I am so blessed!

Wow! I feel so blessed right now. As most of you know, I started fund raising for the Great Strides walkathon last month. I sent out a message to all of my friends on Facebook including people who I haven't talked to since elementary school. I did not really expect a huge response, but my friends came to my aid with flying colors! I made my goal $1000, and I was not even sure that I would be able to get that much. It has only been a month since I asked for donations, and I am already very close to hitting my goal! Through my Great Strides website, I have received $660! I also have two checks that were sent to me; one for $100 and one for $50! That brings my total to $810!!! That is absolutely incredible!

To those of you who have donated, thank you so much! I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your help. Also, be expecting a thank you note with a total amount that my team raised in May! I am blown away by my friends' generosity!

If you are interested in making a donation, just click here. Thank you so much for your help, and please know that no amount is too small! Almost 90 cents from every dollar go straight to funding the research that will find new treatments and maybe one day, a cure.

Video About CF and What It Is

This video might seem boring, but it does a good job of explaining exactly what Cystic Fibrosis does in a way that is easy to understand. So if you are interested in learning a little more about it, enjoy!

Immature Choices

I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that during college, I slacked off when it came to taking care of myself and taking my medications. I think that "slacked off" might be the light way of putting things. The truth is, there were many times that I did nothing at all--no treatments and very little exercise (just enough to walk from class to class). The question quickly arises--Why? Why would I want to screw up the good health that I had?

I was full of reasons for what I was doing, but as I sit here and write this, I see how silly some were. Here is a list of reasons/excuses for not taking care of myself:

1. Lack of motivation- It is really difficult to motivate yourself to constantly work at something and see what you think is no result. It is hard to wrap your mind around no improvement being a good thing. When I work at something, I want to improve... kind of like, practice makes perfect.

2. Lack of time- I was in college, and my time was already spoken for. I was a Young Life Leader, I had school and work, and I had friends to hang out with. Who wants to sit at home when your friends are taking a 2 1/2 - 3 hour drive to Jackson, TN just to get some sushi? I know I didn't! (That was my freshman year of college.)

3. Control- I was still in the mindset that if I want to live life without Cystic Fibrosis controlling me, I have to ignore it. If I am constantly missing out on things because of my treatments, I am letting them control me.

4. Hiding- I was still hiding my CF from a lot of the people that I knew. I thought that it would scare people away, and I wanted to find a group of friends so badly that I was not willing to take the chance. If I was always in my dorm room doing treatments, my new friends would start to notice. At the time, it didn't seem like it would be worth the trouble.

5. Independence- This was my first time away from my parents, and while my parents are great and supportive, I had gotten a little sick of them telling me to do my treatments and checking to make sure I actually did them. This was my form of rebellion. I never got into partying and drinking.... just stopped taking care of myself like I should.

There are probably others that I haven't even thought about, but just from those you can see that I was very emotionally driven in my choices. I was immature, and I acted without thinking about the consequences.

Do I regret my choices? Yes and no. I do because of the major hit my health took during my college years. Lung transplant scares really put things into perspective. I don't regret it because if I had not done that, I might not have ever learned the real importance of keeping up with my treatments. Also, when someone with Cystic Fibrosis who is in high school or college asks me advice about treatments and having a life, I can offer some pretty good reasons to stick with it no matter how awful it seems. Plus, now I see more than ever the reasons to be compliant with my treatments! Like I said, it's all about perspective.

Boomer Esiason Foundation Video

Here is a video that Boomer shared with parents, doctors, and loved ones of those with Cystic Fibrosis at the CF Family Day on Saturday. Unfortunately, because of the risk of spreading illnesses, people who have Cystic Fibrosis were not able to attend. Jerry Cahill, the man I mentioned in my earlier post about the Valentines Day fundraiser also spoke at this event. This video makes me cry when I watch it, because it inspires me to keep living without letting CF take my dreams away from me. I know it is kind of long, but I promise it's worth it.

Boomer Esiason Wants You to Take GREAT STRIDES for Cystic Fibrosis

Valentine's Day Cystic Fibrosis Benefit

Saturday night, I got the privilege to attend a dinner that is put on every year to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis. It is always beautiful and fancy, and this time was no exception. The evening opened up with hors d'oeurves and a silent auction. The amount of items up for auction was amazing, and they ranged from kids toys to hammocks. Boomer Esiason and Jerry Cahill were the guest speakers. Many of you know who Boomer is, but for those of you who don't, he is an ex-football player. He was a quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals, the New York Jets, and the Arizona Cardinals. His son, Gunnar was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis the same year I was diagnosed. Jerry Cahill is a 54 year old Cystic Fibrosis patient. He has not had a lung transplant yet, and he is a runner...very impressive and inspirational. Unfortunately, Jerry was not able to speak, because he wasn't feeling well. Boomer was a fantastic speaker, and he told a couple of stories about his son and how they deal with CF. I also got to meet Boomer, and he signed the Sports Illustrated article about him and his son that I had.

He's also really tall! ha! He got the name Boomer because he is big and loud! :)

This is a picture of the man who was my Cystic Fibrosis doctor from the time that I was 6 years old until 21 years old, Dr. Rogers.

 Overall, it was a great night, and they raised a lot of money. After all of the talking was over, they had a live auction. The first dance with Boomer went for $1700!!! That is great, and obviously, I was not the one who got that... I'm way too broke! It was a blessing to see people giving so generously and to hear how CF has affected other people.

Lung Transplant Scare

Back on August 30, 2010, I had an appointment with my CF doctor. My Pulmonary Function Test (PFT) showed that my lung function was down to 32% which is a number that told my doctor I would be needing a lung transplant sooner rather than later. That day, the future I thought I wouldn't need to worry about for years all of the sudden came crashing into view. UT set us up with Vanderbilt's transplant center for me to have the first stage of the lung transplant evaluation. Only problem was the appointment wasn't until October 28. That was a long time filled with me fearing for my life.

I was terrified about what was to come. First of all, it meant that Eldon and I would almost definitely not be able to ever have a child of our own. My plan for the future became much shorter... I didn't know how much time I would have left. Eldon and I had quite a few serious conversations during that time. In one of those conversations, I gave Eldon an out. This was our first real picture of what our future holds, and it is going to be difficult to say the least. Eldon did not take my out. He said that he was in this, and he was not going to leave. (I love him! ) So, I began to work... I did extra breathing treatments and began working out again. I was determined not to need a transplant yet.

October 28 finally rolled around, and as we walked into the waiting room at Vanderbilt, I was literally shaking. When they took my heart rate, I think it was somewhere around 120. I was so nervous because I didn't know if my all my work was going to pay off or make any difference at all. I did my PFT, and my percentage went up to 59%! I felt as if I were dreaming! It was an amazing moment when later in the appointment, the doctor told me that my numbers were way to high to even be evaluated for a transplant!

Since then, my numbers have been hovering in the 50% range, but I have set a pretty high goal for myself. I know that if I have any hope of having a child with Eldon, I really need to be in the best physical condition possible. So, I'm starting to get to work on that right now. I have no idea if my goal is physically possible, but by my next appointment (April 20), I want my lung function to hit 70%. I know that is a really high bar, but I need that in order to motivate myself to keep working at it. We'll see how high I can get my numbers.... and keep them. (I'll keep you posted)