Great Strides 2012

This cheesy boy and I enjoyed our time at Great Strides this year. He got fussy quickly though so we didn't get to stay until the end but nonetheless we had a good time while there. He had a m&m donut, made a sign to show his support for Aunt Coco, went inside a PINK firetruck and saw some great friends! We ended up reaching our goal of $150 which we were happy about and came up with some ideas on how to raise more for next year. 

Partners in Crime

Since little girls(not the ones pictured above) we have been best friends. We were inseparable, always together, writing notes, getting in trouble, having to sit in the hall, having to write our names in the black book only one of us didn't do it like they were suppose to do so said person got a treat at the end of the week when they weren't suppose to and yes it still ticks me off! Cheater!! :)  She moved away in the seventh grade. We remained friends. She would visit me, I would visit her. We locked each other(okay okay, I ran inside and locked the door) outside with lizards on our(HER) back. We went to parties, cleaned puke off moms car with the window washer at the gas station. Introduced each other to ex-boyfriends. Kept each other from stripping naked, kept each or well SAID person from letting her mom know she was piss-drunk when she just wanted to keep on talking to momma. Lost our baby turtle in the backyard, poor turtle - he survived the road trip from Missouri to Texas and then we just toss him outside expecting him to wait around for us. We've been to Sea World and got to pet and hold penguins. Summer vacations at the lake house. Get away snacks at Plain Jane's.  We've been through a lot. We've shed tears, shared laughs, survived grandma farts. We've done it all and most of all we've remained best friends from 504 miles apart and after 24+ years we are still just as close.

Did I mention that she is here visiting this week for my son's birthday and that we are going to get into so much trouble!! Oh let the good times roll!!

This chick is why I raise money to help find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis. Can you help? It doesn't matter if you have a couple of dollars, five, ten, fifty, hundred. Whatever you have to give helps! You can donate online by going to my great strides account. If you don't like giving online you can give cash, check, or money order and I will turn it in on the day of the walk(not until 5/12/12).

THANKS!!

What can you do to help?

Want to help make a difference? Anything you are able to donate, even if it's just a one dollar will help.

Colette's Testimony

I have something very special that I would like to share. My best friend Colette wrote up her testimony and she asked me to share it with my readers. I hope by reading her story you will be filled with inspiration and hope. 

Hello, my name is Colette.

To start out, I was born with cystic fibrosis.  This is a fatal disease that today has an average lifespan of 37 years.  I am 29 years old and I am so blessed to have lived this long and hope for another 29 years!  When my mom was pregnant with me, the dr’s told her to abort me because they knew I’d be just like my sister, Jennifer.  She too, has cystic fibrosis and was extremely sick at the time.  The dr’s also told my parents they didn’t think we’d live past the age of 21.  Now my sister is 30!  You can’t always trust the dr’s because there is only ONE TRUE physician.  So God has been here taking care of my sister & I, letting us live as long as we have.  Another miracle he has blessed me with is my beautiful daughter.  Cystic fibrosis affects the reproductive system and we prayed and prayed and prayed for a healthy baby and we got one!!  I am so overwhelmed by His love, that He would give such an unhealthy person her wish of a healthy baby!!!  I’m AMAZED!

A few months after I had my daughter, right around Nov. 2011 I noticed the joints in my thumbs were hurting & I had no idea why.  Then I remember it was Christmas time and I noticed my elbows were swollen.  More joints were hurting by this time, a lot of my fingers were swollen and in pain, my knees, my hips, my wrists were the worst!  It hurt to write & to pick up anything, especially my own baby.  I had to get creative on how I picked her up.  I’d roll her onto my arm and lift her that way.  It hurt to hold my cell phone up to my ear, or to turn on the ignition in my car and to turn the gas cap.  You are supposed to let it click three times, and it took all I had to have it click just once.  I even had to walk downstairs sideways – which is how my grandmother has to walk downstairs, and I was 28 at the time!!  I had horrible fatigue and some days I would get fevers.  On those days I could barely get out of bed.  I had no appetite and I was losing weight.  I found that the only thing that gave me relief was a steroid pack that has medicine for just a few days.  I basically begged my family doctor twice to give me a prescription for it because I needed some relief, even if it was just for a few days- I was desperate.  During all of this I got pneumonia in Feb. 2011 and my liver count went crazy and was instructed to stop my Crohn’s medicine.  I was diagnosed with Crohn’s in 2008.  I had already had a feeling for a while that I really didn’t need to take my Crohn’s medicine anymore.  Something just made me feel I really didn’t have a need for it anymore.  You are supposed to take the medicine like 3 or 4 times a day and I had reduced my dosage to once a day because, again, I just didn’t feel I needed it.  I was too scared to come off of it completely because of the amount of pain I went through back in 2008.  When the dr’s told me to stop my medicine, just for now, until my liver gets better, I was comfortable in getting off of it.  So I was doing a lot of lab work, over and over again and my arthritis dr could not figure out what was wrong with me.  After a few months he finally tells me I have poly-arthritis; which means I have arthritis in multiple joints.  But he couldn’t explain why I had all of the other symptoms.  He recommended some type of medicine and said it was a strong medicine.  I didn’t want to take anything like that because I already put a lot of medicine in my body.  I cried a lot and didn’t know what to do.  I felt like no one wanted to fix me and I felt that no dr wanted to “own” me and dedicate themselves to me and make me better.  I didn’t want to live like this for the rest of my life.  I would dream into the future with my baby girl and I didn’t want her to be affected because I couldn’t be active with her.  I want to be well enough to chase her around the back yard and be involved in her extracurricular activities.  I prayed a lot.  By this time it was time to see my pulmonologist for my follow up from the pneumonia.  My mom started going with me to my dr appts since she was so upset that I hadn’t had any progress.  We tell my pulmonologist what is going on and he puts me on steroids just for now.  I knew it would give me some relief so I happily accepted the medicine, but I knew it was just a temporary fix.  It still wasn’t the “answer.”  I take my meds and I am feeling GREAT!! I have energy!  I can go to the store!  I can have a life!! Before it took all I had to go to work all week and then on the weekends I’d stay home with the baby and sleep and rest as much as I could.  I had no life.  I could finally straighten out my arm!! Which I hadn’t been able to do for weeks!  It was close to the end of my medicine and I accidentally missed a dose.  The very next day I felt my thumbs started hurting again…It was just a reminder that it wasn’t gone, it was just being masked.  I follow up with my pulmonologist again; he wants to reduce my dosage.  So I finish out my current dosage and I get busy and I don’t fill my new prescription.  Weeks go by and finally I think to myself…Wait a minute!! I am off the steroids! I forgot to refill my prescription and I HAVE NO PAIN!!  I feel GREAT and I’m not on any medicine and haven’t been for a few weeks!! WOW!   I am amazed that I can still straighten out my arm!  I haven’t had any fevers or fatigue!  IT’S GONE!  I can jump up and down, move my fingers, etc.  I am speechless!  There’s only ONE explanation!  That is that God has healed that part of me!  And I still continue to be off my Crohn’s medicine with no symptoms of Crohns!  I am back to my normal self again, just all of a sudden!  No warning!  I owe it all to Jesus.  He listened.  He was there with my pain every moment and took it away!  I believe in God.  I believe He works miracles.  I believe He has healed me of my Crohn’s and arthritis.  There’s only one more left!  Me and my sister!   The reason I want to share my story is to remind you all that miracles DO happen.  Jesus is here listening, don’t give up.  Seek Him and trust in Him.  I want to help others keep their hopes up.  If anyone is feeling like they are grasping onto that last bit of hope, hold on tight and pray and continue to pray.  Thank you for listening to my story.

Overwhelmed

My best friend has cystic fibrosis. Yesterday she was admitted to the hospital for pneumonia and bronchitis. I need prayers. Lots of them. I'm worried and scared and I would do anything to be there to hold her hand and calm her fears. So please pray for her for a fast recovery. Thank you.

Also on the right hand side there is a button for great strides, if you would like to support me in my fight against CF then please donate. Anything helps. It all adds up and together we will win this fight! We will find a cure!!

For information on CF go to www.CFF.org
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