Thankful Thursday ~ Counting My Blessings

I am going to start trying to devote Thursday's to counting my blessings. I think some other CF bloggers have done this in the past. However, I got my inspiration from my friend, Fayla, who seems to always find a positive nugget within each and every day. She often starts her FB posts on Thursdays by sharing what she is thankful for that day. Fayla also lives with CF. I've had some frustrating times lately and I don't want to lose sight of the fact that I have so, so much to be thankful for...

So... Today I am thankful that I found my CF voice through this blog. I'm thankful for the blogosphere!

Blogging has been such an amazing way for me to let it all out. I rarely talk about my CF at home or with people in my "real" world. Yet, that doesn't mean I don't think about it all of the time. It's really hard not to when you are constantly medicating or treating yourself in an attempt to stay as healthy as the disease allows. Support groups for people with CF are non-existent. We can pass deadly bacteria on to one another, so there is actually a rule that people with CF are supposed to stay at least 3 feet away from one another at all times. On the CF floors of the hospitals, patients must wear masks just to walk the halls. We are literally quarantined from one another. That's always been a difficult reality for me to accept. I wear my emotions on my sleeve, but I have had to shut off this very significant part of my life in order to spare the feelings of those around me, knowing that they couldn't possibly know what I was feeling or experiencing. I didn't want to make them feel helpless, so I just avoided the topic of my disease all together. My parents read my blog. They have both commented on how much they have learned since I started writing.

At first I felt vulnerable sharing such personal information with the world at large. I've gotten to the point where I feel a sense of satisfaction when I click the publish button. I am able to release my feelings, share information and sometimes help someone in the process...all without having to "talk" about CF. It's just too hard to "talk" about CF sometimes. I have received some emails from younger cysters who say that my words, thoughts and story give them hope for the future. Those sentiments alone make blogging worth the time and effort for me. It's helping me and it's a huge bonus if it helps someone else in the process.

I watched 65_RedRoses yesterday. It's a documentary about Eva Markvoort, a young woman with CF who received a lung transplant a few years ago. She was a beauty, wasn't she?

She ended up dying this past March, while waiting for a second transplant after rejecting her new lungs. She touched many people and taught amazing lessons about life and love in her short 26 years. 65_RedRoses was her screen name in the CF cyber world. The documentary followed her online relationships and the importance of the support she received through her blog. Some of her most special friends were people she never met in person. I can completely and totally relate. Since connecting with others in the CF world I have developed some amazing relationships, with some of the strongest souls I have ever "met".

On this Thankful Thursday...I am happy and thankful for my many cyber-friends and for the online support I receive from them each and every day!