My CFF Gala Speech

I'm not a fundraiser by nature, but I can certainly get up and share my story with passion. I was honored to be a part of a record breaking night for the Southern Arizona chapter of the CFF. They were able to raise over 400,000 dollars (the year before they raised around $175,000) and I was happy to be a part of that!

   

Weekend Recap: I Love My Husband

Multiple times this weekend I thought to myself, "I love my husband." (I hope not all of you just thought, "YUCK-O. Newlyweds!") Well, I'll see your disgust and raise you some cheese. Ready for it? I think this relatively often. I know, I know, stop it already!

But seriously, this weekend I found myself thinking, "I love my husband," more than normal. It may be because our 6 month anniversary was on Friday (WOOT WOOT), or it may just be because we did/he did a lot that induced those thoughts. So let me tell you about our weekend.

As I mentioned before, Friday was our 6 month anniversary. We didn't do anything too crazy, just got some pizza and then sat and listen to music with the house all opened up. There's nothing better than a nice breeze coming through the windows and doors, and being able to relax to the sound of a fountain and some tunes. Now, this may sound romantic, but it wasn't this that made me think, "I love my husband." Instead, it was when he said, "soooo do you want to talk about angels?" His really sweet, romantic and subtle way of saying, "Don't you just want to turn on the TV instead of sitting here staring at each other?!" and it was in that moment that I smiled to myself and thought, "I love my husband." One, because I could totally predict that that would be his response, and two, because I was thinking to myself deep down, "Hm, maybe we should just watch something on TV." But we didn't, we sat and discussed what came first a zipper or velcro, the weather, and anything else random Ronnie could think of to poke fun of my efforts of wanting to just "sit and talk".

On Saturday morning, we attended our cousin's wedding. It was a FABULOUS wedding. Very, very well done. It was a smaller wedding, unique, and fit them PERFECTLY. I love when you can get a complete sense of who the couple is, just based on their wedding. It was fantastic. We sat at a table with a few cousins and family friends and it was a blast. And here's the best part. Cousins, Tim and Gina, have two perfect, adorable kids: one, a little over a year, and the other two months old. So I spent most the reception holding the precious little 2-month old. Eventually, Ronnie pried her out of my arms to hold her for a bit. And I tell you what - as I looked over and saw him adjusting her little dress so she'd be more comfortable, I thought to myself, "MAN, I love my husband." He's going to be a GREAT daddy one day. (Insert: Ronnie breaking into a cold sweat as he reads this...just kidding, he wants kids just as much, if not more, than I do...right honey?!)

Saturday night we had the privilege of attending the CFF Breath of Life Gala here in Phoenix. It was a very well done event. Great food, great venue, and GREAT company. We got to sit with some dear friends, the Olimbs and the Duns, and Josh and Christine. It was a delightful evening. We were there because Ronnie was asked to speak. In his typical fashion, he stood there, casually, confidently and with such ease shared his life in a matter of fact way with the attendees. A few jokes here, a real life example there. However, he was missing one key element that was "expected" of him: the sad story that showed the "death and destruction of CF". It was in that moment I thought to myself, "I love my husband." You see...that's what raises money, but that's not Ronnie. That's not Ronnie's view of CF. And because he doesn't feel that way, he doesn't work it into a speech, even when it's "appropriate". Instead, he talks about his CF. What his life looks like, and simply said with a smile on his face, "Thanks to the CFF...the meds...treatments...blah blah blah. I'm here at 30.....blah blah blah....I'm asking you to give what you can tonight because I plan on being here for my friends, my family, and I have to be here for my wife, or she'll kill me." Would a sad story have maybe raised 100 more dollars? Maybe. But what Ronnie cares about were the parents and CFers sitting next to us, or somewhere else in that room. The last thing they need to be told again is, "CF sucks" because Ronnie doesn't feel that way and they don't have to either. I think I'm getting side-tracked here, but the point is, in that moment, I smiled and thought, "Man, I love my husband."

And that brings me to Sunday. We went to church, came home, and I decided while Ronnie did a treatment, I was going to take a nap, and then we'd both work together to get the house all picked up and cleaned. But when I woke up, Ronnie had finished his treatment, and had already started cleaning without me. The house was picked up, the laundry folded and he was standing outside watching the sprinkles. (Oddly enough, I "catch" him watching the sprinklers often. This time it had a purpose as they weren't working the other day...but typically, he just watches them because they fascinate him! Ha, makes me laugh thinking about it). Anywhoo, as I woke up to see the house picked up, the laundry folded, and my shirtless husband watching the sprinklers (for the 100th time this week) I thought to myself, "I love my husband."

All in all, it was a great weekend!

My First Ever (CF Related) Trip to Albany

If you're reading this, then that probably means that I'm already in the air and on my way to Albany. I'm very fortunate to have been invited to speak on Saturday at a CF Education day being put on by the CF clinic there in Albany. I was actually recommended by a fellow cyster and CysticLife member, Ms. Goodrich, and I'm very excited that they took her up on the recommendation.

I have been invited to speak at many events through out the years, but this will be the first time east of the Mississippi River :) I generally speak at events thrown by people trying to raise money for the CFF, respiratory colleges and other venues- but it has been mostly isolated to Arizona. So needless to say, I'm excited about this opportunity. I've even, and by I, I mean Mandi, put together a power point slide show to go along with my talk. I'm getting all official on them :) I usually just shoot from the hip and whatever comes out, comes out. But I figured since they're flying me out there, I should step it up a notch and make sure they get their money's worth!!

Mandi and I worked on a presentation called "The ABC's of Cystic Fibrosis". I'll have to translate the speech to blog form sometime here in the near future, but if you read the blog, you can probably guess what it's about: Attitude. Balance. Commitment.

I sure hope that all goes well and that the participants of this year's event can at least take a little bit away from this presentation. If you're in the Albany area, I would love to see you, otherwise, wish me luck!!!

Lessons for a Respiratory Therapist

Every semester I am lucky enough to be asked to speak to the next class of up and coming respiratory therapists. I really enjoy speaking with them because it gives me a chance to give them a little insight into the lives of those they will be caring for. We were able to record much of my talk, but until we have that video up, I just wanted to list my most important points that I always hope the students take away from me after blabbering to them for 90 minutes.

I love my life. This is probably the single most important thing that I want them to learn about me personally.

If they're choosing this field for a paycheck, get out now!! This job requires that you care about people. If you're number one goal is to make money and not take care of the patient, I'm afraid you should choose another field.

As much as they might not want to be at work some days, we want to be there even less. Let's face it, we CFers are more or less forced to be there, we don't feel good and we don't get paid.

We really want to get out of the Hole and we're counting on you helping us to do so. We'd like to spend as little time in the joint as possible, please be a positive contributor towards that goal.

For many of us, you're like another part of our family. You don't always need to treat me like a patient. By now, I probably know a lot about you and you know a lot about me. Let's act like it.

If the students I talked to today can really grasp those points, I have no doubt that they will love their job and excel at it!! It's so important that we have talented and committed RT's working their butts off and helping us get out of the Hole in as little time as possible.

There's no doubt that some of these students will play a vital role in my hospital routine in the future...I just hope they were listening :)