Update post show and appointment

So I haven't written in a few days. I'm just going to recap our night in NYC as well as my appointment in Philly!

Tuesday around noon, Rawley and I left to go to NYC. We had a nice lunch at a local pizza shop. I had probably the best Philly cheesesteak I have ever had in my whole life. It was a great lunch before the big city! We arrived in Parsippany, NJ around 4pm or a little after, got around, and then headed into the city 40 minutes away. With the show at 7, we thought we would have plenty of time to get into the city and walk around for a few minutes beforehand. Lucky for us, with traffic very backed up, we managed to make it to the show at exactly 7pm!

Let me tell you... we sat next to the loudest person in the whole theater! The screams coming from this girl were earsplitting, but the show definitely called for them! The show had an amazing set and amazing choreography, as well as some very talented singers. The show was about a young man (Darren Criss) who starts out as a window washer and makes his way to the top of a company out of sheer good luck and due to reading a book called How To Succeed. It was very well put together, and definitely worth every minute of it. After the show, we stopped at T.G.I. Friday to eat and called it a quick night and drove back to the hotel to sleep.

While the show was great, the downfall of the night was that I couldn't stop coughing. The guy in front of Rawley and me kept turning around everytime I coughed, and I got a lot of rude looks. I can understand why, but there was no way I could stop it. I took my inhaler very often and had Dayquil before the show. Nothing seemed to work, and next time I will try even harder to keep coughing away before a show.

It seems I have been coughing for about a week. I have never had a cough last this long without being sick in the hospital. I believe it is a mixture of the weather, air irritants, and possibly the mixture of pets I'm around between my house and Rawley's house. I got very concerned about what the doctor would say the day I had my appointment, but I went in there with a positive attitude.

At my appointment, I saw Dr. Hadjiliadis. My FEV1 came back as 58% as compared to 63%. Dr. Hadj said it was probably just due to the weather changes and possibly a cold. He said Nyquil at night as needed would help as well as starting my inhaled antibiotic early. Also on the agenda is taking better care of my blood sugars. Rawley and I are working together to get my sugars more under control. When I forget, he is going to remind me. It's really nice having someone who is so into helping me stay healthy, and is willing to do anything to make sure it stays that way.

Also in new news, I will be moving out of my parents house and into Rawley's parent's house. Until we can get a house, moving in together is the best and easiest way to start saving up towards building or buying a house. Also, it will give us an idea of how it will be to live together as a couple before getting married. Wedding ideas have been thrown around, but nothing has been chosen yet. Getting a house is a huge deal, and doing both a wedding and a house at the same time is really not financially possible. One step at a time, I say.

Here's to hoping for the best for the future with health, home, marriage, and family...

Excited!

So as you can tell from my title, I am very excited! For Christmas this year, Rawley bought us tickets to see How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying on Broadway. I can honestly say I have no idea what it is about, but I had heard many good things about it. Originally, Dan Radcliffe was supposed to play in the show. For those who don't know, he plays Harry Potter in all of the movies. For the day I'm going, Darren Criss is actually going to be there taking his spot! Once again, for those who don't know, he plays Blaine in GLEE, but most importantly, he plays Harry Potter in A Very Potter Musical. I am far more excited to see him perform than I would be Dan, and it just happened to work out that way that we lucked out the night we are scheduled to go! Darren is only going to be with the show for a couple weeks, so I am absolutely thrilled to see him in real life!

I haven't decided if all of this excitement is a good or bad thing yet. Currently, I'm dealing with some lung and stomach issues. I have an appointment to see my doctors in Philly on Wednesday, and I am hoping that my lung functions remain as high as the last time. They say attitude is a big part of your health, so maybe all this positive excitement will help me! However, if I know how my body reacts, it will probably not help me. When I get nervous or excited, it's almost as if my lungs collapse in on themselves and breathing is so much more difficult! I can only imagine what my lung function will be after seeing an amazing Broadway show, walking around NYC, and wallowing in the happiness from my recent engagement. I guess I should just be lucky I am able to experience all of these things. Some are not so lucky as to even dream of them! I'm going to push through the sick and enjoy the next two days because they are full of excitement, and I'll be with my fiance to boot.

Teamwork

This year has started off to a great start! On January 5th, I got engaged to Rawley Filbin over dinner at our very first date choice the BriMarie Inn in Sayre, PA. While this engagement has moved rather fast, I can not help but find myself more and more overjoyed every day when I think of spending the rest of my life with such an amazing, honest, good-natured man.

Ever since I was a little girl, I never thought that I would find anyone who would want to get to know me, let alone ask me to marry them. Fighting a chronic illness can be a rather daunting task, and there are times when you feel as though you are fighting on your own. I've learned as I've grown that is is definitely not the case. When you find a person who truly cares about you, they are willing to stick by your side through sickness and in health, and I can 100% confidently say that I have that.

Since I've been with Rawley, I have not once felt alone. He is there at every doctor appointment taking notes and thinking of ways to improve both of our lives. He's not one to ask me to do something that he would not want to do. He does not sit there and tell me to do my breathing treatments, drink water and exercise. He is right there by my side playing a card game with me while I do them, offering to drink water with me, and planning ways that we can both exercise to benefit us as a team. As strange as it seems, I have never once thought of approaching my health as a joint effort. I always felt like it was my job and and my burden to bear on my own. While I know deep down that this is not true, it's easier to see that it now is not all on my shoulders.

I'm ready to see how much my life changes once I am no longer Miss Bolster, but rather Mrs. Filbin. Bring it on!

It's a new year, and hopefully a new me.

So it stands to say that I've not been very successful in updating this blog. It seems as though where I left off in my writing and sharing is where my life went drastically downhill. After thinking and thinking, I believe it's time for me to truly start writing again.

The less I keep people updated, the more I keep to myself. The more I keep to myself, the worse I become mentally. I have let myself go: body, mind, and soul. Needless to say, I am slowly picking up the pieces from where I broke my own life. I'm starting to open up more again, accept more help, surround myself with positivity, and simply live for myself and the others who mean so much to me. I have had failed relationships which have brought me to all time lows, and new relationships which have brought me to all time highs (family, friends, and significant others). I have people who have stuck by while I selfishly and narcissistically believed that the world was only about me. I thought for the longest time that I was fighting alone. I was angry, pessimistic, depressed, jealous, and had lost my love and flare for life.

Overall, I am on a healing journey to get my life back, and I will do it. There will be obstacles, hills, even mountains, but I'm slowly remembering that I'm not going through them alone, and that what I do not only affects me, but those around me.

It's 2012. I'm newly engaged to the most positive man I've ever known and loved. My family and friends are still sticking by me. My dog even likes me occasionally. Here's to a new year full of friends, health, help, and happiness. I'm ready to change, and I will.