Happenings in April

So I started Tobi two Saturdays ago and it's beginning to take a toll on me. It's always around the 2nd week that I start getting tired and fall asleep multiple times. It's frustrating.

There have been lots of treatment updates concerning cystic fibrosis over the last 6 months. There was some organism in the water that might have some type of effect on people with CF. Also the Vertex trials continue to offer wonderful results. As I said to my doctor the other day, I guess if I'm going to have a terminal lung disease, this is the one to have. It seemed funnier when I said it to her. Anyway, hearing about potential therapies and cures are great but I tend to believe that until there is a cure out there, I will give everything I have to be ready for it. A cure is pointless if I'm sick when it arrives.

I have increased the weights I'm lifting during my workouts to challenge myself (or perhaps to look good for my high school reunion or maybe just so I can go to a doctor for something other than CF - a hernia perhaps).

The book is still due out in February. I have recently reached out to a few different chapters of the CF Foundation just to introduce myself. I want to make sure that I talk to as many businesses that I know of that would be interested in buying my book and/or having me speak. I met with a gentleman, in fact, this morning to talk about that very thing.

The testimonial section of www.andylipman.com is starting to fill up. Apparently my speeches have had a big effect on people which I'm thrilled with. If you know of anyone who needs a motivational speaker, please have them go to my website.

Our family is at the end of the school-choosing process. I think it would be funny if Avery sat at a table and had 3 hats for the 3 schools we looked at and then she puts on the one we decided on. I'm not saying she has to act like Lebron James but if Jim Gray interviews her, I want her to at least mention me. I'm betting no kindergartener has put together a press conference like that. There always is a first.

That's it for now. I hope that all of you are well.

Andy


I have no other updates.

Opening Day, Howard and my numbers

Yesterday my favorite sport began. I love baseball season and I love the Braves. This could be a very promising year. I'm as big of a Braves fan as you'll find. I've been a diehard fan since 1982. From the first pitch in April (although it was March this year) until the last pitch in October, I will follow this team through good times and bad. Their performance will affect my day. Still I'm glad we are 1-0 and only 161 games more to go and hopefully another 15 to 20 in the postseason. I have a really good feeling about this year. This is the first year Bobby Cox has not been managing this team since I was in high school. I think change can be good but I wish Bobby well.

Today is April 1st and while most people know this as April Fool's Day (in fact my phone and mouse were both taped this morning so I couldn't do any work and I had Charlie Sheen posters all over my office), this is not what I remember this day for. This was my dog, Howard's birthday. Howard was not just a dog. He was my best friend. He sat with a sickly kid everyday when I wasn't able to play a lot of sports. He listened to my deepest concerns and secrets. I miss him very much.

I received my bloodwork and sputum results and everything looked good. Now I just have to get my pulmonary numbers back up. I'm on antibiotics now and start Tobi up again this weekend. I have managed to move my glucose numbers from pre-diabetic to not even close to being a diabetic. I'm really happy about that.

That's about it for now. I'm looking forward to some nice weather this weekend.

Happy Birthday to my Aunt Loretta this week.

Andy

A trip to the doctor

I went to see my doctor on Friday. The picture attached is me wearing my safety mask on Friday. All patients with cystic fibrosis are required to wear these masks so not to infect other patients.

The news was not as good as I hoped it would be however it was pretty much what I expected it to be. My lung function is down 6% so I am on oral antibiotics. I expected the low numbers because I'm fighting a cold and infection. I don't feel that bad. I'm just tired and a bit achy. My stomach is a little sore from the drugs, but that's really the extent of it. I've noticed that the mucous in my lungs appears to be looser as I'm having no problem spitting after my therapy. I think I can credit that to the antibiotics.

I had a glucose test on Friday again to test me for CFRD (Cystic Fibrosis Related Diabetes). People my age have a 50% chance of having this disease. I had to fast from midnight till about 11am. The nurse took 11 vials of blood and made me drink some disgusting "flat tasting Sunkist-like" beverage. It appears I'll have to take this test every 6 months for the rest of my life or until they diagnose me with the disease. I'll get the results back this week. I also did a sputum culture so they could have a better idea of what is causing the infection. I'll continue to update you on my progress but I know that I'll be ok.

My scientific calculator that I bought at an Eckerd’s (remember Eckerd’s) in October of 1991 has finally died. New batteries did not work though every now and then 0.00 appears. It was a great 20 years we spent together. Sure, calculus and statistics classes did not exactly bring us closer together and I never did understand half of its functions, but I will certainly miss it. It was this calculator that I learned how to write HELLO upside down. No calculator could replace it. So for the final time, I say HELLO (picture enclosed) and now Goodbye.

Tonight is the opening night of our softball season and I don't intend to let this infection affect me. I've lost about 15 pounds and gained some muscle since the end of last season so I'm looking forward to seeing how much that will contribute to my play or whether old age will still win out.

I've had four speeches over the last month and they've gone really well. I have to thank Bud Carter and the Vistage group for allowing me to speak to them.

I went to a Purim (Jewish holiday) carnival on Sunday. It was a lot of fun. The highlights other than winning a Coke bottle for answering Braves questions had to be my rabbi dressed as Charlie Sheen. Andrea and I saw a lot of people we knew and in some cases had not seen in a long time. I also saw an old high school friend at lunch. We hadn't seen each other in years. We both had two kids and I looked at him and said "Life changes, huh?" He laughed.

Congrats to my Cousin Andrea on the birth of her son.

I want to wish my wife Andrea good luck on a new tennis season. Kick some butt, honey!

I wish everyone health and happiness.

Best Wishes,

Andy

My daughter made this Youtube video

I thought that Avery was playing one of her computer games last night while I was doing my therapy. It turns out that she was making a 14-second video of her daddy doing his therapy (link to the video is at the bottom of my blog entry). I had no idea. When she showed it to me, it moved me to tears. I didn't spend a lot of time with Avery when she was little because I could not deal with any of my issues. I regret that very much. This video tells me that my daughter still loves me and I hold that love very close to my heart. She is one of the many reasons I want to beat this disease. Avery, I love you so much. You'll never know how much this video meant to your daddy nor will you know how much you mean to me.

None of you realize how much a kind word, a show of support or even just a smile can meant to a friend. Andrea, Avery, Ethan, Mom and Dad, Emily, my entire family and friends, you mean the world to me. You provide me with so much hope and strength.

Tomorrow is my doctor's appointment and you better believe I'll be watching one particular video before my pulmonary function tests.

I love you all.

Andy

Here is Avery's video. It's very short. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PO74HaCD5bw

Lipman Cowboys (and girls) through the years - A lighter blog

This blog was just for fun. So many of my blogs are pretty serious so I thought I'd lighten it up a bit. Choose your favorite cowboy or cowgirl. I'd say I'm fairly certain that Ethan and Avery are my children. I'm hoping they look more like mommy as they get older especially Avery. Picture A is Ethan. Picture B is Avery. Picture C needs a haircut. Thanks mom.

Andy

A CFer must have a heck of a memory!

So here are the 13 things I force myself to remember every morning (remove the workout and running in place when figuring out how many of these things I do at night too). This does not include the even months when I do my Tobi.

Therapy Routine
1) Pour my sinus mix into both nostrils
2) Spray my antibiotic in both nostrils
3) Spray my Sinus spray into both nostrils
4) Inhale my Xopenex
5) Do my Hypertonic Saline
6) Run in place for 15 minutes during Hypertonic Saline.
7) Start Vest Therapy
8) Do my Meditation for 5 minutes. That usually entails repeating the serenity prayer.
9) Do my foot medication (I have some dried up skin I have to put lotion on twice a day - not CF related)
10) Cough and spit up mucous after Hypertonic Saline.
11) Start Pulmozyme Aerosol.
12) After finishing Vest and Pulmozyme, go to the bathroom to spit up mucous.
13) Do my 30 minute workout (Monday - Chest and legs, Tuesday - bis and tris, Wed - shoulders, forearms and back, Thursday - Abs, Chest and Legs, Friday - Abs, bis and tris, Saturday - Shoulders, back and forearms, Sunday - rest).

Pill Preparation
Every morning I must remember to collect my pills - 20 Zen Pep (meals), 4 Juice Plus (supplements), 1 Nexium (for reflux), 3 Calcium Pills (for Ostopenia), 2 cholesterol pills, Lexapro and Buproprion (for emotional stress), ADEK (Vitamin A, D, E and K), 1 Zithromax (every Monday, Wed and Friday), 1 Vitamin on Mondays and Miralax Mondays and Thursdays.

The reason I put in an exact amount is because if I don't remember if I took pills or not, all I have to do is count. That makes it much easier than having to retrace my steps. It also allows me to have 5 meals per day (4 Zen Pep per meal) without running out of pills.

Also, these pills must be taken at the right time (prior to meals, during meals or right after meals). If I fail to do that, there was no point in taking them. My therapy machine is timed for 40 minutes. In those 40 minutes, I have five settings that I have to change the frequency (25 minutes, 20 minutes, 15 minutes, 10 minutes and 5 minutes).

Parental Responsibility
Try doing this and occasionally preventing a two year old and five year old from jumping on my shoulders so they can get the sensation of my vibrating vest and you have my morning and evening rituals.

Have a good one.

Andy

There is only fact that I care about...

The rumors about the goings on in the trial concerning Andrea and the man who allegedly murdered my friend continue to swirl. I'm sure the facts will come out and everyone will get the answers they want. The biggest issue I have with this whole thing is that it seems that the one person who has been forgotten throughout all of this is Rusty. There is one fact I know of. Rusty Sneiderman, a doting father, a loving husband, a dear son, a good brother, a charitable person and a wonderful friend died. He's not coming back. People ask me why I continue to write about him. I suppose that part of me wants to avoid what the press has already done...forgetting about Rusty Sneiderman.

Rusty Sneiderman was the kind of guy who always made me feel better about myself. If he and I traded places, I know he would be going to every media outlet telling them that Andy Lipman was his friend and that he will do all he can to finish what I started. Rusty, I will continue to do that for you. You always told me you wanted me to hone my craft and become a great speaker. To this date I have spoken a handful of times since your death and have another handful in front of me. That's not just to relay my message or to sell books or to raise awareness for CF. It's for you, Rusty.

You were my friend. I support you. I will be there for your family regardless. You were the kind of guy who would give everything to your friends. Everyone deserves a friend like that but rarely do we find one. I had one of those. I had one of those for two plus years. I should have had him for longer. We all lost a terrific person.

I still see him from time to time. Sometimes when I play tennis, I can see him on the bench cheering me on. Sometimes when I'm having a crappy day, I think of Rusty and how he would tell me his day was crappier and then he'd laugh only the way he could. I always picture him on his boat. He loved his boat. I could see his hair blowing in the breeze. He was so great with my kids and of course his own. He was careful with them and showed them how wonderful riding on the lake could be. I have to imagine that he's riding that same boat in heaven and one day I look forward to being his passenger and riding the waves with my friend again.

I'm not in the position to judge anyone. Granted I am angry at the man who took my friend's life however I refuse to let his alleged actions consume me.

I have made mistakes in my life and I will be there for any of my friends regardless of the mistakes they have made. A friend is there for another friend during the good times and the bad. So whatever happened in this case, I will support Andrea, the children and Rusty's entire family. Rusty would have wanted that. I know he would have.

Rusty, I miss you but please know that I'm doing well and moving on with my life. Still I will talk about you any time I get the chance. It's not a downer to talk about you. It only inspires me to be better.

I love you, buddy.

Andy