This week has, so far, been one of those weeks where I find myself in a constant state of shock from the ignorance people are capable of. Yes, there are lots of decent people out there, but there are also a lot of people who just don't seem to give a damn. Kanye West actually symbolizes this week quite fittingly.

First, there is the annoying fact that for the first time in my four years at Guelph-Humber I decided to treat myself to a locker. This would save me the inconvenience of lugging around all my books up and down the spiral staircase. So, with my shiny new lock in hand (I even had to re-learn how to use a lock), I skipped merrily along to my registered (and paid for) locker only to find someone else had helped themselves to it! Being the nice person that I am, I left the invader an eviction notice (two, in fact). The "final notice" will be me getting security to physically cut off the lock and chuck their stuff somewhere. I don't care where. I really am nice.

But even that is just a minor blip in the week and it only translates more significantly on paper (rather, digital paper) than it does in real life.

Cut to my first magazine class of the year. I finally met the professor I've been receiving long e-mails (class related!) from over the past year. He seemed like a pretty decent guy until he shared one minor detail--he had the FLU! Not only that, but he openly joked about it saying how he didn't have a huge interest in H1N1 because it "only affects you young folks." I am so glad such a superior being will be spared the hardships of H1N1. Nevertheless, I was supposed to meet with him after class to discuss my own catch-up schedule (since I had to drop the prerequisite to his course last year), but I choose to beeline for the door instead.

Finally, today I went up to clinic to get my second Twinrix shot (not a full appt. just needed the nurse to give me the injection). I was there all of 20 minutes, but I noticed that "contacts" were at the clinic at the same time. This was at 9:30 in the morning and "contact" clinic is supposed to be at the very end of the day. For those of you who are not in the know, "contacts" are people who were exposed to the cepacia outbreak last October. Cepacia is a very dangerous bug for a person with CF to get, it makes infections more difficult to treat and transplant more difficult to survive. People with CF go through great lengths to avoid picking up cepacia. The "contacts" that were exposed to people that picked up cepacia last year do not necessarily have cepacia. Right now they have negative cultures. However, sometimes it takes up to two years to show up so many of these patients are playing the waiting game and are in a "grey area".

So right now there are (supposedly) three categories for our CF clinic:

1. Cepacia positive clinic (on Wednesdays)
2. Cepacia negative clinic (Tuesdays)
3. Contact clinic (Tuesdays)

Originally, after the outbreak occurred, cepacia negatives (that's me!) were told that contacts would go to clinic at the end of the day so as to avoid any risk. However, in the past few months I have witnessed this strict regime dwindle down to something that has become increasingly optional. Take for instance this morning, it was 9:30 am and contacts were already in clinic. As you can guess, I remain quite perturbed. I do everything in my power to stay healthy, one of my closest friends has CF but we never hang out in person because of risk, I am constantly dodging people who are sick (even my own professor) BUT the one place that should be a haven, sometimes feels like a death trap. Why bother separating the food on the plate if it is all going in the same place anyway?

Anyway, that concludes my four cents of the day.

Drum roll please...
When I came home last night from a weekend in Collingwood there was a message on my phone from the Transplant Coordinator at TGH, Michelle. She said they had the meeting about me (which I originally plotted to send a spy to) and had decided that it is too early for me to go on the active transplant list. Also, all my tests looked great and I would be a suitable candidate for transplant in the future. Two for two!

A Different Type of Learning…
Today was my first day of school, but I spent it at St. Mikes instead. I was really tempted to cancel my CF clinic appointment but as one CFer reminded me, your health comes first. Again, I had to fast for an ultrasound (my last official transplant assessment test), which I wasn’t overly excited about. Turns out the lady who was supposed to do my ultrasound called in sick today, so my fast was in vain.

Funny enough, without even trying I gained weight since my last clinic appointment (which was one month ago) but sadly my PFTS dropped from .87 L to .76 L, which was a surprise to me seeing as I have been working out more than usual and feeling pretty good!

Alas, I have been stripped of my one-month appointment privileges and will have to go back in two weeks instead.

Getting Shot
One bonus of going for my tx assessment before I am sick enough to go on the list is that I can get all my lovely shots out of the way. Since your immune system is pretty much non-existent after tx, you need to get them all done before you go on the list. So today I got my first round of the Twinrix shot (for Hepatitis A+B) and the Gardasil shot (for HPV). I go back next week for my second round of the Twinrix shot—it is quite time consuming!

Here is my schedule:
Twinrix: Today, 7 days, 21 days and 6 months (4 shots total)
Gardasil: Today, 2 months, 6 months (3 shots total)
Varicella: 2 months apart (2 shots total)

I also found out that I have never had the chicken pox (which I knew, but they wanted to make sure). I have definitely been exposed to it—my best friend in elementary school had the chicken pox—but I somehow never got it, so I have to get the “chicken pox” shot/Varicella shot.

What else did I learn today? My blood type is O+, which can give to A+, B+ and AB+ (not that I am even big enough to give blood) and is also the most common blood type. Good news there.


Got Mono?
Where the good news does not continue is that I have never had the Epstein-Barr Virus which causes something you may be familiar with: mononucleosis. I am told this is not very common since most people have been infected with Epstein-Barr by adulthood (even if they have shown no symptoms). I have certainly been exposed to mono as well, but have mysteriously never got it (my sister even had it for months when we were sharing a bathroom… though admittedly I made her change to the basement bathroom. Mistake?) So why, you ask, is this a bad thing? Well, Epstein-Barr—while inconvenient—actually provides you some immunity from post-transplant lymphoma. So I guess I’ll try hanging out at the local high school to pick up some of that ever-popular mono.

The verdict is in and I feel pretty good about it, so tomorrow it is on to the next chapter and back to the books!

My favourite part about going back to school is stocking up on necessary (and unnecessary) supplies. What can I say? White out, pens, file folders, notepads, sticky notes and binders all lead to my uncontrollable excitement. Maybe this is why I always end up with office jobs—the post-its get me every time.

So today I went to Dollarama with the intention of purchasing a few birthday cards and—as is usually the case with Dollarama—ended up walking out with much more than I had planned, including some lovely additions to my school supply collection. I only purchased a few file folders because I don’t really need much this year, but I realized that my list of back to school supplies has extended to include some rather unusual items.

Additional back to school necessities for Sept. 2009:

One of the most important weapons for avoiding colds, the flu and nasty bacteria—either of which could easily be a one-way ticket to months of IVs, lengthy hospital stays or transplant status. I wash my hands like crazy, but because I don’t travel with a kitchen sink and soap (my purse is not big enough) antibacterial is the only way. I am glad to see more places are setting up purell pump stations and more people are actually using it. It makes my job—of staying healthy as long as possible—a lot easier.

• Clorox Wipes

For the times people don’t wash their hands properly (we’ve all seen them in the bathrooms and been grossed out—you know who you are!!) and the times people sneeze and cough all over shared computers, equipment, etc. Clorox wipes are essential for any computer lab, which I consider a boardroom for bacteria plotting to take over the world.

• Cold FX

When Clorox and antibacterial fails you, there is Cold FX, which is plan C. Apparently the extra strength works wonders when you have the first signs of a cold or flu (e.g. sore throat). I think this September I will take the milder everyday version for preventative reasons, my faith has yet to be restored in my immune system.

• Vitamin C

Yet another immune system booster that is no big deal to add to my pill regime. I’m not big on drinking OJ unless I have a ridiculous sugar crash (I’m not diabetic, but my body likes to surprise me with sugar lows for the heck of it) sooo I prefer the pill form.

• Flu Shot and H1N1 Shot

I did not get my flu shot last year because I kept getting sick… so I've got to get on that this year. Also, because of the Mex—er, swine pigs (sorry, I’m a terrible person) I must weasel my way into getting the H1N1 shot. I was told that people with respiratory problems are always high priority anyway, so I will most likely be getting it (and it might be two shots). The media is already hyping up the back to school pandemic, so I’m not feeling so hot about adding that concern to my agenda. I really don’t think H1N1 will fit into my schedule this semester—sorry swine flu!

Fun fact, if someone is “high-risk” for flu complications in your household/someone you are close with, you should also get your flu shot because you can be a “carrier” (have no symptoms, but pass it on). That is probably a housewarming gift you should skip.

Other possible additions to my back to school shopping list: oil of oregano, tea tree oil and other immune-system boosting valuables.