Day 2:

So far, things have been... interesting, I guess, for lack of a better word. I simultaneously feel good and bad. The good news is, I feel like I have some energy. I mean, I'm still tired, but not as tired as I usually am. I woke up this morning pretty early, tried to fall back asleep but couldn't. So, I got up and ready without having to start my day with a diet Mountain Dew first. Also, while I'm still a little crackly and my sinuses are still draining, I feel like I can breathe easier than ever, and the headache from yesterday hasn't returned despite my sinuses being a little tender. 

Sadly, I do feel like I have a cold. I know it's not the case. I don't actually have an infection. My body is still working on getting used to the medication, and I have a long time to go before I become normal. But, I do feel pretty tender and sore. My back and sides are a little more tender than everything else. But, the pain is minimal. I wonder if this is all due to Trikafta, or because it went from warm and sunny to another blizzard in the last 48 hours. I typically feel a lot worse when the weather changes this drastically. I still feel like crap, but not so bad I won't be able to get through the day without caffeine, a nap, and a handful of painkillers. I'm actually very functional and energetic. 

Now, this is where it gets interesting. I braved the weather to brush the snow off my truck and my mom's car (she's still out of town, but her car is parked about half a block away from my grandparents' house, and she wanted me to brush the snow off it). It's not horrible out there, at least compared to what hit during Thanksgiving week. But, the wind has been howling all day, which makes everything colder and harder for me to deal with. 

Anyway, I sprinted to my truck, had to dig around a bit to find my two snow brushes (which had slid under the seat thanks to my tendency to slam on the gas), quickly got the snow off my truck, ran down to my mom's car and brushed the snow off it, bolted back to my truck, started it up to defrost the windshield completely, put the brushes away after that, locked everything up, and ran back into the house, all in less than five minutes. When I got back inside the house, I noticed I wasn't wheezing or struggling to catch my breath, like, at all! Cold weather typically kills my ability to breathe right away, and running/hiking have never been very easy for me either. They always result in me begging for air and having to rest. Except, this time, I was fine. 

Keep in mind, I was moving for the whole time I was outside, except for maybe the thirty seconds it took to start my truck and get the windshield wipers going. Even then, I wasn't wheezing and didn't feel like I had to put my arms on my head to stretch out my rib cage. My heart wasn't racing. I didn't feel weak. I just felt normal, like I hadn't just ran a block at full speed and brushed off two vehicles in the cold. It was a very different experience. It was almost alarming at first, but I know, deep down inside, that my ability to breathe better can only be a good sign. 

Will these good symptoms continue and become my new normal? I don't know. Nobody knows. This is all experimental. However, everything so far has been pretty promising. My appetite has gone down a little bit, but it is still impressive. My digestive system seems unchanged at the moment. It doesn't surprise me, to be honest. My pancreas has been digesting itself for my entire life. I doubt it can be saved. But, that's ok. I'm used to it. I can handle it. Trikafta is not a cure, but it's the closest thing to one we've got.