Angers, Orkambi, and Running

I have left the vast lands of the USA. A brief stop in Ireland to check in with Prof McElvaney and to get a lung function. My PFT (Pulmonary Lung Function) went up by 4% since 6 months ago. Not bad I suppose! Other then that, nothing has changed. Thats always a good thing! I want to talk further on lung function increase and the new  drugs for DF508, which is titled Orkambi.
First of all, i am now in Angers, France. A lovely little town with even the easiest meal beating anything I tasted in America. Super markets in America have really messed things up for everyone in the country. 
Anyway, here is a picture I took from the roof of the apartment I am staying in. 

I love little towns that haven't been taken over by modern day "niceties". Wifi is bad here which makes it good. There isn't 20 different options of Wifi on my phone. Admittedly, it does make it harder to talk with Yas and my family but at least I can still talk with them everyday. It makes me look forward to have something at the end of the day. 

I love running around the streets exploring what the place has to offer. I don't go with a certain plan. I just run. Buddhist might call it Mindfulness Running. You get a feeling to turn right or left, so you take that turn. You are in the moment and enchanted with what lies ahead. By doing this, you get surprised as to what you see. I took this photo of a lovely fountain in the middle of this square. 

So let me get back to the Orkambi drug. Orkambi FDA Approval. For nearly 2 years I have questioned myself on whether I should go on it. I turned down to go on the trial, and I don't regret the decision. So should I go on it? Here is my reasoning. 

1) At the moment, my lung function is increasing every time I go to have a check up. 

2) I have reduced the amount of medication I take. All I take now is Creon, Tobi/Cayston. Thats it.

3) Will it create damage to other organs in my body?

4) My weight hasn't changed (apart from when I dropped to 51kg but thats for a different reason)

With those 4 point. I can't really see any pros for going on more medication. Yes, if my health deteriorates, i would of course go on it. No question. The temptation is to go on Orkambi as it's like giving a car a turbo engine. It will make it faster. I don't know if that simplifies it too much. 

I shall try to update the blog more often. Sorry on the slow updates. 

Bon Nuit! 

The Killer Humidity

While studying Traditional Chinese Acupuncture, we learnt a lot about the elements which can effect the body. The elements invading the body to worsen symptoms. Our lecturer Dr Fanyi Wang told us that Bells Palsy rates in China went up during spring as their was more wind. If he wasn't Chinese, I would have taken this next statement as racist. "Chinese peoples faces are flatter and attracts the wind easier". Wind invading the body creates a paralysis, or stiffness. You've often heard of leaving the window open at night and creating a draft.

Anyway, the Californian weather is mostly desert climate. While I've been here it has constantly been in the 20s, and humidity between 10-13%. Perfect for a person with CF. Living in Ireland, with the humidity constantly high, hovering around 80%, or worse during the summer months. This isn't very conducive to CF. Humidity can create our bodily fluids to be thicker, and giving the mucus in our lungs, its going to make this worse.

Today has been different. I woke up feeling crappy and i was more productive. Productive meaning more mucus. I put it down to just needing to go on a run, forgetting that I ran two days ago! Off I went on a 10 mile run, and feeling like I needed to get the lower lungs I did some sprints afterwards to try clear more mucus. It helped, but I still felt very productive.
I decided to check the weather again. Humidity 71%!! This explains a lot. It was as if I was back in Ireland. It's like when you have a nice bed but after a while you forget how nice it is until you sleep in a lumpy crappy mattress. Well that's what it's like for me right now. Two different extremes.