Clinical Trials, The Mine and My Competitive Spirit

Here's what I'm thankful for this Thursday:

- I'm so thankful for the availability of clinical trials for those of us with Cystic Fibrosis. I actually just started my first one in a long time and so far so good. Granted, I'm on a med (TOBI) that I've been doing for about 10 years now, but it's a head-to-head trial versus AZLI (Aztreonam). I had a 50/50 shot of being given either drug and I was chosen to do TOBI. Mandi asked if I was disappointed that I didn't get the wonder drug AZLI (it's been shown to increase lung function by 10-12% in a month) but my response was a simple one, "I just hope that someone with lower lung function is given the opportunity to take that drug".

- I'm so thankful for The Mine. The Mine is a bible study that takes place every Tuesday night at my church (it's almost like a church service as there is 500 people that attend) that really digs into the bible. We go verse by verse and really dissect each passage. Last night (Tuesday) was all about how important it is to have fellowship with other Christians who encourage each other to walk with God daily and strive for a life modeled by Jesus while He was here on Earth. I've been blessed to be surrounded by a great group of friends that do just that!

- I'm thankful for my competitive spirit. Although this quality has gotten me in trouble once or twice (ie church league softball and dodge ball), I'm so thankful that it is still in me today. Being in constant competition with myself is often the drive that keeps me going everyday as I am always trying to be better than I was the day before. It's what got me through my run yesterday even with a belly full of Dunkin Donuts coffee and lungs that felt they were swimming with mucus. I just refuse to lose...even to yesterday's version of Ronnie.

"Don't ever strive be better than someone else, just always strive to be better than you." ~Ronnie