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Archive for the ‘Coming together’ Category

Show of Hope

Posted in Blessings, Coming together, Friends, Hope, Hospital life, mito, music, Raising Awareness, Show of Hope, Stealing words, The Future, umdf on 18 April 2011| 1 Comment »

Once you choose hope, anything’s possible. -Christopher Reeve

Four months ago I got my muscle biopsy results. It showed severe deficiencies and came with the official diagnosis of Mitochondrial Disease. Although I had lived over a year with a “clinical diagnosis,” it had suddenly become real. Really real. I found myself at a crossroad: I could breakdown and cry; or, I could do something about it.

That night I spoke with my best friend and expressed how I felt. Less than a year earlier, she had had the same conversation with her physicians. She heard those same words: “You have mitochondrial disease.” She felt the reality come over herself. And she chose to fight back.

We spoke for a long time about what we could do. How we could change the future. How we could keep this horrible disease from consuming our every wish and dream. Our every hope.

It was on that night that the Show of Hope was first conceived.

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Purple Day

Posted in Coming together, Hope Rising, Kiddos, Raising Awareness, Seize the Day on 26 March 2011| 2 Comments »

Today is Purple Day. And what is that, you may ask? Purple day is in support of Epilepsy Awareness.

Wear Purple for Epilepsy Awareness!

And in honor of this day, I have a special treat.

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No longer starving: Wrap up

Posted in Blessings, Change, Coming together, Friends, Life, Raising Awareness, reality, Sharing is caring, Stealing words, The way I see it, Tummy troubles, Writing words on 23 March 2011| 1 Comment »

[This is the fourth and final part of my No Longer Starving series, a belated editorial for Feeding Tube Awareness Week. As I noted before, life got in the way during the actual awareness week so I’m raising awareness on my own schedule.]

Phew! Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve made it through the world of tubies! I gave you an update on my own situation, a small glossary of terms commonly used in the tubie world, and an overview on types of tubies (and the corresponding who, what, where, when, and why of each). And now I’m to the most important part: the impact. The “so what?” So how is life with a tubie different? Well, everything is different, but nothing has really changed. Confusing? Obviously, as a person, I haven’t changed, but how I interact with the world has. Some days that change seems insurmountable, but on other days, it doesn’t make a dent. Most days, however, it’s somewhere in between.

I know I’m not the only one who feels like this. And maybe it changes, becomes less (or possibly more?) difficult as the years pass. I don’t know. I’m not there yet. But I do know that the good that comes with it (at least in my case) far outweighs the bad.

Because this series has been full of my words (and I know listening to the same person drone on can get old), I wanted to share the words of my friends who have been so helpful with this process. I asked them what they want people to know about feeding tubes and the people who have them.  Here are some of the responses:

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