Courage
Life is so full of ups and downs, challenges and celebrations, opportunities to express courage or cowardice. This weekend my family and I travelled to Denver, Colorado where my oldest daughter was honored with the award for courage by the Colorado chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Needless to say, I'm a pretty proud Papa! And I'm inspired to be more courageous in my life by my own daughter's example.
Anna is 29 and a single mom of two (my grand-kids are the greatest joys in my life!). She was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis at 5 years of age. CF is a progressive, life-shortening genetic disorder that causes respiratory and digestive complications. Every day of her life Anna does breathing treatments and takes medications to keep her airways clear. She also takes medication so she can absorb the nutrients in the foods she eats. Several times a year Anna is hospitalized for 2 to 3 weeks at a time. During these hospitalizations she is on IV antibiotics and receives intensive respiratory therapy to clear her lungs and airways. In fact, Anna was just released from a 2 week hospital stay on Thursday before the award banquet on Friday!
In spite of the challenges that come with cystic fibrosis and being a single mom, Anna is going back to school to pursue a career as a patient advocate and healthcare navigator for other cystic fibrosis patients. She has worked tirelessly at developing a patient advocacy group at National Jewish Hospital in Denver and is the patients' voice on the quality improvement board at National Jewish. She is a pretty amazing person. I realize there may be some bias involved, but my opinion was validated at the award ceremony.
What a celebration we had! Anna was honored and gave a great speech. Many young business people from the community were honored as well for their work fundraising for a cure for cystic fibrosis. It was kind of a big deal! After the meal and ceremonies, there was dancing and celebrating. We all had a blast, but our granddaughter, Lily, was the Belle of the Ball! She loves to dance and somehow always managed to be in the middle of the action.
Goethe said, “What you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.”
This blog wasn't particularly dental, but life and health are our ultimate goal. Health is about relationships and choices and living life in a way that is really living. We do what we can to support you and help you live a healthy life. Live with courage!
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And here's To Your Health!
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