Weigh in Thursday.. a lil late..

Yeah, okay. Kind of got behind there... It's Monday and I weighed in Thursday. Good news is I lost the pound I gained!! But that's about it. One pound again. For some reason it's been so hard to stay on track now! It seems like once I feel off the band wagon I just can't get on 100% like I was in the beginning. Maybe it's the fact that I don't have big numbers anymore.. Maybe it's the stress.. But either way I have got to get going again. Less than 5 weeks now to the wedding. Originally I had hoped to meet my first goal by then- to be under 200. But right now that means I'd have to lose at least 18lbs. I have 4 weigh-ins left and it doesn't seem probable.

I have decided however that I need to begin phase 2 - Working Out. I have several friends doing Insanity.. But going from ZERO fitness I don't even want to go there! I have heard about various
'couch to 5k' programs and such and just need to bite the bullet and get something started. My friend Heather has advised a Jillian Michaels DVD program as well. I know I want something that I can do at home. I have always had self image problems and I honestly can't handle being 'the fat girl at the gym' or 'the fat girl running around the block'. I know I want to start walking every night - but I am even scared to do that without people mocking me in their head. Do I honestly think that everyone is going to be staring at me walking down the street? No... Well.. Yes. I just know that as soon as I see a set of eyes on me I will want to run home and never leave again.

Anyways - Everything else in life is going alright. I have about reached my boiling point with Hyvee, but I need to stick it out even if it's just my part time job. I'm hoping to transfer to Carroll. Matt and I are still waiting to hear back from the underwriters of the home loan to know if we're moving to Jefferson for sure - but if we are they are building a Hyvee out there and it's something I could hopefully transfer to. Wedding plans are going well and we're starting to pull everything together. Mom got all the mason jars decorated this weekend and there are currently clothes lines running in my living room airing out the burlap sacks (THEY STINK!)

This weekend is my bachelorette party which has made me realize how few friends I have anymore. My friend and bridesmaid Heather is planning it, and also the only other guest besides me. My other friend/bridesmaid is unable to make it, and my Matron of Honor is in Utah. I have realized I really have made no friends out here in the 10 months I've been out here, besides of Amanda. I made very few friends out in Emmetsburg either, and I was there for 2 years. Even the 3 years I spent out in Utah left me with just a couple of friends that I am still in contact with. I am just not a social person.. I know that my self consciousness plays a lot into that. I just really don't know how an adult is supposed to go out and make friends! It's not as easy as high school.. Not that I had many friend then either!

Cystic Fibrosis Facts..

Here are some facts and statistics I've collected over the last few days..

Every year, 1,000 children with cystic fibrosis (CF) are born in the United States. One in 3,000 Caucasian babies have the disorder, making CF one of the most common lethal genetic diseases in Caucasians. Overall, there are 30,000 Americans with CF, and an estimated 8 million people carry one copy of the defective gene that causes the disease.

On life expectency:

• In the 1980s life expectancy of people with cystic fibrosis was 14 years.
• 10 years back, the life expectancy of a person with cystic fibrosis was around 18 years. Today it is 35 years.
• The median life expectancy of a newborn with cystic fibrosis has increased from 4 years to 32 years. It has been estimated that there has been more than 10 year increase in the average life expectancy of affected people in North America.
• Over 90% of the affected infants now survive beyond one year. Studies show that life expectancy of children will exceed 40 years.
• Life expectancy of individuals with adequate pancreatic function can be more than 50 years.
• In the United States, approximately 30,000 people have cystic fibrosis. Around 1,000 new cases of cystic fibrosis are diagnosed each year. One child of every 3,500 is born with cystic fibrosis.
• In Canada, the overall cystic fibrosis birth rate from 1971-1970 was stable. From 1988, cystic fibrosis birth rate increased to a rate of 1 in 3,608. Cystic fibrosis birth rate is stable for the last few years.
• In the UK, cystic fibrosis birth is about 1 in 2400 and 4% of the people are cystic fibrosis carriers.
• 80% of patients are diagnosed by the age of three. 10% of patients are diagnosed at the age of 18 and 3% patients are diagnosed in adulthood.

 Canadian CF Facts:

One person dies from cystic fibrosis in Canada each week

Of the 40 patients that died in 2010, half were under 26 years old

One in every 3,600 children born in Canada has cystic fibrosis

60% of people with cystic fibrosis are diagnosed in the first year of life, and 90% by age 10

Approximately 4,000 individuals with cystic fibrosis attend one of the 42 specialized cystic fibrosis clinics across Canada

Cumulatively, CF patients spent over 20,000 days in hospital and attended nearly 15,000 clinic visits in 2010

One in 25 Canadians carries a defective version of the gene responsible for cystic fibrosis

More than 1,800 mutations in the CFTR gene have been identified, however nearly 90% of individuals with CF in Canada carry at least one copy of the most common CF-causing mutation, ΔF508

In the 1960’s, most children with cystic fibrosis did not live long enough to attend kindergarten

Today, half of all Canadians with cystic fibrosis are expected to live into their 40s and beyond

Nearly 60% of all individuals with cystic fibrosis in Canada are adults

85% of individuals with cystic fibrosis must take pancreatic enzymes to digest food and absorb nutrients

31% of female adults with cystic fibrosis and 19% of male adults with CF are classified as underweight

44 CF patients received transplants in 2010, more than double compared to a decade ago

Nearly half of all patients with cystic fibrosis are infected with harmful bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus and/or Pseudomonas aeruginosa in their lungs

14% of all individuals with CF have CF-related diabetes (CFRD), and more than one quarter of CF individuals, 35 years of age and older, have CF-related diabetes

One step back...

Well.. time to face the music - Weigh in Thursday. I gained. *ugh* Only one pound - but I gained!! It's so depressing! It was a bad week - worse than last week for sure. Heck I'll own up and tell y'all that I ate an entire package of double stuffed Oreos in the span of 2 days - that I bought for my Fiancee! ... I am ashamed!

But I am getting back on track! Things are starting to get less stressful at home.. Got more wedding things done and bought which takes a load off. Got my bridesmaids situation fixed and even got my sons suit for the wedding!

And the best news of all - We put in an offer on another house and it got accepted! I actually haven't seen the house - with all the stress it's put on me I told Matt that I couldn't handle it any longer and told him that we needed to give up. He didn't agree so I told him if he wanted to continue that it was up to him. So we'll see where it goes from here. The house is in Jefferson - which is about an hour from where we are now. I would have to get a new job for sure - which is fine. I'm not loving either of my jobs as of right now. They are building a Hyvee that I could possibly transfer to and RUMORS are that they will be building a CASINO in the next year or two. That would be fantastic! As much drama as there was at the Wild Rose Casino I worked at, I do miss it. I miss the responsibilities I had and being in charge of something! I feel like I took a real step backwards career wise by moving out here, and hopefully that'll be a way for me to move forward again.

Well.. Speaking of work - I worked a total of 14 hrs today between the two jobs - and I'm doing it again tomorrow! I wanted to put together some CF facts but it'll have to wait until tomorrow.

65 Roses

Well it's May and it's the first time I am activity advocating for Cystic Fibrosis! May is CF month, and I plan on blogging as much as I can this month to get everyone I can educated about this disorder.

Cystic Fibrosis is nicknamed 'Sixty Five Roses' as it is easier for kids to pronounce. CF is an autosomal recessive genetic disorder that affects most the lungs, pancreas, liver, and intestine. The lungs are the hardest hit as they become filled with sticky mucus and are then more vulnerable to infection and bacteria. See CF is caused by a mutation in the gene for the protein 'cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator' (CFTR). This protein is required to regulate  sweat, digestive fluids, and mucus. Because of this mutation the cells in the body are not able to function as they should normally.

Nearly every system in the body are effected by CF. Lungs are constantly being filled with mucus and CF patients can usually be heard coughing quite frequently. This also effects the sinus cavity and can lead to nasal polyps. The pancreas also produces thick mucus which then blocks the exocrine ducts and leaves the organ useless. CF patients are usually unable to digest food normally, which leads to malnutrition. Calories are not absorbed normally and CF patients are usually on a constant battle to keep weight on. The damage to the pancreas can also lead to CFRD (Cystic Fibrosis Related Diabetes). Infertility is also common in CF - in both male and females.

And that's the basics! I will be back later with some more facts and statistics about Cystic Fibrosis! And I hope to get a 'Day in the Life of a CFer' sometime this month!