Perfect weather

Our reward for suffering through last week's rain and snow is perfect weather this week in Denver. Leaves and flowers are burgeoning and there is a decided green tint to the foothills.

About one hundred yards from the Airstream is this spectacular lilac bush. Just stepping outside, the fragrance is enchanting.

Day Two at National Jewish Health

Progress! We didn't need to arrive until 9 a.m.  Joy!!

The first test was a CAT-scan followed by a Pulmonary Function Test, which measures how well the lungs are functioning, including volume and diffusing capacity (moving oxygen from the lungs to the blood).

Sitting in the plethysmograph or body box, but most commonly referred to as the "phone booth." I may be smiling now, but after one and a half hours of hard work, as the techician said, I had lost my sparkle. 

Perhaps the most intriguing test so far came next - the sweat test to confirm or exclude a diagnosis of cystic fibrosis. 

Basically what they do is place a type of gel, held in place by the red and black discs that are electrodes, like the positive and negative clamps on jumper cables. You might be able to see the wires that run from the electrodes to a microprocessor current controller that delivers a low current of electricity to cause sweating. I wore these on each arm for six minutes to stimulate sweat.

When they were removed, this sweat collection device was placed over the spot where the red disc was. That's my sweat, colored blue, being collected in these little, tiny tubes that form a coil. Thirty minutes later, the collected sweat is sent to the hospital lab to measure how much chloride is in the sweat.

After all that sweating I was ready for lunch after which I reviewed a number of test results with Jennifer Faber-Gerli, a nurse practitioner who works with Dr. Kasperbauer. Finally, I had another session with a respiration specialists.  Today I did a great job of getting the gunk "up and out".