Skip to main content

About Time: Breath of Life Gala

The Breath of Life Gala:

They are honoring Sara and Marie!!!! My nurses from Clinic! I had these two amazing women as my main nurses for over 21 years!

I shared my feelings/story for the MC to read at the Gala. I'm very happy and honored to be able to tell everyone how amazing they are and how much they mean to me and the other CFers! After the Gala (next weekend) I will tell you what I wrote and more details.

As many of you know, these two ladies did sooo much work over the years! Even while I was away at U of I, I would call them if I was sick and they would ask me questions over the phone, help me figure everything out, get ahold of the doctor, gets my prescriptions filled and sent, and check up on me! If I left a voicemail, within a few minutes they would call back. They were always willing to help and always WANTED to help!

At Clinic, I was always excited to see them and tell them everything that has happened! I always wanted to gain weight and see them smile when I stepped off the scale!

Even though I go to Dr. B now, it doesn't mean I have stopped thinking or caring about Sara and Marie. The fact is when I was debating switching clinics, it was the thought that I'd be leaving Sara and Marie that would make me sad. I couldn't imagine starting over with a new nurse, one who wouldn't ask me how life was, how the play I was in went, or if I was dating anyone. They weren't just my nurses, they were my friends. They really cared about me. They care about all of us CFers! But I knew they would want me to do what is best for me. So a in May 2011 I left Sara and Marie and joined Dr B's Clinic (private practice, he hates the term clinic) in Chicago.

Last Saturday proved me right. I saw them at the GreatStrides walk, I got soo excited to see them! When they saw how good I looked and I told them my lung function has gone up from the 30s to 60s and that I was 106-107 in weight, they looked like they were soo happy, they were going to cry. I also told them I did a 5K and that I'm really getting healthy, they were all smiles. Of course, which makes me smile, but also sad to realize I miss them!

I gave up two of the MOST amazing nurses to go to Dr. B! I was a tough decision, but in the last year I have done so well, I know I made the right choice and now, Sara and Marie are proud of me too!

I'm beyond happy that these two women are finally getting publicly recognized for their dedication to the CF community and their patients! And the Breath of Life Gala is a large fundraiser for Cystic Fibrosis reasearch too, which is something they support in their spare time (going to galas, Cf walks, etc)!!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How Fostering and CF impact my work

I haven't been on my blog much.... I think that is because most of my blogging is currently been done on Health Union's Cystic-Fibrosis.com (here is link to all my posts on their site: https://cystic-fibrosis.com/members/cherizkunkel/ ). I decided last fall to step away from real estate after 3 years in the business. It was tough to say good-bye, especially since I had tripled my volume and business in the last year. However, I didn't have time to add any new clients; I kept saying, maybe next week, next month I can fit more work into my schedule. The truth is fostering takes a lot of time. We have between 5-8 monthly visits at the agency, 1 court ate a month, 2 home visits from the caseworker a month, plus e have 2-3 doctors/specialist appointments for our current kiddo. We have lots of paperwork we fill out, gas mile logs, receipts to add, and more! Our kiddo also participates in gymnastics and dance two nights a week. We go to a fosterparent support group with our kid ...
2 comments
Read more

Cystic Fibrosis Clinic Results. Not what I wanted, but...

My Results: I went down in lung function 2% points and lost  a couple more lbs. So I'm at 102. I was really disappointed with myself. I know that I have been doing  my meds and I have been doing my stomach feeding most nights too.  I have been making the right decisions and all my friends have been very supportive. I bring my nebulizers over to their houses to do them if we are hanging out, etc. It just wasn't enough this clinic. I really thought there would be a slight increase. However, I haven't been jogging since it is cold outside. And I know waitressing has been making it hard to gain weight. Plus, its winter. It is always harder for me to stay healthy in the winter. Dr. B was still pleased. He said "I should give myself a break, I have been doing everything he asked, I ran a 5K, and I'm still doing well." And that is true 2% increase isn't a huge decrease, only if I continue to decrease then there is a problem. Dr. B told me that I need to focus...
2 comments
Read more

Black Plague ( known as Cepacia B)

Black Plague I had a long car drive home to think, so this is long, but heartfelt. Tonight I went to a meeting for a non-profit I help with and while discussing somebody's anger issues. I decided to share a part of my past with the board that was there. I still am in shock I did so, considering very, VERY, few people know this. But I'm not ashamed and feel like others have been in my place. Naturally, the next step, is to share it on a blog, where everyone has access to it. (heh.) When I was little around middle school age I had some anger issues. I used to get angry over nothing and scream and once in a while even push my mom ( luckily I was tiny and not very strong). She would just hug me and tell me she loved me, she never got angry back.  She knew I was angry because quite a few of my friends with Cystic Fibrosis were passing away, from Cepacia B and other infections that were spreading ( apparently at the parties, camps, and apts) around. About a yea...
Post a Comment
Read more