CF bookshelf: A Thousand Tomorrows by Karen Kingsbury

In general, if I see a book has a CF angle, I try to avoid it.

Usually it's milked for maximum trauma and tragedy, and bears little to no resemblance to actual CF life. This was especially the case with the Lurlene McDaniel books that were so popular when I was in high school. If any of my friends read the ones with the CF characters, I cringed. The biology books were bad enough (so outdated!)--did fiction writers need to make life harder, too?

However, I am always open to being surprised. And I have been--once--with the book A Little Love Story. Not only is it a great novel, but CF is portrayed realistically! And some of the proceeds from book sales go to the CFF, so if you haven't bought it, um, do so.

So that brings me to the book in question, "A Thousand Tomorrows." I was randomly searching the Columbus Metropolitan Library database for CF books, and this popped up.

I general avoid her books, because, based on the plot synopses alone, they are treacly books just a step above the Romance Novel category, meaning we get stock characters doing stock character things (also known as--where Nicholas Sparks' novels are heading). But since CF was in this one, and I was going to the library anyway to check out the Oliver! score, I thought I'd pick it up.

Oh, I was so correct. Not only is it treacly to top all treacly novels, but there is so much tha tis just flat out wrong. The book was published in 2005--the year I got my transplant. So yeah, transplant technology at that time is something I'm pretty familiar with.

The author says in her notes that the inspiration for the book was a little boy on her husband's softball team. She says she talked to families about CF, and she gives information on the CFF. So that's all good.

What's not good is what's in her story. Essentially, the character with CF is used as a redemption device for the real protagonist, Cody, a pissed-off bull rider who's mad that his dad walked out on their family when he was a kid. He has a brother with Downs Syndrome, which is the reason his father left--the typical 'I can't handle it' excuse.

So Cody meets Ali, who rides in rodeos. Of course, this is supposed to be The Worst Thing Ever for her CF. Actually, any sort of physical exertion is good for CF patients; having taken riding lessons right before my diagnosis, I can attest to this! Ali doesn't breathe when she's in the arena because the dust and hay and all that can hurt her lungs. Um, if she was breathing, and exerting herself that way, she'd cough and that would be good. (And, most CF patients who are on the transplant list cannot hold their breath for 18 seconds, like Ali can in the book. Um, no.)

So Ali is admitted to a hospital in Denver after a rodeo, and her doctor springs the transplant discussion on her. Ali is, of course, shocked. Now, OK, in fairness, I was shocked too the first time my docs mentioned it. But Kingsbury's writing just makes this painful to read. Ali needs to be listed for a transplant ASAP. And of course she needs to stop riding. (If you're being listed for a transplant, most everyday things are out of the question. There's NO WAY she could've been riding. NONE.)

Well Ali wants a 'single lung' transplant, which CFers don't even get. What Kingsbury means is a "living lobe transplant", which is where two separate living donors are used to replace two lung lobes. This is generally not a permanent treatment--CFers require double lung transplants. That's a fact. The lobes will just get infected with the bugs from the 'native' lungs.

So after all this medical mumbo jumbo the reader has to digest, we get back to Cody, who loves Ali, who hasn't told anyone about her CF (this is actually accurate). They're in love. Cody wants to be a donor. Cody is a match! (Cue the inspirational music.)

Of course at this point, the story must mention how expensive all this is, how insurance won't cover it , yada yada yada. When you're listed for transplant, you meet with a financial person who works through all your options with you. Most insurance companies have some sort of transplant coverage. Is it capped? Yes (sometimes). Are your options limited,in some cases, as to center? Yes. But there is usually some sort of coverage. This is 2005, not 1985. Transplants are not exactly groundbreaking treatments here. Of course all we get here is the trite father pronoucement that "we will do everything we can to pay for it." (eye roll here)

So anyway. Ali gets her lobes (from Cody and her father). Of course we get the gloom and doom predicitions--only three years! (ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I HATE THESE!) And she's talking, immediately after surgery? Um, no. You're on a ventilator for a few days. Hence, no talky.

And, of course, Ali's lobes reject and she dies. But at least Cody reconciled with his family! Which is really the entire point!

This book made me angry to read. If you've even considered reading it, don't. If you have read it, I'm very sorry you had to endure it. There are so many wrong, wrong, WRONG things in it. Even the terminology is wrong. Ali has a "compression vest", --she means the thAIRpy vest, which she doesn't describe accurately. She talks about Ali having four inhalers but never mentions an aerosol machine, which is what most CF patients use regularly. Inhalers are like a quicky treatment. Honestly, she treats CF more like asthma. Ali's mom does PT on her at one point, and Cody FREAKS OUT, like Ali's being abused or something. I taught one of my pre-tx boyfriends how to do my chest PT for when we spent the weekends at his parents' and I couldn't lug the vest (mine was one of the first ones, and it weighed about 1500 pounds...). It's not that scary, it's not even gross to watch! It's not like Ali's mom was inserting a chest tube.

The whole thing is just DRENCHED in melodrama. And Ali isn't even very likable! She's really bitter about having CF. Of course her sister, Anna, had it too, and of course, Anna died, so Ali is SUPER bitter. I'm not denying that you can get bitter. Heck, it's probably normal. But Ali is of the "ignore it and it doesn't exist" school.

It's so cliche, and so awfully written, that no one should ever, ever pick this up. Instead of doing a service to people with CF, like A Little Love Story does, by protraying us and our lives realistically and truthfully, Kingsbury makes Ali a stock character whose medical drama serves only as a plot point.

If you are interested in GOOD CF books, this is what I can recommend:
A Little Love Story
Breathing For A Living
Cystic Fibrosis: A Guide for Patient and Family (Hardcover)

Or, you can shoot me questions at janeandessie@gmail.com

Organ Donation Editorial

April is Donate Life Month, y'know.
So, if you're not an organ donor, maybe you should ponder it?
(Because you're only reading this fantastic blog because of an organ donor...)

Today's Columbus Dispatch has an editorial about donation. Worth checking out.
And if you want to be an organ donor, you can sign up here.

Seven Quick Takes Friday Vol. XIX--The New Year's Edition

I.

Happy 2010 everyone! I hope you have a blessed year full of love and fun with family and friends.

II.

New Year's has never been a big holiday for me or my family. I had a boyfriend in college who loved it. It might have been his favorite holiday. Me? Not so much.

III.

That being said, I have been to NYC on New Year's Eve, which is the pinnacle of NYE activities in the U.S. It was crazy, but fun, and I'm glad I did it. It was during my senior year of college, where seven of us crammed into an NYC hotel room for two nights. That was really my first time in the city for longer than one night (I had been, once, in high school, to visit my Aunt who lived there), and it was magical. Cold, but magical. Since it was 2003, the rebuilding of ground zero had not yet begun, so my friends and I went to see the site on New Year's Day of 2004. It was a solemn way to begin the new year, but also appropriate that we went and remembered that day and the brave men and women who died.

IV.

I don't usually make new year's resolutions, either; I'm never able to keep them, and, when I did make them, they were usually something like, "stop biting my nails." Which, as anyone who knows me knows, hasn't happened in the 20+ years I've been making that resolution.  That doesn't mean I don't believe in self-improvement; I've just never been good at New Year's resolutions.

V.

That said--I do have some ideas this year. Pay off the rest of my credit cards, finish my MA pre-reqs (or at least 4 of the 6, if I don't get to all 6), and get in shape. My best friend is getting married in August, so that's definite motivation to look my best at the wedding. I have eight months and change to do something about it, so I intend to.

VI.

And there are some big things to look forward to this year, namely, my five year anniversary.

Five years! Can you believe it? I sure can't. In July, we will hit that milestone.  FIVE YEARS! (can you tell I'm super excited?)

VII.

My Christmas vacation ends on Monday, but I still have THREE MORE DAYS. It's been a great Christmas season. Enjoy the rest of it while you can!

Seven Quick Takes Friday Vol. XVII

I.

It's audition time again; this time for The Music Man. Singing "Storybook", per usual. Auditions are tomorrow at 5:00. Not sure how long I'll be there, but we have to be prepared to dance,  which always strikes fear into my heart.

II.

On Sunday I'm doing a LOOP talk with a friend of my family's, whose infant son was an organ donor (He was part of a domino transplant at Children's). The talk is at her church at 9:00, so a bit early for me. But it's for a good cause. Sunday is also the CFF's bowl-a-thon around here.

III.

Voice lessons going very well. I'm working on so many pieces right now, plus I'm singing in a production of "Messiah", which is in late December. It's just the Christmas section, and I've sung 95% of the choruses before. Vocally, I'm in good shape here.

IV.

My grandpa came home from the hospital yesterday--yay!

V.

I'm also preparing for summer auditions (yes, already). Today I received the 1994 cast recording of Oliver! plus the 1968 movie. I would love to sing Nancy, so I want to prepare really well for this audition. I'm working on "As Long As He Needs Me" in voice, so I should have that ready by May.

VI.

Books: I'm on a Thomas More kick. I read "A Daughter's Love" last week and now I have "The King's Good Servant, but God's First", which came with the Oliver! stuff today (oh Amazon, how I love thee).

VII.

It is almost 70 degrees here. In mid-November. I'll take that.

Whoa

Patch jobs on lungs before transplant

I'm going to hope this didn't happen to me. Although I know that my lungs were too big, and needed trimmed, as it were.

Sobering stat from the article: barely 50% of lung tx patients make it to 5 years.
I'm almost there!

Another Gift of Life

On Tuesday, my friend Kelly received a double-lung transplant at Children's. Yay!
She'd been waiting for awhile, so this is excellent news.
She also has a little girl.
I know that most (all?) of you who read this blog are organ donors, but if you're not, sign up.
If you do, more people like Kelly can get that second chance of life.

Why...it's me!

A couple of notes: this was broadcast in 2006.

You can hear my GORGEOUS (ha) piano playing and see some of the apartment!

And, if you're really into it, a bit of the surgery. Bleh.

Karen's in it, too! As well as my parents, and my CF pulmonologist, the surgeon, and Dr. A,

who is my pulmonologist now. He's also wearing a very nice tie. :)

So go meet the crew.

There's also some footage of discharge day: I threw up TWICE while I put my make-up on

for the filming!

Trust

For your AM: some organ donation awareness:

Medical mistrust dissuades people from being organ donors

By James Cummings, Staff Writer

10:00 PM Friday, August 28, 2009

Daytonian Karen Stokes underwent surgery Friday to become one of the lucky few to receive the transplanted organ she needs to survive, according to University Hospital in Cincinnati.

But there are about 3,000 Ohioans waiting for transplants right now, and there aren’t nearly enough donors to go around, said Cathi Arends, community relations director for the Dayton region of Life Connection of Ohio.

Life Connection facilitates the completion of transplant procedures and promotes organ donation through educational programs.

“Ohio is doing well,” said Arends. “About 54 percent of eligible people are registered to be organ donors, and that’s positive.”

Of course, that means nearly half the adults in the state have not decided to be organ donors. Psychologists and pollsters who have studied the issue say choosing whether to be an organ donor is a complex personal decision.

About 95 percent of those who elect to be donors in Ohio register themselves as organ and tissue donors at the time they apply for or renew their driver’s licences, Arends said. More information is available by calling Life Connection of Ohio at 1-800-535-9206, or register online at www.donatelife
ohio.org.

Those who choose not to register as organ donors often base their decision on their desire that their body remain intact after death, researchers say. A study in the July 2008 edition of the Journal of Health Psychology found that “cognitive-based factors (such as knowledge about donation) are less influential on the decision to donate than noncognitive variables such as the desire to maintain bodily integrity, worries that signing a donor card might ‘jinx’ a person, and medical distrust.” (Your body is kept in tact--it's not mutilated or anything. You look normal for the burial. No worries there. This isn't some sort of Frankenstein monster procedure.)

Medical distrust seems to be a universal issue. A report in the October/November 2006 issue of the Journal of Health Communication said among the main reasons survey respondents in southern California gave for rejecting donation was “fear that medical personnel might withhold care from identified organ donors, suggesting lack of knowledge and mistrust of the health care system.”

Religion can have a complicated impact on the decision to be a donor, according to a study in the 2007 edition of Health Communication. In that study, women with strong religious connections were likely to be donors because they saw donation as a charitable act. Men, on the other hand, were inhibited from donating by religious-based concerns about keeping the body intact. (Note: All major religions--every single one!--is in favor of organ donation as an altruistic act. All of them)

Arends said that major religions are generally supportive of organ donation, but she suggests that people with concerns on religious grounds should discuss the issue with their own spiritual leaders.

A Life Connection fact sheet states that a single donor can provide organs and tissues for up to 50 recipients. Donation does not restrict funeral services, and the families of donors will not pay or receive fees when organs are recovered for transplant.

Seven Quick Takes Friday--Vol. X

I.

Going to see The Ugly Truth with Tiffany tonight, following dinner at Bob's (hope my sister is working!). A nice way to end a crazy week.

II.

Not really crazy, I've just been so tired. No idea why.

III.

Wrapping up the evening early tonight, since the Dash for Donation is at 7:45 tomorrow! I will be doing the 5K. You can still register tomorrow! So come on out!

IV.

Reading: Finishing Abigail and John. That's been sitting on the nightstand a wee bit too long.

V.

TV/DVD: Almost done with the second season of Pushing Daisies. Talk about a show that was cancelled too soon! Do yourself a favor and rent/buy the two seasons that are out on DVD. Warning: It will make you very hungry for pie.

VI.

Making one of Rachael Ray's pizzas tomorrow night. Not sure how many I will have for dinner, but the ingredients include ricotta and mozzarella cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, and other yummy things. So it sounds good to me!

VII.

Also working on some new piano music. Been a long time since I've tickled the ivories.

The Simple Woman's Daybook--August 9, 2009

(doing a day early so I don't forget! And I'm using Elizabeth's prompts, because they are awesome)

Outside My Window ...

The sun is starting to set, the trees are green and happy, and it has been a lovely (but hot!) day.

***

I am listening to...
Silence, and birds singing outside.

***

To Live the Liturgy...

Big week!

St. Lawrence: August 10

St. Clare: august 11 (foundress of the Poor Claires)

Maximilian Kolbe: August 14

And the Solemnity of the Assumption: August 15

So with all these, I'm going to go to a lot of Noon Masses this week!
***
To Fit and Happy...

The Dash for Donation is on Saturday, and I'm doing the 5K. Will I see you there?

***

I am thankful for...
quiet Sundays spent in prayer.
~
***

I am pondering ...

How to more successfully incorporate prayer into my daily life.
***

From the kitchen ...
This week:

M: Israeli Spice Chicken and tomato salad

T: A Russian Passport: Potatoes and Onions; red radish salad (I do love radishes)

W: pasta w/ lemon oil and red onions

Th: Honey mustard BBQ chicken; Butter Bean Salad; Corn on the Cob with chili and lime (AKA, "Di's Dinner", that

she made one night whilst I was visiting. So good.)

I am wearing ...

Jeans, a blue Gap tank top

***

I am creating ...
A daily program of prayer

***
On my iPod...
lots of Josh Groban right now, and my gym playlist.

***

I am thinking...
It will be a good week. It will be a good week!
***

Around the House

SERIOUS cleaning last night with the parents'. Lots of stuff tossed, the carpets were very well vacuumed, and things look very nice. I SHALL KEEP IT THIS WAY!

.***

I am reading ...

Lots of things. :) But will be attempting to make progress on the every-growing "To Read" pile. And will finish my re-read of The Time Traverler's Wife before I go see the movie this weekend.

***

I am hoping and praying ...
For lots of people! Sarah; Josh R.; Stephen, my bf Liz's brother who is in the military and has been sent to Iraq.

***

On Keeping Home ...

these candles look awesome. Thanks for the link, Liz!

Hanging up my clothes right after I wear them makes life easier. I should remember that.

***
One of my favorite things ...
A quiet Sunday; peach iced tea.

***

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:

Lots of gym. Lots of noon Mass. So that means Mass during lunch break and gym at night.

Still studying for Sacraments midterm. Have to find a proctor for that ASAP.

Theater auditions for Wizard of Oz (Columbus Children's Theater) tomorrow and Tuesday. We'll see how it goes.

Dash on Saturday morning!

***

Picture thought

The sunflowers outside the barn at Shepherd's Corner, where we had our parish council retreat.

Be sure to visit Peggy for more daybooks!

Nicholas' Gift--15 years later

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

(If you don't know: Nicholas Green and his family were vacationing in Italy. While driving through Calabria, the seven-year old was shot during a robbery attempt. His family donated his organs, and the number of people signing organ donation cards in Italy quadrupled.) 

His story has been made into a movie, and his father wrote a book. (Which is very good--Karen gave it to me as a discharge gift.) 

Here's a related story the PPG also ran, about shortening the length of the transplant list. 

If you're NOT a donor, please sign up today! 

Dash for Donation '09!

Info here.

For those who don't know: The Dash is a walk/run/half-marathon event held in Downtown Columbus' arena district every summer. It raises awareness for organ and tissue donation. All you have to do is register and show up! There's no fundraising or meetings to attend. But there are trophies! 

The various races are:

--1 mile

--5 K walk/run

--half marathon and half-marathon relay

If you're interested in joining my team, leave a comment or shoot me an email at janeandessie@gmail.com 

Can't wait to see you there!

Political Correctness--in TRANSPLANTS???

From today's Dispatch:

• UNDER THE old system of distributing livers for transplants, the preponderant factor was how long a patient had been on the waiting list, and black patients were more likely to die than white patients. That's because blacks tend to wait longer before putting their names on the lists.

But since 2002, organs generally go to the sickest patients. And that has made the system more racially fair.

Strangely, though, the change has resulted in a rise in the chances that women will die or become too sick to receive a transplant.

Why the change seemingly has worked against women is unclear, so experts should be hesitant to tweak the policy. Transplants should not be based on race and gender.

OK, look folks--SICKEST PATIENTS GET THE ORGANS. That's it. That's the way it is. There are too few organs to go around without dilly dallying about GENDER! Get real!

Oh, and just in case you didn't notice--I'm a girl. I got one. So let's move on, please.

PSA: Vaccines!

OK everyone, listen up:

Please, for the love of all mankind, especially us immuno-suppressed ones: 

GET A FLU SHOT. 

Please? For you, the flu might be a pain. But for someone with a suppressed immune system, it can be horrible. The flu kills kids and adults every year--normal kids and adults. 

I work in an office with 6 other people. If one of them gets sick, then all of us are exposed to it, but they can probably handle it better than I can. I don't want to miss weeks of work and have to stay in the Resort because someone didn't get a flu shot!

This applies to other vaccines, too (except for HPV, which isn't transferrable in any way other than---sex). Please, please, please get yourself and your kids vaccinated. I know this is a hot topic, but "herd immunity" is not something I am prepared to take lightly. Kids might be fine getting measles, mumps, chicken pox. It can wreak havoc on others (like chicken pox in adults). 

Plenty of people are immuno-compromised, and you probably don't know it. People who have had transplants, who are getting chemo, etc. are all in this category. We can try our best to avoid large crowds of people and reduce our chances of getting sick. But we do have to work and be out Amongst You the rest of the time. 

So please, get vaccinated. You don't want the flu, do you? 

Get happy!

Do you need a happiness boost—right now? If so, take a look at this menu of options and make your choices. Remember, the more you tackle, the bigger the boost you’ll receive.

When you’re feeling blue, it can be hard to muster up the physical and mental energy to do the things that make you happier. Plunking down in front of the TV or digging into a tub of ice cream seems like an easier fix.

However, research shows (and you know it’s true) that these aren’t the routes to feeling better. Try some choices below. The more you push yourself, the better you’ll feel; but if you can’t tackle a big task, just do something small. Even a little step in the right direction will give you a lift.

According to my ground-breaking happiness formula, to be happy, you need to think about feeling good, feeling bad, and feeling right, in an atmosphere of growth. What’s dragging you down? Is it a lack of fun, of connection? Do you feel a lot of guilt, boredom, or anger? Do you feel that something’s “not right” about your life? Do you feel stagnant or stuck? Focus your efforts on the choices that will do the most to address what’s not working in your life.

Your menu of choices -- commit to doing as many items as you can:

Friends
__ call or email one of your closest friends
__ call or email three friends to whom you haven’t spoken in a while
__ track down an old friend who has drifted out of your life (I just did this a few days ago, zoikes)

Fun
__ add a fun thing to your calendar
__ add a fun thing to your calendar that involves other people
__ add a fun thing to your calendar that involves other people doing something outside

Challenge
__ think of a subject that you wish you knew more about (be honest! something that really interests you!) and spend 15 minutes on the internet reading about it
__ take a step toward acquiring a new skill that you want – research Italian classes in your neighborhood, order Photoshop for Dummies
__ if you absolutely can’t think of one single subject that interests you, visit two bookstores (one huge, one independent) and browse until some book catches your attention – and buy it

Do good, feel good
__ sign up to be an organ donor, and remember to tell your family
__ give $25 or more to a worthy cause
__ sign up to volunteer or participate in an organization

Energy
__ walk around the block
__ take a twenty-five-minute walk
__ go the gym or go for a run

Order
__ clear out the space around your computer
__ clear out a closet
__ walk through your house with a garbage bag, and clear clutter until the bag is full of trash; then walk around again and fill a new bag with things to be given away; repeat

Guilt
__ make a dentist’s or doctor’s appointment that you’ve been putting off
__ reach out to a family member whom you’ve been neglecting
__ make something right: apologize, confess, repair, replace, or return something you borrowed

Nagging tasks
__ clean out some old emails that you haven’t answered
__ stop off at the drugstore to buy supplies you need
__ stop off at the hardware store to buy supplies you need
__ fix something broken

Good citizen
__ Throw away someone else’s litter
__ Be helpful to an elderly person or a person with small kids
__ Be friendly to a store clerk who seems grouchy

Gratitude
__ Reflect on the following quotation, from Marjorie William’s Woman at the Washington Zoo:
We could hear her friends pull up to the curb. As her momentum carried her to the top of the stairs, Alice looked back and tossed me a radiant smile. She had become my glimmering girl: She looked like a rock star. She looked like a teenager. She looked absolutely stunning. She thundered down the stairs in those shoes, and as the front door slammed behind her, it came to me—what fantasy I had finally, easily entered this Halloween.
I’d just seen Alice leave for her prom, or her first real date. I’d cheated time, flipping the calendar five or six years into the future. The character I’d played was the fifty-two-year-old mother I will probably never be.

It was effortless.

Editor’s Note: A month after Marjorie wrote this, her oncologist concluded that there was no further treatment to recommend. Marjorie died, at home, on January 16, 2005, three days after her forty-seventh birthday.


__ Reflect on the following quotation, Winston Churchill to the House of Commons, June 4, 1940:
We shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone. At any rate, that is what we are going to try to do.
…
Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender; and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and liberation of the Old.


__ Reflect on the following quotation, from Thomas Arnold, diary, June 5, 1842:
[Of reading the newspaper] “So much of sin and so much of suffering in the world, as are there displayed, and no one seems able to remedy either. And then the thought of my own private life, so full of comforts, is very startling.”
At the end of the day, look back on your list. Did you hit all the items you checked off? Do you feel happier?

From The Happiness Project

Speech recap

So, I gave my first speech for LOOP last night in an educational setting; I had done one before for their Candlelight Vigil in April. This was a bit easier because it was less formal. I didn't have any note cards--totally off the cuff, but since I was talking about myself, it's not as impressive as it sounds (if it sounds impressive at all).

There were about 20 people there (but there was food for 40!). I think it was a bible study or fellowship group. Lauren, from LOOP, did most of the talking--about how donation works, what can be donated, who can donate, etc. I was the "human interest" angle. I made the group laugh a few times, which is always my goal, and I answered a few questions. The whole thing lasted about 40 minutes. The group was very good, mostly people from 40-60ish, and they asked a lot of questions.

I had a lot of fun doing it and I hope I get to do it again. Spreading the word is so important. So, if you're not an organ donor, click here.

Upcoming

Three things:
--Recap of my speech tonight
--Lion King Culture Cat
--Bookshelf--The Other Queen

See what you have to look forward to?
Oh, and if you like/hate/ are indifferent about the new blog look, let me know.

Speech! Speech!

Tomorrow I am giving a speech for LOOP at Summit Station United Methodist Church.
I'm excited, since, as y'all know, I love to talk. :)

The Best Night

Tonight was, without a doubt, the best night of my life.

Not only was the show amazing--from beginning to end, top to bottom, we rocked the house. It was seamless and heart-wrenching and funny and excruciating all at the same time. It flew by. The energy was unbelievable. (And the Red Rat scene was SO FUN!)

But what made it the best night ever was what happened after.

I did a lightening-fast change and went out to the cafeteria to meet my family. It was like a constant wave of people I have known throughout my life, from start to finish.

First was my brother and my grandparents. My grandparents taught me to play the piano. They have come to a vast majority of my events, from talent shows to requiems to musicals. They have given me incredible support and love. And my brother is just, well, awesome. :)
Then my parents. God knows how much I owe them. :-D
Then Richelle, Aaron and Christine, from college and political work. CPAC adventures!

Then Tiffany and both her parents. The Dulmage house has been like my second home for a long time, and I was thrilled to see them.
Then Anne and Lindsay, from elementary school! I haven't seen Anne is YEARS and almost didn't recognize her. She's getting married. It was insane!I couldn't believe Lindsay came, since she usually has to work. We all used to sing together back in the day.

Then Suellen, who I also have not seen in donkey's years. We have been theater buffs since Time Began.

Then Maggie and Matt from the office--I guess I owe Matt $15 now. :) Matt teases me endlessly, everyday. :) And Maggie is a great boss. :)

It was like one big awesome reunion of People From My Life.

And the best part?
I was here for it.
Thank you, Suzanne.

Three years

Wow.
Check out that title again, huh?
Three years ago, I was flat on some operating table in the bowels of children's, not sitting here prepping for Opening Night of an awesome show.
And yet, without that day on the operating table, I wouldn't be here. That's for sure.
I was talking to my dad on Thursday and he said that the Saturday before transplant was probably the "worst day." I didn't leave the couch all day, except to try to eat something (which didn't go very well). He had to drag me to Easton the next day (and my dad HATES shopping. Absolutely hates it.). And I do mean drag.
Every day I drive by Children's on my way to work, and last night I drove by after rehearsal. It was about 11 or so, and three years ago Karen was calling us, giving us updates, telling us what to do. I blew the building a kiss as I drove by. I owe the people inside so much.
Three years. Wow.
I'm twenty-six now. I have been to Chicago, New York. I have seen my friends get married and have babies. I saw my brother graduate from college and my sister from high school. I've made new friends and met some awesome people. I have done things I thought I would never get to do. And all because Suzanne in Minnesota decided to donate her organs after she died.
I thank her.
My family and friends thank her.
It seems so inadequate, but it's all I can say. That, and live my life the absolute best I can.
When I mount the stage tonight, it will all be because of her.
Thank you.