Blowing CF out of the water!!!

First off, let me share some great news. My pulmonary function was up a record 9% today. It was the first time I've hit 90 percentile in my FVC in more than 2.5 years. FVC is Forced Vital Capacity meaning the amount of air which can be forcibly exhaled from the lungs after taking the deepest breath possible. It is the single most important indicator of an infection in the lungs.

I think the swimming and biking are really helping. I took a half day today so I immediately went to the gym after the great news. This is no time to get complacent. It's time to build on the great news. Last time, my doctor told me that science shows that our lung function declines as we get older. I told her I failed Science and therefore don't believe in it. I proved I'm more of a fan of "science fiction" than I am of science today. It's been an emotional day and I was thrilled to relay the news to Andrea this morning.

Wish for Wendy has broken the record for our sponsorship numbers this year and I'm going to credit that to Rusty Sneiderman. I worked my tail off to accomplish the ideas he had last year. Even while not with us, Rusty has made a difference for so many people.

How am I doing? I actually am doing well. Rejoining my gym has certainly helped as I am swimming, running and biking twice a week while still working out at home. TOBI is starting to take a toll on me. I only have one week left of my 28-day supply. I try to take a couple of 15-minute naps in my car during the week and I try to walk around as much as possible so I don't collapse from exhaustion.

The playoffs begin soon and my softball team is in first place. I hope I can win that first title as a captain.

My book will be arriving next week. I'm pretty nervous as to the reaction it will get but I know that it will make a difference for people who deal with difficult emotional and/or physical issues.

Thanks for your time. Have a nice weekend.

Andy

My book will be available at Wish and my new workout routine

I'm excited that my new book "The Drive at 35" (cover attached) will be available in bookstores at the end of November and that 24 signed copies will be available at Wish for Wendy. My goal is to make this book a NY Times Best Seller and raise a lot of money for charity and especially raise awareness for this awful disease.

I joined Lifetime Fitness again this month after freezing my membership for a year. I have been doing one triathlon a week which includes 12 Olympic laps in the pool, a 1-mile run and a 3-mile bike ride. I do this all within 50 minutes. I'm not training for a triathlon right now. I just want to stay in good shape. This doesn't include the fact that I worked out for half-an-hour this morning and also ran for 17 minutes in place while doing my therapy. I also have softball tonight.

Jessica Black, Miss United States 2010, (attached) will be co-hosting Wish for Wendy this year. I'm excited to add Jessica to our fundraiser. Brandon Beachy (also attached), Braves rookie sensation, will also be signing balls this year for the cause.

There are a lot of things going on for cystic fibrosis research and I hope my book and Wish for Wendy can help us to raise awareness outside of the CF community as to how close we are to a cure.

Thanks,

Andy

The Dream is over! A cute pic of Ethan!

While desperate to find a winning team in this city to root for, I happened upon the Atlanta Dream who had just reached the WNBA Finals. I tuned in to game 1. They lost. Then I turned on the end of game 2, another defeat. The other night, I tuned in and they were done. So much for making me feel better after my Braves collapsed. Now the Falcons are looking bad too and the Dream is done. The Thrashers are gone and the Hawks don't look like they'll have a season. On the bright side, my softball team is undefeated.

Go Dawgs! Speaking of the only team that wins for me, here is a picture of Ethan after my Dawgs won this past Saturday over Andrea's Vols. Avery decided not to take part this year. When we made the bet, I didn't put into consideration the fact that Avery would have a mind of her own and may not want to wear UGA stuff. Don't worry. She won't wear UT stuff either. Is this how a future Florida undergrad acts? Ut-oh!

I got some great news that Brandon Beachy will be coming out to Wish for Wendy this year and we'll have some representation from the Atlanta Beat organization. That's really exciting. Besides that, the Falcon cheerleaders, the Chick Fil-A cow and several local celebrities will be making an appearance. I will also be doing an interview for AM750, 95.5FM, 98.5FM, and 97.1 FM for later in the month.

Wish for Wendy is my big focus right now. We also have the Atlanta Beat coming and we just found out that Jessica Black, Ms. United States 2010, will be hosting our event this year. The news keeps getting more exciting for Wish for Wendy! Please come on out!

Also The Drive at 35 will be available at Wish for Wendy, at least 24 signed copies will be available. The book will be in stores by the end of November. I'm really excited and I hope everyone enjoys reading it.

Andy

Hell of a Trip

Well, let me start out with the serious part. The speeches to the CF Foundation and CF Services went over extremely well. I spoke for 3 hours to 3 separate groups totalling 150 plus people. I received standing ovations and really good insight from everyone that was there. They even did a theme based on my fiction book "A Superhero Needs No Cape." I attached a picture of the big poster they had out. Each employee dressed as their favorite hero. It was the first time I attended the National CF Chapter and was thrilled with all of the wonderful people who care so much about patients like myself.

Now for the funny. And I promise if you thought it was called Murphy's Law, you will soon understand why it should be changed to Lipman's Law.

So Monday morning began innocently enough. I woke up early and got all of my stuff done. I was packed and ready to go in plenty of time. This trip was going to be easy. I usually worry about travel because of all of the meds I have to take on board.

As I was leaving, I was re-ordering some meds on-line when I noticed my Zenpep was not on the list and then I checked and I was down to only a couple of days of supply. I have to take 16 to 20 of these enzymes a day for my digestive system so they are critical to my health. I called my mail-order pharmacy to see why there was a delay and apparently they faxed a request to my doctor's office in August and never heard back. I then asked "Why didn't you tell me that back in August or even September?" After working it out, I called both the doctor and the mail-order pharmacy and they told me the soonest I'd get them was Friday. I was frustrated so I had my doctor call in a one-month supply at my CVS, which of course meant I'd have to pay about 20 times the normal fee to get it. Finally Andrea was able to talk the pharmacy into giving us a week's worth for a large fee but still much cheaper than the prior total.

So I'm driving along and running late now because of the time it took to get my meds on order. So who happens to stop me? A state trooper on a motorcycle. I begged him to let me go as I was running late for a flight but no, I was going 76 in a 65. Are you kidding me? Doesn't everyone on 285 do that at a minimum? Anyway, I got back to driving and got to the airport. When I parked, I hit a huge soda on the ground with my tire and I heard the cup explode under my car. I of course was only able to find a space in 71D!!! Row seventy freakin' one! When I got out, my ticket and flight info fell under the car. I had to crawl down and get them while the wind was moving them. Then I forgot my car had hit the full cup of soda when I parked so it was wet where I was reaching. Oh, it gets better.

So I finally walk to the airport with all my machinery and luggage (71 ROWS!!!!) and I get to the touchscreen to check in for my flight. My credit card would not go through. I went to the agent and asked why. He said "It says here your flight leaves at 12:45." I said "Yes, I know. That's not the issue." "Yes, it is." he said. "It leaves from Baltimore and we are in Atlanta." Oh my God, I reversed everything. I was supposed to fly out of Atlanta at 12:45. Instead I'd put depart from Baltimore on Monday and depart from Atlanta on Tuesday. Ahhh! So I had to pay extra to get on the 12:40 Atlanta flight. And I told him to change my Delta flight to around the same time as I had prior for Tuesday evening so he said "How about 7:45?" I said, "GREAT!" Finally, I made it to the flight. Things couldn't get worse, right? Wrong.

So I get to BWI airport and the luggage is coming out. What happens? One of the bags gets stuck. What's even funnier? After 5 minutes of fixing it, my bag is the next one in line. I finally rent my car and get to the hotel. I took a risk and did not rent a GPS as I wanted to prove I wasn't as direction-senseless as everyone thinks I am. I instead used my Google Maps and got to the hotel within an hour in Bethesda.

Tuesday went better. I got up early, worked out, had a protein bar and went to the CF Foundation. Things were getting better. My speeches all went great. I had to believe that the day before was just dumb luck. I was a better traveler than I thought. Then came the events after my speech. Thanks to being too proud to rent a GPS, I got lost trying to find my cousin who I was meeting there. Finally after 30 minutes of wrong turns and addresses, we found each other. Then I was leaving I saw that the guy gave me a 7:45 flight. I thought "piece of cake" even with the DC rush hour traffic.

Andrea called and said "You almost there?"

"I'm on the way. Traffic sucks. I hope I make my 7:45."

"7:45? I show your flight would be 7pm."

"Nope, I'm looking at it right here. 7:45." It's cool when the guy is actually right and not his wife. 30 minutes later as I was trying to sneak through traffic and starting to freak out, Andrea called me.

"Don't freak out, but..." My wife knows me so well. "Your flight is at 7pm."

"No honey, it says 7:45."

Andrea said "Is there an 'a' next to the 7:45?" Folks, letters are very critical when checking the time. I learned that in first grade but seemed to forget it this week. Apparently my flight was at 7:45 IN THE MORNING!!! I missed it. I called Delta in a panic to change it and called Enterprise to see if they could rush me over there. I finally got Delta to change my flight for another freakin' fee. I was so pissed at the Delta guy the prior day who was supposed to give me an evening flight but even more pissed at myself for not checking. By the way, Delta refused to waive the fee. Ugh! I told Andrea. It's ok. Worst case, I can get on a later flight.

"Andy," she said, "that's the last flight of the evening."

Are you kidding me? How bad could my luck get? She told me I could just go to Reagan and get a later flight but I was determined to get to BWI. I finally arrived at Enterprise at 6:15, got on the shuttle and was taken to Delta at 6:30. I begged people to let me ahead of them in line. The lady at the desk said she couldn't find my new 7pm reservation. Finally she said "Sorry Mr. Upman." I said "It's Lipman! Don't put the 'L' and 'I' together to make a 'U.'" She found it. I ran through security. For the first time in about 10 years, I didn't get stopped at security for my machine which was a relief but also a concern that they didn't even check it. I arrived at my flight. Things were getting better, right?

Wrong. The flight was at 7pm. We weren't in the air until about 7:30 as we had to wait in line for other planes to go. The pilot tells us that we will land at 8:30 instead of 9 and a gate has been reserved. AWESOME, I thought. Things are coming together. We did land at 8:30 but the gate was taken by someone else. 35 minutes later we got a gate. BUT the oldest lady on the plane was still in the restroom so we couldn't leave till she came out which was about 15 minutes later.

We were on the ground 30 minutes prior to that in Baltimore so technically we were in the air and on the ground about the same amount of time that we were in the air. The plane should not be called an "air" plane.

Finally I slowly trudged to my car at 71 Freakin' D and got home where I had to start my TOBI so I wouldn't have to do it during Wish for Wendy which is a month from now. I was in bed by 1am after having a nice midnight dinner while watching the playoff highlights which of course did not include my Braves.

I still look forward to more trips however I will make the following changes.

1. I will have someone else make my flight arrangements.
2. I will rent a GPS.
3. I will look at the letter next to the time for now on.
4. I will not speed in downtown Atlanta. Who am I kidding? Change that to "I will not get caught speeding in downtown Atlanta."
5. I will go onto Wikipedia and change the first word in the term "Murphy's Law."

I hope everyone is well. I'm glad I was able to avoid talking about the Braves but how about them Dawgs? I predicted an SEC East title and many of you laughed. They are now tied for first and my family's favorite game is on tap Saturday during the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. So for the first time since we started dating, Andrea and I will not attend UGA vs. Tennessee and will observe Yom Kippur. We'll still keep our traditional bet though and the winning team will be represented by our children the following day with their attire. Go Dawgs!

Speaking of sports, since we don't have a hockey team, my baseball team collapsed, there will not be a basketball season and the football season is too early, I decided to get on the bandwagon of the Atlanta Dream, Atlanta's WNBA team. I knew they were in a 3-out-of-5 championship series so why not? Since then, they have lost the first 2 games of the series and face elimination later in the week. Maybe it's me that is the problem. Oh well.

Take care!

Andy

The Drive has a Cover and Life is a Bear!

The cover for my book "The Drive at 35" is officially out. I have posted to those of you who follow the blog. I hope you like it. Feel free to send me comments. Thanks.

So I’m on a new diet because I went from 182 to 189 in a few weeks. What is the culprit? More like who! Gummy Bears! I’ve been eating 1 or 2 bowls per night. Damn those little guys! They add up quickly. So I skipped them on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and have already lost 4 pounds. I’ve subbed them for oatmeal. I also am eating Lean Cuisine meals at lunch. My goal is to get down to 180 pounds by mid-October. I believe I'm becoming too obsessed with my weight but I also know that I have to eat healthier if I am going to give cystic fibrosis a good fight for an entire lifetime.

What’s up with sports in this town (Atlanta)? The Thrashers are gone. The Hawks are on strike. The Braves are choking at a historical (not hysterical) level and the Falcons are under-achieving. At least I have my Dawgs. Oh yeah, that’s right. They’re not even in the Top 25. Maybe I should move and bring bad luck to another city.

Any way the Braves have a big week now. They HAVE TO take at least 2 out of 3 from Philly since the Cards are playing the lowly Astros. I have a really bad feeling but I’ll be watching all 27 innings and beyond this week though I have a softball game at 9:45 tonight so I’ll be checking the score on my phone.

Speaking of softball, we are in first place and this team is really gelling. When you win, it's a lot more fun to play at 9:45 at night.

Ethan had some firsts this weekend. He used a urinal for the first time although honestly he thought it was a sink when we first walked in. I grabbed him before he made that mistake. As Andrea said, I hope he now doesn’t confuse our sink with a urinal. He also scored his first goal. Technically, he scored two goals at soccer but one was against his own goalie. Meanwhile, Avery is turning into a regular Mary Lou Retton. She’s doing somersaults with girls two or three years older than her. One of the girls told me she was amazed at how good she is.

I’m thinking the Georgia Bulldogs are going to run the table and win the SEC East. I know this sounds crazy but they have a favorable schedule and I think South Carolina is over-rated especially since they have some tough games still to come. Georgia can’t lose another SEC game and must hope that USC loses at least two more times. I think it’s going to happen. I’m not too crazy though as I think whoever we play (Alabama or LSU) will destroy us in Atlanta.

I’m still working hard to find Wish for Wendy teams or even free agents. If you’re interested in taking part, please e-mail me at andy@andylipman.com.

Happy New Year to all of my Jewish friends. The benefit of being Jewish is that we get two new year's days. The negative is we get to break our resolutions twice as often as everyone else.

I hope everyone has a good week.

Andy

In support of Andrea Sneiderman

Dear Friends and Family,

I have read some of the news articles lately and heard all of the accusations against my friend Andrea Sneiderman. I'm honestly tired of reading about them and can't imagine how tired Andrea is of seeing them.

I told myself that I wouldn't blog about Rusty's case anymore but this isn't just about Rusty anymore. It's now about Andrea, the woman who meant so much to him and the woman who loved him from the days they were dating to the morning of November eighteenth and still loves him in memory today. So I am here to defend her against people that are out to hurt her. They have gone too far and they should back off.

My friend is grieving and while I've been asked to discuss her situation by countless media outlets, I refuse because I believe the prosecution of Hemy Neuman (This is the first time I've put his name on my blog) will best be helped by less public blathering during the preparation for the trial so we all make sure he goes to prison for the rest of his life.

Andrea will have her chance to say her piece and redeem her reputation, which by the way SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN TAINTED by this case. After all, it was Andrea and her children who have forever lost someone they loved. When Andrea does have her say, she will be redeemed as will all of her supporters.

I teach my kids everyday to do the right thing and think of others. All others should do the same and stop hurting people with their words. It's time to clean up the mess by allowing the professionals involved in the case to handle it and do their job prosecuting the cold blooded killer. It's bad enough that an innocent man was murdered. Let's not hurt countless others by the things we say to the public.

I love Andrea Sneiderman. I loved Rusty Sneiderman. I love their kids and their families. I know what good people they are and how much they loved each other. I refuse to sit quietly while Andrea's reputation takes a beating in the press.

Oh and to the AJC, 48 hours, The Today Show and everyone else who has contacted me, here are my comments.

I support Andrea Sneiderman. I love her and loved Rusty. I support their children, their parents, their siblings and their friends. Rusty made the world a better place. Please don't let his legacy be overshadowed by unfounded theories and fame seekers.

Andrea, if you ever need someone in your corner, just ring the bell. There are lots of "Andy Lipmans" out there who will stand by you during this fight. While you may not see our names or quotes in the newspaper, we are all around and only a call away.

Thank you,

Andy

D-Day: We'll call it a draw!

Last Friday was D-Day or should I say Doctor's Day. I suppose that D-Day fits since seeing my doctor is my own internal war. I'm scared to death the week leading up to this day because I know that the outcome cannot only change my day but also my entire life.

Andrea went to a wonderful presentation the night before and brought me a signed ball from a man who was there who is also a doctor. You may know him as Dr. J. He was there supporting "Keeping Your Cord Blood" as he lost a brother to Sickle Cell Disease. Saving Ethan's Cord Blood probably helped our son immensely as we had his stem cells re-infused 7 months after he was born to help heal his brain where the stroke damaged it. Medical science is amazing if we take advantage of it. Thank goodness Andrea has so much scientific knowledge. I'm good with sports so I'll help Ethan when it comes to that. Ha Ha!

By the way, the picture attached is one of many we had taken in Charleston by my friend Melissa. She did a terrific job. The picture is a microcasm of my life. My mom, as seen here, has always been behind me (my dad too but he couldn't make it to pictures that day). My wife and kids are always in the front of my mind as I want to get better for them. As far as me, I'm smiling in more ways than one because I know how lucky I am and how much worse things could be.

Back to the doctor, my pulmonary function numbers were down 1% which to most would be no big deal but I'm not one that takes a small dip as a moral victory. I am competitive as Hell! I don't want to accept it. My doctor said that people as they get older, whether they have CF or not, have lower pulmonary function. Again, I won't accept it. Heck, I nearly failed science classes several times in high school so I have never really accepted anything that science has told me, granted I did marry a scientist so I do everything SHE tells me :)

I'm not getting all depressed about it though, just a bit disappointed. I'm at a good weight right now (185). I've never been stronger as far as my arms, legs and chest. I run 17 minutes a day in place while doing my therapy.

It's a tough time of year for me. My dad was telling me the other day that September is his favorite month because football is back, the World Series is near and the trees are beautiful. All of that is true for me except it being my favorite. As it gets colder, which it has this week, I start to flashback to my depression where I can't go outside, the day gets shorter and I'm more susceptible to colds. You'd think that my birth month would be my favorite time of year but truthfully it's the month I fear the most.

During my appointment, I did decide to take part in my first study with regards to sputum cultures and how the cultures can determine when an infection is near.

Life in general is good. The kids are enjoying school. Andrea bought me an X-Box 360 for my birthday so I'm learning how to play it. My softball team is 2-0 and just destroyed the top team in our league 20-7. My book just went through its final revision.

Congrats to my sister Emily on a terrific fashion show at Aja in Buckhead and to my wife Andrea for a very successful Pampered Chef party in Norcross. Both events raised a lot of money and even more importantly, a lot of awareness.

I could take my test results and say "Well, it's only 1% so no big deal." I know that sounds fine to some people but I can't look at it that way. If I looked at cystic fibrosis reports that way, I wouldn't be here today complaining about them. I look at this report as a chance to prove more people wrong including SCIENCE!

Here's to my next report in 8 weeks and proving that the only science I know is Science Fiction.

Have a good one.

Andy