So the holidays get me thinking about things I'm grateful for.
Two people that always get me exercising are Chaggie (Chris) and Q.
I remember Chris mocking me at my 18 minutes of elliptical time about 9 months ago. He told me to go for 45 minutes. I told him he was insane.
Chris kept pushing me. I told him I would rather die early of CF than incorporate that type of exercise into my life.
Q, who was on the verge of moving to PA to wait for Tx, still exercised often. It hit me one day. My lungs are nearly 100% and I don't exercise but this guy can? Are you kidding me?
So after a few months I hit 30 minutes on my elliptical. And about 3 weeks ago I hit 44 minutes. Just a minute shy of Chris' goal for me.
I had PFT's on Monday. My small airways have gone from about 80% to nearly 96%. Nothing I've been doing has changed other than this exercise.
A small airway improvement is a big deal. Many CFer's who have high FEV1's have pretty dismal 25-75 (small airways).
I don't say this to brag. But I say it in hopes that maybe this will inspire someone like Q and Chris have inspired me. To exercise. To fight. To give it all you've got to be healthy.
These two men have really inspired me to do better for myself. And I'm sure the small airways #s are just the 1/2 of the story. I know I have more muscle so my insulin resistance is probably lower. And I'm sure my bones are now stronger and more dense.
And I bet those modifier genes (those genes everyone talks about that affect how your actual CF genes are expressed) are working for the better as well.
This Christmas I am grateful for those two men for pushing me beyond what I thought I could ever do. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I could exercise like this. <3 <3 <3 thanks guys
Two people that always get me exercising are Chaggie (Chris) and Q.
I remember Chris mocking me at my 18 minutes of elliptical time about 9 months ago. He told me to go for 45 minutes. I told him he was insane.
Chris kept pushing me. I told him I would rather die early of CF than incorporate that type of exercise into my life.
Q, who was on the verge of moving to PA to wait for Tx, still exercised often. It hit me one day. My lungs are nearly 100% and I don't exercise but this guy can? Are you kidding me?
So after a few months I hit 30 minutes on my elliptical. And about 3 weeks ago I hit 44 minutes. Just a minute shy of Chris' goal for me.
I had PFT's on Monday. My small airways have gone from about 80% to nearly 96%. Nothing I've been doing has changed other than this exercise.
A small airway improvement is a big deal. Many CFer's who have high FEV1's have pretty dismal 25-75 (small airways).
I don't say this to brag. But I say it in hopes that maybe this will inspire someone like Q and Chris have inspired me. To exercise. To fight. To give it all you've got to be healthy.
These two men have really inspired me to do better for myself. And I'm sure the small airways #s are just the 1/2 of the story. I know I have more muscle so my insulin resistance is probably lower. And I'm sure my bones are now stronger and more dense.
And I bet those modifier genes (those genes everyone talks about that affect how your actual CF genes are expressed) are working for the better as well.
This Christmas I am grateful for those two men for pushing me beyond what I thought I could ever do. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I could exercise like this. <3 <3 <3 thanks guys