so low this sort of diet doesn't come highly recommended. My doctors and dieticians have always said I should be on a 'see food' diet and munch on anything and everything I can get my hands on. Because I'm diabetic this meant that I had to calculate how many carbs I was ingesting (carb counting) and inject insulin accordingly. This was a bit of a pain in the bum (or stomach, rather) and my glucose levels were never really great despite my hardest efforts to ensure that I was giving myself the right amount of insulin. My weight also wasn't great, no matter how many cupcakes I ate.

So, I decided to try something different and give up all carbs. Initially I lost 2kgs in the first week but then realised I needed to increase my fat intake substantially to make up for the lack of carbs. Once I had done this the weight slowly piled on.
Admittedly I did wear some heavy jeans and a jersey but when I hopped on the scale at my last check-up, I was thrilled to see that I was exactly 50kgs which has been my goal weight for so long!

Apart from reaching my goal weight, my glucose levels had also come down and all my results just looked better than ever. My medication was even lowered due to my absorption being better. It's amazing what a difference a healthy diet can make!

Now onto my peg- At the beginning of 2012 I had to have a PEG (Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy) tube inserted into my stomach so that I could be tube fed at night. A litre of a high calorie 'protein shake' was pumped into me each night and gradually I was able to put some much needed weight on.

Initially a long thick tube was inserted and had to stay in for 6 weeks while scar tissue developed. After that a smaller 'button' was inserted which then stayed in permanently. Much like a piercing.

Once a month I would have to deflate the little balloon that kept my peg in and remove the whole thing to clean it. This wasn't a very fun process but it had to be done to prevent infection.

Without the peg I wouldn't have been able to put on the weight required to be listed for a transplant. So in a way it basically saved my life and I was always grateful for it. That said, I absolutely hated it!
When I was sick and full of tubes it didn't bother me as much because what's one more tube? But after transplant when I was 'normal' it really was a huge inconvenience. I had to dress and clean it everyday as well as trying to find clothes to disguise it.

I didn't use it after my transplant but my doctor wanted me to keep it in as a back up and said he would take it out when I had reached my goal of 50kgs.


So you can imagine how very happy I was when I saw that I had finally reached 50kgs and could take my peg out!!

Then came the realisation that I actually had to take it out myself!

It's no big deal, like a piercing I literally just had to pull it out and the hole would close pretty quickly. Unfortunately I had had it in so long that pulling it out was a bit of a nightmare. Some force was needed and because I did it by myself at home I had to make sure I stayed conscious while doing it all (haha). Despite everything I'e been through, I'm still human and pulling a pipe out of my stomach does make me feel a little queasy!

Once it was out, it was out!!!! It was a little emotional, as all these goal reaching moments are. It's just a reminder that I MADE IT! The days dreaming about pulling my peg out one day were no longer just dreams, they were now and living out your dreams is rather overwhelming at times!

My scar isn't great, I basically have a second belly button! But as with all my scars, it doesn't bother me at all =)

 

New Life

I absolutely LOVE my new lungs!