Anna again...

Anna in the last six months..... how do I sum that up? Well, she has been remarkably healthy throughout that time. It has only been in the past few weeks that we have had to deal with a cold and cough, but she seems to be recovering from that.

She had an appointment in December at the cystic fibrosis clinic. She loves to go to appointments. When I tell her we have one she says, "Oh! Yay!"  I don't know if she likes all the attention she gets or she enjoys getting the back of her throat swabbed- probably the attention. Although, this time when we left she made a comment like, "That was a long time," and she is right, the appointments are usually about two hours. Her height and weight are still great and I am so grateful. The nurse always asks if she has had any sickness and I told her no. I got the feeling that she didn't quite believe me.
The doctor asked me to consider putting her back on the Pulmozyme as a preventative medicine. I will have to think about that....

She is taking more responsibility for her medical needs. Lately she has been carrying her nebulizer cup down the stairs to her equipment. She has been hooking up her hoses and putting on her own mask. Then she pushes the buttons (in the correct order) on her vest machine. She watches her 20 minutes tick down on the digital screen and knows that she can take off her nebulizer mask when there is 8 minutes left. This  morning she read a book to me while on the vest and wearing the mask- her shaky voice barely coming through over the noise of the machines. But she didn't think anything strange about it. I was very proud of her. When we drive through the Walgreens to pick up her prescriptions, she asks if she can hold them until we get home and then she carries them into the house. She acts as if they are a special present for her- and I guess, in a way, they are.  The other day we were pulling out of the driveway to go to dinner at a friend's house and she called out, "Don't forget my enzymes!"  And at meals I usually ask her to tell me when she is ready for enzymes and how many she wants to take at a time (she takes seven at a meal). I have been putting out her basket of vitamins and medicines and having her pick out what she needs for each meal and place it by her own plate.  The CF team once told me that it was important for her to learn to take care of herself, so that it is second nature to her, like brushing your teeth- so that some day when she is on her own, she can take care of herself.  I can't take away her CF, but I can teach her about it, and how to take care of herself. That is what moms do. I can do that.