Cystic Fibrosis Support Group
Cystic fibrosis, (CF) is a common hereditary human disease which affects many different parts of the body, including the lungs, pancreas, gastrointestinal tract, reproductive organs, and sinuses. This support group is dedicated to those coping with cystic fibrosis. Find support, meet others who face the same challenges, ask questions, and share your experience.
This was in the Los Angeles Times April 2nd...she was a patient of ours at USC...read how amazing this is:
Triathlon a walk in park for transplant patient
Monique Mendoza is filled with awe at Hawaii's landscape as she takes a little over 5 hours to finish the race.
By William Heisel, Times Staff Writer
April 2, 2007
She saw whales while jogging on the beach. She swam with sea turtles in the Pacific. She snapped a couple of pictures of her friend while biking through the Hawaiian countryside.
Monique Mendoza finished a triathlon Sunday, two years after having a double lung transplant. But that's not what she wanted to talk about.
Mendoza wanted to talk about how the sun felt on her skin, what it was like to walk on lava rock, the way the doves cooed as she ran past.
"Have you ever seen a dove up close? They have the most incredible light blue eyes," she told The Times while recovering from her 5-hour-10-minute swim-bike-run on the Big Island.
Mendoza, 30, a college student from Rancho Santa Margarita, suffers from diabetes and cystic fibrosis. In 2004, after years of feeling her body weaken and thinking she might die any day, she had her mucus-clogged lungs replaced by surgeons at USC University Hospital in Los Angeles. In September, she began training for the Lavaman Triathlon on Waikoloa Beach.
She went there with low expectations. Just finish, she told herself. The night before the race, she was so anxious she got only about five hours' sleep, a far cry from her pre-transplant days when she was so sick she would sometimes sleep half the day.
The 25-mile bike ride was the hardest part, she said. She struggled less with the 1-mile swim and the 6-mile run. "I think I was fourth from the last, but I don't care," Mendoza said.
Other than a bad headache, she said, she feels great, and she's thinking about training for another one.
"I was kind of sad when it was the last two miles of the run, because I was just enjoying it so much," Mendoza said. "It was like a swim, bike and a run with God. Without God, and all the people praying for me, I wouldn't have made it."
Dr O.
Triathlon a walk in park for transplant patient
Monique Mendoza is filled with awe at Hawaii's landscape as she takes a little over 5 hours to finish the race.
By William Heisel, Times Staff Writer
April 2, 2007
She saw whales while jogging on the beach. She swam with sea turtles in the Pacific. She snapped a couple of pictures of her friend while biking through the Hawaiian countryside.
Monique Mendoza finished a triathlon Sunday, two years after having a double lung transplant. But that's not what she wanted to talk about.
Mendoza wanted to talk about how the sun felt on her skin, what it was like to walk on lava rock, the way the doves cooed as she ran past.
"Have you ever seen a dove up close? They have the most incredible light blue eyes," she told The Times while recovering from her 5-hour-10-minute swim-bike-run on the Big Island.
Mendoza, 30, a college student from Rancho Santa Margarita, suffers from diabetes and cystic fibrosis. In 2004, after years of feeling her body weaken and thinking she might die any day, she had her mucus-clogged lungs replaced by surgeons at USC University Hospital in Los Angeles. In September, she began training for the Lavaman Triathlon on Waikoloa Beach.
She went there with low expectations. Just finish, she told herself. The night before the race, she was so anxious she got only about five hours' sleep, a far cry from her pre-transplant days when she was so sick she would sometimes sleep half the day.
The 25-mile bike ride was the hardest part, she said. She struggled less with the 1-mile swim and the 6-mile run. "I think I was fourth from the last, but I don't care," Mendoza said.
Other than a bad headache, she said, she feels great, and she's thinking about training for another one.
"I was kind of sad when it was the last two miles of the run, because I was just enjoying it so much," Mendoza said. "It was like a swim, bike and a run with God. Without God, and all the people praying for me, I wouldn't have made it."
Dr O.
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A friend sent this to me..As far as I can see, grief will never truly end.It may become softer overtime, more gentleand some days will feel sharp.But grief will last as long as Love does - ForeverIt's simply the way the absence of your loved onemanifests in your heart. A deep longing accompaniedby the deepest Love some days. The heavy fog mayreturn and the next day, it may recede.Once again, it's...
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Today is my 25th birthday, to my somewhat lack of surprise I can see already no one really seems to care. I've always been the kinda person to make sure that everyone I Care about feels appreciated and knew somebody had their back. I can count 4 times this year when I Went out of my way to make sure a "friend" felt good on their birthday, especially if they got left hanging. Its early in the...
lovenhugs*