Can We Call Ourselves "Runners"?

It's been about 2 weeks of running for 30 minutes straight... with no walks in the middle. Just straight running. I have to be honest. I can't tell you of once where I just willed myself to run for 30 minutes straight. I don't think I've ever even wanted to run for 30 minutes until we started this running program. But, it feels so good.

Since we've been really pushing it and doing 2-3 miles every other day, I can't tell you if he's even coughed once during the day. I've really heard an improvement in his lungs. When we first started running, he would run for one minute and cough for so long, I wondered if I was hurting him by encouraging him to keep running.  Now, the kid can run faster than me, and talk while doing it. We must be doing something right!

Yesterday was Azer's first baseball game of this season! Azer is loving the team he is on this year (he's been wanting to be on a team called the "Rangers" ever since he started playing t-ball) and wow, has he improved since the fall.

Azer Talking about CF

He wanted to do this, so this was all  his idea. I think he has some good things to say.

Azer Demonstrating the Treadmill

I told you he could talk while he runs!

Outrun CF 2011

For all you participating in the Great Strides walk on May 21st, that is different, so don't freak out and go, "Oh dear, I missed it."

http://www.active.com/running/anytown-mi/out-run-cfvirtual-run-2011
"The Rock CF Foundation and CysticLife are joining forces to Out Run Cystic Fibrosis and you are invited to help! If you are not running the Rock CF Rivers Half Marathon or 5K March 20 on Grosse Ile, MI but you still want run with us, this is YOUR race! On March 20 you will find a route or race by your house, lace up your joggers and hit the road in your Out Run CF shirt. You are doing this for yourself and you are doing this for the 70,000 people worldwide living with cystic fibrosis."

 Azer and I (and Reema on her bike) ran 5k this morning, and walked a few times in the middle, because his hip were aching. But we made it! I followed Azer the last half mile, and when we were getting close to the end, Azer started to run really fast. It totally felt like we crossed the finish line!


I hadn't received my "Outrun CF" shirt yet, because I signed up late. So we wore our "Joggers for Azer" t-shirts. On the back they say, "Cure Cystic Fibrosis". At the end of the run, a guy on a bike passed us and said, "I like what your shirts say. Thank you." I'm thinking he had some connection to CF.

Ta-da!

We have finally reached the end of running program!

http://runsickboyrun.blogspot.com/2009/07/started-new-running-plan.html

We can now run for 30 minutes straight. We are trying to do this 3-4 times a week. The first day we ran for 30 minutes straight, Azer says, "So, what's next?". Lol. How is it possible that he's the one with a chronic lung condition and he can jog and talk non-stop the whole way? And I'm the one huffing the whole time. Reema hasn't been very happy about the exercise. There are unlimited amounts of complaints that she can think of. She moans and whines the whole time. Those kids ... opposite ends of the spectrum.

The back end of the armadillo. 

This has been a very busy week. The word "break" in Spring Break doesn't apply in our house. We have been doing our runs, walking miles and miles on beautiful walking trails. The day before yesterday we rode about 14 miles on our bikes, wading through rivers, and we saw an armadillo in real life! (We are so not in Kansas, Toto).

The New Vest Arrived!

We knew the knock at the door had to be the delivery guy. Azer started jumping up and down when we saw the giant box sitting in front of the door. After almost a week of CPT, we were SO excited to have the Vest back. Azer closed his eyes in anticipation to see the color of the new Vest, red, like he wanted it. I almost felt sorry that he was excited about medical equipment, but I gotta admit, I was as excited as he was. You really appreciate something when you don't have it for a while!

Great Strides Walk 2011!!

We are a team this year called Joggers for Azer! If you would like to walk with us on May the 21st, just sign up here and join our team, click here and let me know what size T-shirt you would like! If you cannot walk with us, you may also go to the link posted and donate to the CF Foundation.

To all who have already donated, thank you so much and sending lots of love back!

 

Great Clinic Day!

We saw the GI doctor today. Azer hasn't vomited once since starting the Bethanechol which helps his stomach empty faster. It is a very gentle medicine, which seems to be perfect for Azer. His FEV1 was 83%! Which means his lung function went up 10% from two weeks ago.

The results from his allergy test seem to mean that he does have a moderate allergy to mold, but the GI doctor couldn't really answer many questions about it specifically, but from what I gathered, Azer may need more steroid type medications if he has a flare up. We will see the pulmunologist next month for more answers on that.

Azer also gained another pound in 2 weeks, making him 53 lbs. They were all very happy with how he looked. I'm so glad everything is working so far.

The doctor said his left ear still looked red inside, but it's not hurting him, so hopefully by the time the antibiotics are over, it will be cleared up!

Ear infections....

Last night, Azer's Vest machine quit. Not totally quit, it just won't inflate the vest. Booo .... so I have to wake up 30 minutes early in the morning to do CPT before school, because I can't do it at the same time he does his nebulizer meds. It's sort of nice to do it at night. It's kind of relaxing in a way, sitting there watching Sponge Bob for 30 minutes straight. It's coming on Friday. He also gets to move up a size in the Vest, and this time he got to choose the color ... he chose a red vest .... anything is better than the same old green we've had for like 3 years. This machine has logged about 500 hours on it. Wow.

Everything has been perfectly fine. No coughing whatsoever. No vomiting. Stools have been great. Surprise! This morning, the school nurse called to me let me know that he was in the office, looked terrible and his ears hurt. I pulled Reema out of school early, and drove to the pediatricians. He had no fever, but his left ear was very red inside. In his middle ear, there is a part that will bulge when there is fluid build up behind the ear drum. The doctor said that it's possible his ear drum might be ruptured. But, in that case, it's much less painful, because it releases all the fluid. He will be on antibiotics (the pill is gigantic too) for 5 days.

On the way home, his ear was really hurting bad, and I could tell he had a fever. I gave him an Ibuprofen at home with some Gatorade. His baseball coach decided to have a spur of the moment practice. Of course, Azer wanted to do go, despite the fact that he was crying because his ears hurt. By the time I got to practice, he was bouncing up and down and ready to play ball. That kid amazes me.