Where did December go?

As I promised, I'm back with a little update to catch ya'll up to speed on what's up with Emily :).

December flew by, as I headed to Hawaii for 6 days (see this post). It was a fabulous trip!

 

6 days later (about the time I fell off the blog world) I headed to the hospital at USC for a 'tune-up' in clearing out infection in my lungs and also to get sinus surgery for the first time ever...Thus, the reality of CF caught up with me and though I felt great in Hawaii, I couldn't avoid the need for some IV meds and clearing the infection festering in my lungs. Both the tune-up and surgery went extremely well and though I endured 10 days of being admitted in the hospital (it was rough during the Christmas season), I was blessed by friends and family during that time. God provided many to help keep my spirits up :).

Here's a pic of a little Christmas party some friends threw in my hospital room:

I ended up being there 10 days when finally, by God's grace I was able to go home Christmas Eve, and though I was a little drugged up on pain medication from my surgery on the 22nd, it was a blessing to be home with my family for Christmas day. We had a great time (sorry no pics, I wasn't totally aware so no pics were taken)- good food, good family time and a long nap made my Christmas one of the most relaxing times ever.

It took 4 weeks or so for me to really start feeling well after IV's and surgery- the surgery recovery was more of a process than I had anticipated. I am NOW glad to have done it but during those first 2 weeks afterwards, man- it was rough...snot, blood, drainage, you name it (I won't get too graphic...and I didn't take pics knowing that it might gross you out). All that is to say, I had excellent care both from Docs, nursing staff and at home, nurse Mom and Dad. Thanks to God for providing all I needed and helping me recover well!

~Em

1 Month Later...

Yes, that's right, for my few faithful blog readers (I hope I haven't scared you away with my lack of posting!), I'm back and on the blog with updates, a whole new year of sharing God's working in life, and a commitment to just being real and being who I am...a constant area of growth for me as I take life day by day.

With that said, though yes, I posted a month ago, so much has happened that I really look forward to sharing in the next few days now that I'm motivated to be back on this thing :). I've spent the last few weeks really in a place where I was introverted, having a hard time being public, if you will, about things going on- so I thank you, friends, for your continued support and love even if I've been absent.

More to come this week...but for now, on January 25th, I wish you all a Happy 2009. As I look ahead for me, I have no idea what God has in store which is both exiting and scary. I pray a new year of blessings will be for you all, and I look forward to seeing what God has in store.
Thanks for hanging in there and checking in to my blog!
~Em

Merry Christmas

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over the flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in a town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

Luke 2:8-14

Merry Christmas !

~Em

Hawaii (Part 2)

As I said in my earlier post, see Hawaii Part 1, the Mauli-Ola foundation graciously sent me to Hawaii with a team of people to help run two events to raise awareness and funds for Cystic Fibrosis. Also part of that trip was ton of networking with surf companies and surfers to share with them about CF and the connection between CF and surfing/salt-water. We got to go to the O'Neill Sunset Contest and then the Pipe Masters contest (though the contest wasn't going the day we were there- it was all set up and ready to go). Through it all I got to meet some amazing people and share my life and story with them- and hopefully people know a little more about CF and want to get involved!
Here are a few pics of the contests, and awesome waves at Pipeline and fun people I met :)
~Em

Pipeline Masters 2008

Watching the waves & the pros surf at Pipeline- 15 ft. this day.

The crew watching Pipe at Mick O'Brien's house

Meeting CJ Hobgood- he won the Sunset contest that day!

Erin and I at the Sunset Contest

Hawaii (Part 1)

There is so much to tell and so many pictures to include!!
But let me first share the purpose of my trip and what we did...The Mauli Ola Foundation graciously sent me to Hawaii and paid for our team to go- we put on 2 events for raising awareness for Cystic Fibrosis. The first event was a golf tournament- we had many different surf companies and their surfers join us for this event and we raised money to put on a surf day for CF kids on the island! That was the highlight of my trip...seeing parents and kids get totally blessed by pro surfers from Volcom and Da Hui, it was an amazing day! We made sure that all contact/cross-contamination procedures were followed, so the kids were totally safe and each kid with CF got a private surf lesson from at least 2 pro surfers!!
A major thank you to Volcom for providing not only surfers, but an incredible heart behind the event- they truly loved on the kids. Also, major thank you to Da Hui and big surf influences on the island such as Mick O'Brien and Kala Alexander...everyone worked so hard to make that day happen, it was an awesome experience for the kids. Each kid came away with amazing memories :).
~Em

Check out this volcom blog to see pics from the golf tournament and surf day (scroll down to 12/5/08 and 12/7/08)...
http://www.volcom.com/flash/new_futures/provinggrounds/indexblog.html

Here are a few pics (I made them smaller so I could fit more in...there were so many to pick from!)

Mauli Ola Golf Tournament

Me, speaking to the golfers about CF

Erin and I rolling around in our golf cart...we didn't golf, but we had a lot of fun :).

Hanging with the Volcom team!

Hanging with the Mauli Ola Boys

Surf Experience Day for Cystic Fibrosis
Props to Volcom & Da Hui

Me and Mikey G...one of the managers for the Volcom team. Raddest guy ever!

Pro Surfer Alex Gray with 2 CF patients...rock on!

Me with surf pros, Kala Alexander and others from Da Hui

Everyone rocking the surf day on the beach at Haleiwa Beach Park

Me and Volcom pro surfer, Claire- she is a stud!

Where to start?

It's been about a week since I've posted, thats because...I've been in Hawaii! I didn't get a chance to post on here before I left, it feels like it was a whirlwind of getting there and then getting back today, but it was an incredible trip!! The purpose of the trip was to go with the Mauli Ola Foundation and put on a few events to benefit Cystic Fibrosis and kids with CF by putting on a surf day for them. It was a great trip- I learned a lot, had so much fun and fell in LOVE with the North Shore of Hawaii :)

I'm so wiped out and headed to bed (we took a red-eye flight last night and I didn't really nap much today), but I will post more soon (I won't wait forever to post) and write about all the fun adventures that were had...until then, Aloha!
~Em

2 Corinthians 12:9

"But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."

This verse really hit me at church on Sunday, so I thought I'd post it. I am really learning to trust that God is truly taking care of me and strengthening me. I am learning to lean not on my own strength, because I run out of that real quick, but to let God be my source of strength.

~Em

I'm still Learning...

No matter how old I get, I am still learning to accept and be 'ok' with life with CF. Each time I think I've got it down, I seem to learn new things about balancing my health and my life. These last few days, as there have been lots of fires around and smoke in the air (see my previous post about that), I've had to take a step back and get away from my normal life and thus allow my body to come first. I spent about 24 hours feeling very ill and not breathing well- It's a difficult thing emotionally to realize that my body must dictate what I do, where I go and even in this specific case, whether or not I can be outside!

I've been battling the last few days the idea that it's so frustrating to have a job and not be able to do it (i'm not able to work because all my classes that I interpret take place outside, so I can't be out breathing the smoke). I want so badly to be independent and self-sufficient yet each time I turn around, I just can't and my body/CF get in the way. I want so badly to live that normal life- be just fine outside in the smoke, go and do what I would normally do and feel like I am functioning normally, feel like I can contribute to society with working, playing and being as I always am.
Don't get me wrong--I've been so blessed to have a place to retreat to with family, away from LA and away from the smoke. It's been good for me to let my body and lungs heal and not expose my lungs to more terrible toxins. And by all means, I don't want my complaining to be overshadowed by my gratitude that I am taken care of physically and that God has met my amazing needs in caring for my body. I am so grateful to be able to take care of the body God's given me...however, I just want to express the interesting battle that goes on inside me. For those of you who may not know much about CF, this is a little taste of some of the emotional frustrations that go alongside being an adult with this disease...
Above all, I am grateful God continues to give me grace through my frustration and until a cure is found for CF, I'll just keep on learning to balance my care for my body and my living a 'normal' life in society...I may not always like this battle for balance, but at the end of the day, I am still learning.
~Em

Fires in California

Most of you have probably seen the news and heard about it, but it's been pretty scary out here. Diamond Bar, my city, is currently threatened by the fires as are MANY others across So Cal. They have evacuated a few neighborhoods, very close to mine, and the fire is up over the hills. T

These fires are raging pretty quick and the Santa Ana winds are fueling the fire. This link is some pics of what it looks like outside right now...yuck.
Please keep Southern California in your prayers- pray the winds and heat can calm down, pray for the firefighters, residents that lost homes, residents in shelters, and pray these fires can be extinguished quickly.
Thanks friends,
~Em

A Little Health Update for November

Can you believe it's already the middle of November? Sheesh! I thought I'd throw out a little update on health, life, and how things are going...I haven't posted in awhile!

-I saw my CF doc yesterday for a check-up and my lung function (PFT) is still pretty low for me. I haven't quite bounced back since being sick a few months ago. My normal healthy lung function numbers are in the 70% range but since August I've been breathing at in the 60's range of lung function...so, thats a little frustrating as I haven't felt 100% myself in awhile.
-I may have a little lung infection still going which could explain me coughing out blood a few weeks ago. The infection isn't too big yet so hopefully I can
-I met with my ENT and scheduled sinus surgery for December. I am glad to do this since my sinuses have been bothering me a ton. Plus, it's very possible that the infection harbored up in my sinuses could be a cause to lowered lung function as the infection can drip down into my lungs...so hopefully when that's taken care of, I'll start to bounce back.

Other than that, things are good. I'm doing my best to stay healthy as the cold/flu season kicks in. Praise God, I've avoided such things so far. If you think of it, keep me in your prayers through the winter...:).
~Em