I posted this on my author facebook page (which you should follow if you aren't already - look up Allison Watson - Author page and there will be a smiling picture of me). I think it bears repeating because I find this article and the pilot project of allowing people to fly to Toronto when lungs are available so interesting.

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There is a new pilot project that Nova Scotia is trying where people waiting for lung transplants are able to wait in Halifax and fly to Toronto when lungs become available. It has been successful for one woman, profiled in this article. The risk of not getting a flight due to fog or not being allowed on the plane due to low lung function seems high to me - airlines are allowed to deny you a flight if you are too unhealthy - but clearly it can be worth it for people with a low, but stable, lung function.

Before you ask, it's unlikely Amy would ever be eligible for this program due to people with CF having a tendency to have their lung function dramatically crash. Unless she somehow has access to a private jet that she's never told me about.

The ex-vivo machine discussed in this article is an amazing technological breakthrough. My donor lungs, four years ago, were in the ex-vivo machine for a time. The machine is beneficial, not only for allowing lungs to survive longer outside of the body but also to be scrubbed of any infection before transplant. Last year the Toronto team successfully started transplanting lungs infected with Hep C which would have been unthinkable years ago. The more lungs that can be used for donation, the less chance there is of people dying while on the transplant list.

Link to the article:

https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/the-breathing-machine?fbclid=IwAR1DXt2Xwrn3jZhDJodNtaDRaT0mqhjpCYfp392BzOoIogRL6hCia2lXvjU

Five Feet Apart Movie

A lot of people have been asking me what I think about the new movie Five Feet Apart, about two teens with CF falling in love. The girl likes to control everything she can around her CF and the boy is all about living carefree. They are hospitalized at the same time and fall in love. But they can't be within six feet from each other due to the risk of cross contamination. Will love conquer all!?

I haven't seen the movie or read the book so don't have an opinion on the movie or book itself but I think that it's beneficial for CF awareness to have a popular teen movie in theatres. If people are more aware of what CF is, and are willing to help financially with CF research, I'm all for it.

I know some people are upset about people with CF being only portrayed as 'tragic' with people spending all their time in the hospital but that's what happens with there is only one mainstream movie about people with CF. It's not possible to tell everyone's story in one movie or one book.

If anyone has seen the movie or read the book, I would love your opinion on it!

Ever since Christmas I've had an infection that has increased and decreased in strength depending on the week but it's never really gone away. Or maybe I did get over my Christmas cold but a week later I was sick again. This has not been my winter for staying healthy. I'm paranoid about being near people who are sick but it's hard to avoid everyone.

This latest round of infection went directly to my chest and has stayed there for about a month now.  I started on antibiotics almost immediately but since I still have a deep cough that isn't clearing up, I'm now on increased levels of prednisone for 10 days. I'm always on a bit of prednisone but now I'm up to 30mg a day which is a lot. For reference, I was on 20mg immediately post-transplant and had to be on 50mg for 5 days during each of my chemo cycles.

I'm six days in and I'm starting to feel the full effects of the steroid. My blood sugar levels are high, my appetite is through the roof, and I spend the afternoons quite jittery. I hope this works to get rid of the cough because the next step is probably aerosol masks.

Thankfully my energy bounced back so I've been able to still be active and mostly do what I want, it's just this cough that I can't seem to shake. I'm extra paranoid when my immune system is lower that I'm going to catch something else. Speaking of, I got my shingles vaccine last week so at least I won't be catching that from anyone any time soon. My doctor had to convince the pharmacist that it was necessary to give it to me. She was quite hesitant because I'm under 50 but after several phone calls I finally got it. It's generally not a life or death viral infection but I've read it can be quite painful so it's best if I can avoid it if possible.

Kouchibouquac

Happy long weekend! I'm spending the weekend reading through the proof of the book to finalize all the changes and try to make sure there isn't anything I've missed - hopefully nothing too major. I've read through the book so many times that I feel like my brain just blends it all together at this point.

Last weekend, we went to Kouchibouguac for a bit of a mini vacation, rented a cabin beside the park, and went snowshoeing and rented fatbikes. There was no snow in Springhill or Moncton and we drove up in the pouring rain so we were nervous about the conditions. Thankfully, there was still snow in the park. It was a bit icy the next day after the rain but there was enough to enjoy.

The fatbikes were lighter than I had pictured them being and while it was a workout to bike in the snow, it wasn't too bad. My legs were tired but mostly because I haven't been on a bike since last summer.

Whee!

Amy sent up her camera with Mom and Dad (she wisely stayed home out of the wind) so I could take pictures while everyone else sat in the car. Dad and I went out and took some snowy star pictures after the sun went down. The advantage of winter is that you don't have to wait until 11pm for the stars to all come out, we got back to the cabin in time for Dad to catch the last of the Leafs overtime game. The disadvantage is the risk of frostbite while standing around taking the pictures. 

Eagle on the river!

Frozen ocean.

Happy February! I recognize I've been MIA the past few weeks. I have finished my book edits and they're off to Nimbus! Now the Nimbus editor reviews everything, adds the pictures, and does more edits (mostly for spelling mistakes).

January seemed to fly by with working on my book and promotional information. I made it downhill skiing once at Wentworth and cross country skiing a few times before we lost all our snow. I'm hoping it will come back but only in small amounts at a time so I don't have to shovel too much.

It seems like I spent most of the time trying to get over the cold I got at Christmas. I tried to be paranoid by washing my hands a ton but I still got sick. And it has lingered on for weeks. And then it rebounded or I got another one last week that really knocked me out. It's basically been a month of getting my energy back and then losing it again.

I know this isn't much of a blog post but I just wanted to say that I'm still here.