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I found I no longer had time for these enjoyments in life. My days now consisted of cleaning medical equipment, preparing
medicines, sitting with Sarah as she did breathing treatments, and giving her physical therapy several times a day. Physical
therapy consisted of cupping my hands and "beating" her on her chest while holding her tiny body in different positions,
helping to unclog the thick mucus in her lungs. When I knew the tears were about to come I would put Sarah in this certain
position so that she could not see me cry. These hour and a half treatments were given at three different times a day. The
only break that I got was when Sarah's father was not working on the weekends.
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While most are happy on birthdays, holidays, weddings, etc., I felt sadness- Would this be Sarah's last birthday, last
Christmas? I remember going to a wedding, in which I cried the whole time because I felt it was not fair that my daughter
would probably not live long enough to even get married. I felt as if I needed to blame someone. I even wanted to blame
God, but I knew that I couldn't because he was the one giving me the strength, hope, and encouragement that no one else
could.
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Sarah is now 18 years old and I would say we've been fortunate so far. Sarah's first hospitalization was last year. Within
a year though she has been in the hospital three times; during her second admission, we almost lost her to this horrible
disease. Most children Sarah's age have been in the hospital most of their lives. A lot of them have feeding tubes, use
oxygen, have bad livers and kidneys, have diabetes, etc. Many are waiting for lung transplants, need handfuls of
medicines daily, etc. Therefore, we consider Sarah to be lucky because she is not in need of such things yet. Many are
too far beyond help; those are the ones who are waiting for God to take them home.
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Now, 14 years after Sarah was diagnosed I can truly say in some ways I have been blessed by this horrible
disease, I have learned what is really important in life. I have learned to enjoy the small things. It makes me happy to
wake up each day and to know that Sarah is having a good day. I have learned that material things just aren't that
important, to be more compassionate of others needs, and to smile a lot more too.
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It is stressful for me to sponsor fund-raisers, but I know that I have to do it. If Sarah should die before a cure comes about, I
will know that at least I have done my part to win the battle that Cystic Fibrosis imposes. I will have given some other child or
young adult life. Because of fund raising, in the 14 years since Sarah was diagnosed there have been so many advances in
modern medicines. In fact, we no longer have to do the hour and a half psychical therapies, instead a machine does all the work
in 24 minutes. Even with all the new medicines, this disease can not be stopped, but only slowed down, until a cure is found.
Therefore, Sarah's health is deteriorating, as the disease progresses in her body. One of the worst things that I have to deal
with in life is knowing that Sarah has to deal with this disease everyday. She has to deal with it emotionally and physically. At
the current time she still has to do breathing treatments, take many medicines, use a machine that gives her physical therapy to
loosen the mucus. In fact, one medicine that she takes once a day cost more that $1,000 a month. In order to still have health
insurance, Sarah has no choice, but to attend college so that she will still be covered by her dad's insurance that pays for most
of the extreme medical expenses. After she gets out of college, then what? Sarah doesn't want to count on the government to
pay for her medical needs; instead she hopes that there will be a cure found in the meantime. She does have dreams of a career,
getting married, having children, contributing to society, and most of all being cured.
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I am asking for your help with this fund-raiser by donating your dollars or better yet having your own fund-raiser
before September 30th to help form the mile of dollars for C.F.
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Barbara Riggen
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Mother of Sarah Peed
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