"Thank You" is not enough

Tomorrow I will have the opportunity to do something really cool: I am having lunch with the doctor who made the critical decisions almost 20 years ago that ended up saving my life. What on Earth do I even say?! The words "thank you" seem so inferior, so useless. You say thank you when someone holds the door open for you. You say thank you when a friend notices you were about to leave your jacket on the back of a chair at a restaurant. Thank you seems like almost nothing when you're thanking someone for making important choices that result in giving you the opportunity to LIVE. She may have just been "doing her job", but it deserves a lot more than just a "thank you".

I had mentioned a few years back that I wanted to meet Dr. M. I had never met her (except for obviously when I was a newborn) and she was such a crucial person in my survival that I really wanted to at least say hello. My mom made contact with her and we were all free tomorrow (Thursday) for lunch! I'm a little nervous, but mostly excited! Even though I don't feel like a "thank you" is nearly enough, I'm hoping that the fact that I took the life that she saved and have done something with it will be a greater "thank you" than I could ever say. The fact that I didn't waste the life she saved, and have taken care of the body she fought to rescue, will mean more to her than two simple words. After all, it is the goal of her job!

I'll let you know how it goes. Wish me luck! :]

-Annie

Sore from shopping?!

I woke up with my back hurting, my arms hurting, and other random muscles hurting. I wish I could say these were from a great workout... but they were just from my fun shopping day with Mom on Sunday. This is insane. Honestly, unless I went and worked out in my sleep last night, that's the only thing I can even possibly be sore from. How sad is that? I mimicked the "taking off a shirt" motion and my arms surged with pain. Yep. It was my shopping day with Mom. *sigh* I've said it 100 times and I'll say it again: I'm old, fat, and retired.

I'm going running again today with sis-in-law Sarah if the weather is good. Last night the rain was so bad I, along with everyone else around me, had to go 40mph on the highway just to get any sort of clear vision. It was bad bad bad. So if the rain comes again tonight, we will put off running. Maybe I'll Wii Fit it up again. I do love the Wii Fit.

I'm thinking my neck is sore from sleeping with my puppy last night. If there is even a slight roll of thunder, she's super-extra needy for hours after it's over. With the serious storms last night, she sat in my lap and shook. I was going to take a picture, but my camera wasn't nearby. I had to take her outside to go to the bathroom one more time, before she went to bed, right in the middle of those storms. I walked out with her with an umbrella and plopped her in the grass. She was fine until some thunder roared: she jumped up and over and right out from under the umbrella. She wasn't as happy about being outside anymore. I finally got her to do some puppy business and we went inside. I got her a towel and kept her in it until I was sure she wasn't wet or cold. My neck might hurt because when she sleeps with me during storms, she is almost under me she's so close. She might at one point have wedged herself under my neck or my back, placing my neck at a funny angle. It's ok though. She needed me.

Time to wash Cayston stuff so I can do this morning's dose. Having 2 pieces for 3 treatments is wearing on my last nerve (but! I'm biting my tongue and being positive about it). Luckily, I end my first round of Cayston Thursday night!!! Only a few more days!!

-Annie

Calm before the storm

These next few days are going to be calm and then *BAM* my life is going to be hit by a hurricane of tasks, responsibilities, schedules... blah blah. While I'm doing Gear Up (July 11-17; 25-31), I will be phone-less and computer-less (and blog-less). And I will be too tired to give an immediate update.

Oh, and any day now my niece will be born!! We're just playing the waiting game until she decides to make her appearance.

I found a swarm of ants in my car the other day. While I was driving. In case you don't know, I'm borderline phobic about bugs. This was a pretty nerve-racking experience for me. I called Chris on my way over to his house to let him know, so when I pulled up, I put on the parking break, and JUMPED out of my car, leaving it running. He came outside and squished as many as he could find. My car is getting cleaned (inside and out) today.

No real exciting news or anything. Oh, well, other than I get to meet Lauren! I'm going up north to where she lives early August and we are going to rock the town, masks and all! I'm really excited!! There will be pictures.

-Annie

Silent Saturday

Bloggers, blogs, and bloggies?

The Andrea Standard Dictionary defines a "blog" as "Noun: An online journal being actively updated by a blogger; Verb: to actively write in the online journal."

The ASD defines a "blogger" as "Noun: Anyone who is actively writing in a public or private blog; a blogger may simultaneously be a bloggie."

The ASD defines a "bloggie" as "Noun: Anyone who is actively reading a public or private blog; a bloggie may simultaneously be a blogger."

Now that that's straightened out, it's time to blog in my blog about other blogs and bloggers. (The word 'blog' is starting to look really funny.)

My Go-To Guys/Gal:

Sometimes I have basic CF questions. Sometimes I have more complex questions. Either way, I usually want those questions answered! Googling stuff about CF usually gives me WAY more information than I wanted, tending to result in information overload and a sob-session. I do my best to avoid just parading into the unknown world of the internet with CF questions, but I still want my questions answered. They are usually not questions that I really need to call my doctor for, but I can't ask any of my friends either (seeing as they know way less about CF than I do). So what do I do? I have found a few blogs that are chock-full of good, honest information that I really love. More importantly, these people are actively answering questions with a *positive attitude* and a heart for all cysters and fibros and their families. There are 3 I am going to list because these are the 3 that I actively go to:

RunSickboyRun

Ronnie has on his site the phrase: "It is a place where no question is ignored, no accomplishment is too small, no goal is too big, and every comment is cherished." This is not just something he wrote and ignored. I have never seen a question he didn't answer nor a comment he didn't reply to. Ronnie and Mandi and their newly-married selves are passionate about keeping the CF community positive, active, and inspired to keep fighting. His blog is a wealth of knowledge and a place for funny stories, goofy pictures/videos, and of course good, solid advice.

Cystic Gal

CG has always been a joy to read. I love her blog because it really does get down past the fluffy journalism and into the tough stuff. She's so real with all her posts and her readers I feel like I've known her forever. Her writing style is informative, creative, and usually pretty hilarious. Oh, and the fact that she calls mucus "yuckies" makes me laugh. The latest drama on her blog is her too-long of a wait for new lungs, but she posts about all things CG and CF related!

CF Fatboy

I absolutely love this site. Fatboy makes me smile for a couple of reasons: 1-On his blog, his wife's "name" is Beautiful. That's just too cute. 2-I've found that on a lot of topics, we agree 100%. His recent post about smokers, for example, included all my feelings that I'm incapable of putting into words. Feels good to know someone can convert my wordless rage into a readable and relatively calm explanation. Also, Fatboy obviously appreciates every comment left on his blog because he has a response to each one! He's a great site to go to if you want inspiration, laughs, great stories, and an honest look at CF and how it affects us all.

Friendship through CF

Lauren B.

Lauren is a girl I met on a CF forum, back when that was my thing, and I loved that she was my age and had an active lifestyle and a positive attitude through it all. She's one of the girls I go to about 19yr old, girl, college stuff! We have a lot in common so it's easy to go to her about stuff that really only applies to us. She's got such a way with words and writes so elegantly and passionately, that her blog is definitely one to save when you want to read about truth, determination, and the love of life!

The Reasoner Twins

Jennifer Reasoner is a mom with 3 boys, including a set of twins, one of which has CF. He's had quite the battle already, but at age 1 he's already deployed the fighter within and takes whatever comes at him with smiles. This blog is where Jennifer writes about not only her CF son, but her entire family, and that's one thing I love about this blog. One thing I've learned about getting past CF is looking past it. Realizing that despite all of the treatments and pills, I have a family and many friends who love me dearly and a life I plan on living. Her blog is full of love and compassion for her son's health and for her entire family. Check it out!

Coming soon to a computer near you....

My mom is considering the idea of starting a blog herself!! It's a summer project for the two of us. She wants to make it a blog full of good information for CF parents everywhere. It will be less of a day-to-day blog and more of an information center for CF parents needing answers. Becoming a parents is hard. Becoming a parent of a kid with any disability is even harder. My mom wants to take the knowledge she has from raising a child with CF and make it accessible to anyone. No one should have to go through that struggle alone. I'll keep you updated on the progress!

-Annie