Hello Everyone,
It has been a little while since I have posted, taking a little hiatus has been good and bad. First, I slacked a little on treatments after I knew no one would really know...so this is the bad side of the hiatus. Secondly, when I am not blogging on this I see my true colors. At this point I depend on only myself to stay healthy and to put forth the extra effort. It has nothing to do with doing or saying the right thing. It is me and my desire to either stop and die or keep up with it and keep living. So there it is! When I say it like that, you would think it would be so easy to just do it. I have resigned myself to just knowing this will always be a battle. It will always take strength to keep it going.
Well, quite a bit has happened since my last post, the main thing is turning 29. That's right, I am now 29 years old. I HAVE LIVED 29 YEARS. Let me tell you, my doctors sure called it wrong! They had no idea what I would accomplish, they never knew how much I would have lived. At 29, I graduated high school, attended college, made tons of mistakes, met and married the love of my life, created a beautiful little girl, became an aunt many times, made friends, lost friends, and have enjoyed every single breath, even the ones that were hard. So I say...take that CF!
About two weeks ago, it was an absolutely beautiful night. It was clear and cool and the stars were shining brightly. I took a minute by myself in the quiet to just breathe. Deep inhale and exhale and for that moment I have never been more thankful for such a simple thing. I decided to do a little research...the average person takes approximately 15 breaths per minute. So in the course of a year, that is 7,884,000. Over my 29 years of life I have breathed approximately 228,636,000. I think this is remarkable. Some of those came easy, some of those I fought for every liter of air. Point is, no one expected 228,636,000 breaths and sometimes I didn't, but here I am and I am going to fight for just as many more!
May is CF Awareness month. Hopefully I have made you aware of what Cystic Fibrosis is. Hopefully you now can educate others that CF is not just a lung disease. It is not like asthma, it is not COPD, you great aunt with a bad cough does not have something like Cystic Fibrosis. It is a disease that affects every cell in our bodies. It affects my digestive system just as much as my lungs. CF at this point is a life threatening disease. I will at some point die and most likely it will be from CF causes. There is no cure. Even if I have a lung transplant I will not be cured of CF. What saddens me is so many people still have no idea what CF is. Please educate yourself about CF. Advocate for us! My challenge is to visit this webpage http://www.cff.org/aboutCFFoundation/ and learn more. This foundation has helped give me 29 years. Most of the research that has extended the life expectancy was paid for and pushed into existence by them. Everyone who gives or works for them is giving me another tomorrow.
I want another tomorrow more than anyone you know. I want to see my daughter graduate high school, college, get married and be around to become a grandma for the first time. I want to take a retirement trip with my husband and struggle with an empty nest. I want to adopt a child who needs someone to love them and give them hope. I want to make a small difference in my world. I want to glorify God and praise Him for the years I have had and fulfill His will for my life. However, at this point my CF is now severe. I am buying time before I will be on oxygen, until I will have a lung transplant or until worse, I have a lung infection I can't beat.
I value every breath, I have a lot more to give to others, and will try to bring only good and happiness into this world until my very last breath. I know I am only here because God has something more for me to do and until my job is done I will give this everything I got. So please, educate, advocate and give. I (and others like me) want to make a difference, but this disease already takes a lot away from me and I don't want it to take my life too. Join me in this fight. You can also register with me http://www.active.com/running/anywhere-mi/outrun-cf-summer-fun-virtual-run-2013. You sign up and pay $25. You get a tshirt if you sign up today. All you are required to do is run or walk however much you want, wherever you want on June 1 and promise to educate others about CF. So easy!!!!!
