I have a new mechanical addition to my treatment regime. After a visit to the Respiratory Physiotherapist, ostensibly to learn methods of making the best out of the lung function that I do have through some techniques to clear my lungs of the sort of nasty things that everyone breathes in but can get rid of quite easily, I was given a machine to help. Lung tissue has small hairs called cilia (see accompanying picture) which all move in unison a bit like
sea anemone do under water. This is important because it moves mucous in the lungs along in a fluid motion and hopefully out of the lungs. Where the cilia are damaged, like mine are,
they all move in a disparate fashion so any mucous in the lungs really just kind of stays there and accumulates until, in my case at least, I cough up a nasty, solid lump. In the days leading up to that my breathing becomes even more laboured and wheezy because the mucous lines the airways making the pathways a bit thinner so less air can get in or out.
Like I said in healthy cilia the mucous gets carried along atop them but it's with the aid of a layer of liquid and this is something that I lack so what the Physio gave me is a nebuliser (a machine that makes liquid solutions into vapour for you to breathe in) and saline solution to hopefully coat the cilia that I still have to help clear the nasty stuff in my lungs. I've only been using it 5 days and already I can feel a notable difference. Normally I have a very dry cough and crackly sounds on my chest that I can hear even without a stethoscope but these have diminished markedly already. Now while it's not a terribly glamorous thing to talk about, the joy of being able to clear my lungs of nasty green stuff has made me genuinely happy.
We never got round to the breathing exercises to help further but I'm going back to see her in a week or so to get started on that. I've spoken to a few people who have Cystic Fibrosis about this and they say it makes a massive difference to them and they've got similar issues to mine so I'm very hopeful about being able to do even just a little bit more. I've even ventured downstairs more often than I normally do in the last few days so I'm clearly not as worried about the stairs as I normally am.
This has not been without incident though as I was down seeing my niece and tickling her the other day and she decided she was going to try and tickle me back and accidentally pulled on my feeding tube. Ouch. Thankfully a toddler doesn't have the real strength to pull it hard enough to really hurt but it did make the eyes water a bit.
I was out the weekend before last for an old school friends birthday meal which was fantastic as well. I went through a wee period there when I wasn't confident when going out of the house at all but I went along without even taking the wheelchair and just about managed. The meal was excellent and I even had a couple of drinks for the first time in a year or so. My best friend Dave is home for a few days over the weekend so here's hoping I can get out to the pub to see him. If not he'll come by but I'm beginning to place some importance on pushing myself so I'm determined I'll get out for a bit to see him. Confidence seems kind of self fulfilling, once you get a little bit of it, you just get more and more and more.
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