THE CLINIC VISIT

One month. Or 32 days if you want to be exact. 32 days ago I decided I was done being thin, sick, lazy, and unmotivated to take care of myself. In 32 days, I poured in all my effort to gain weight and exercise right.

And now the results are real, and they're fantastic.

Today was my first CF Clinic appointment since I started The Gainitude process. It's been 35 days since I was last at the clinic. Back then (feels like a million years ago), all of my numbers were low and they were wanting to put me on more medications. I knew it wasn't a matter of needing more drugs, it was a matter of ME actually being motivated to be healthier.

So how did Clinic go?

THE WEIGHT
According their official scale, I am now 119.2 lbs, which is almost a 20 pound increase from my last visit a month ago. This number varies a bit from my usual morning Gainitude weigh-ins because those are done with lighter clothing and on an empty stomach. So my Gainitude number tomorrow won't necessarily be above 119, or even 118. But this is the official number the doctors are going with, and it's a pretty amazing increase.
Everyone there was commenting on how much fuller my face looked ("You have cheeks now!") and on my increased belly size. They were very happy to hear I had been doing weight training so I wasn't just gaining fat, but muscle as well.
The dietician and I had a long talk, and she was enthusiastic about the gains. She actually got good use out of the graph function on the Tapbots Weighbot app I've been using to track my gains every day. She was initially concerned I was on some sort of gaining arc, which might not be the best for my health. When I showed her the graph on Weightbot, she saw my weight gains were slowing to more realistic, healthy incremental increases.
She set my target weight at 125, although I told her I really wanted to get to 140 eventually. She didn't have a problem with that, as long as it was a long, measured increase.

THE PFT's  
Unlike weighing myself at home, there's no way to measure my Pulmonary Function levels anywhere but a medical center. I've described the awkward test in a previous post. So coming into today, I really had no idea what to expect where my PFT's would be. I knew my lungs felt better and I was breathing easier, but the numbers are the numbers.
Well, the numbers confirmed I am on the upswing. My FEV1 level last time was in the mid-30% range (sorry, don't have an exact number). Today my FEV1 was 45%. This is a big increase, just by being compliant with my treatments and exercising regularly for ONE MONTH.
And the crazy thing is I know I could have probably blown a better number today, but the chaos of the holiday weekend threw a monkey wrench in my scheduled exercise and treatment routines. I honestly felt a little extra congested today, at least more than I have in the past few weeks. So hitting 45% is definitely a big step-up. The doctor confirmed these were my best numbers since 2008. With a little more work, I could be seeing bigger numbers than I've posted in over five years. I'm going to make it my goal to be over 50% on my FEV1 by next visit.


All this is just a confirmation that I'm on the right track with my health, finally. And it only took me 32 days to make the fundamental change. I know this is a process that won't ever end. Even if I hit all my goals, I will still need to maintain weight, and more importantly, maintain the health of my lungs. The most important thing is that I'm out of the metaphorical woods. Now I just need to keep on the path to being truly healthy.