Colorado Ski Trip

Whoo wee! It's been way to long since I've posted a blog update. We were in Colorado for a week and since being back have been adjusting to normal life again. I've been pretty whooped lately and have been pretty lazy. Thus the long delay for posting this. :)

Our trip to Colorado is an annual trip with my in-laws that we look forward to every year. This year we were especially excited. It had been 3 years since we had been able to go. We were a little nervous about the 16 hour drive with the boys, and very nervous about how I would acclimate to the altitude. The last time we were there 3 years ago, I didn't adjust the best and my PFT's were higher then. Towards the end of the trip, I ended up in an ER for a shoulder/chest injury from a gnarly wipeout and my SpO2 (oxygen saturation) was 86%! It's an interesting story that I won't bore you with right now. It just shows that my oxygen levels (which normally run 97%) were very low because of the altitude. I read some pretty scary studies as well about CFers and altitude, which only made my nerves more frazzled. The only thing they recommend to help with altitude sickness is 600mg of ibuprofen every 4-6 hours. Which normally is great and works good. However, I am currently in a genotype specific drug trial and cannot take ibuprofen on a regular basis. I was told not to exceed 1500mg a day. Needless to say, Monica and I were both nervous and praying that everything would go fine.

Well, the boys did great!! We drove through the night and made stops for gas, food and bathroom breaks often. They were able to get out of their carseats enough to keep them from going bonkers. They had someone in the third row seat of our van playing with them at all times too. :)

Surprisingly, I did not have a single problem related to altitude!!! I woke up two mornings with a headache. I think it was from sleeping too long and being hungry more than the altitude though. We all made it through the week without any major wipeouts.

It was an awesome trip! We skied at Keystone 4 days while we were there. We were there just about from open to close. We play hard! We had so much fun! Monica showed me up as usual. She's really good on skis. She's been skiing since she was 8. She's pretty much Olympic bound in my opinion. ;)
It was nice to spend time with family, especially my brother and sister-in-law. They are both in med school so we don't see them as often as we'd like. I always look forward to vacations because of the time I get to spend with Monica and now my boys! Every day life can get hectic with work, treatments and commitments. A week with no worries except having the most fun possible is just what the doctor ordered! Monica was probably ready for me to go back to work! :)

Can't wait til next year!

I'll leave with more pictures than you care to look at, including a burst set of me jumping into the pool! AND I added a couple videos to make this post even more radical! One of the boys' mode of transportation to and from the ski lodge. The other is a video I put together (shot with my GoPro camera) of us skiing and having fun in the pool.