A Tribute

My friend Colleen passed away two weeks ago and I have not had the words to express my sadness over her death. Colleen had CF, and this disease took her away from us. She was only 16. CF is still taking such young lives and it is devastating.

Although Colleen and I were nine years apart, we still connected. We shared the common bond of having this disease wreak havoc on our bodies, day in and day out. Colleen's family and my family met when I was young, at a CF fundraising event in Chicago. They live in Indiana, but would make the drive to Chicago for the CF Foundation's walk-a-thon each year.

Thank You!

I'm still trying to gather my thoughts on this last week and our fundraising efforts. Many times I had to pinch myself to see if I was dreaming or not.

I want to tell you how thankful I am for your support to make sure my family is by my side while I recover from my transplant. I am so humbled by how many people have reached out and given so selflessly to us. I have witnessed the amazing human spirit this last week and I am so thankful to have all of you cheering me on during this process. My family and I truly could not do this without you.

You have all gone above and beyond to make sure we know you care, and so many times I had to pick my jaw up off the floor because of all your generosity, ensuring our financial needs were met for when that call comes. Tom and I thank you all so much, and my parents are so grateful for your support.

Your Help Is Needed

I want to start by saying thank you to everyone who has contacted me, and who is praying for my family and I during this time. Your messages have not gone unnoticed, and I appreciate all of the love and support that has come my way.

Many of you have asked what you can do to help, and as much as my prideful self would love to say we don't need any help, we do indeed need some assistance for this transplant.

A surgery of this magnitude has a long recovery process that involves a lot of monitoring of my new lungs and my body as a whole. After the transplant has taken place and I am deemed "healthy enough" to be discharged from the hospital, Tom and I are required to live within 30 minutes of the hospital, and that must include the awful traffic we have here in the Bay Area. Right now we live over an hour away. This means that we will need to relocate to temporary, fully furnished housing accommodations when I leave the hospital. The doctors have given us an estimate of 3 to 4 months living near the hospital. This is necessary partly in case an emergency arises, but also because I will have to be at Stanford at least 3 days a week for those initial few months. I will be participating in another pulmonary rehab program after transplant to get my new lungs and body back in shape. I will also have doctors appointments and blood tests on a weekly basis.