Wonderful Words Wednesday

Throughout my life, my mom has told me that worrying about it will not solve the problem nor make it go away either. And while I agree and understand what she is saying, there are times in my life that I haven't been able to stop worrying about the 'What ifs' when it comes to my health. As many of you have read in my past posts, there is uncertainty in my future when it comes to the idea of a transplant and for a long time my days were spent worrying and not enjoying life. It took me some time but I was finally able to pull myself back up and enjoy the time that I have now instead of worrying about the future. While I still plan and try to get my ducks in a row for the future, I don't spend my days in my room crying over my worries like I did when I first got the news about the hospitals not agreeing to do my transplant.

When it comes the topic of worrying and how it doesn't solve anything, I think this quote sums it up rather well. "Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its troubles. It empties today of its strength." - Corrie Ten Boom. When I would sit and let my worries consume me, I would cry until I was exhausted. I would lay in bed, not wanting to and not feeling strong enough to get up in the morning. While I wasted my days worrying and draining myself of strength, I was missing out on having some great days with wonderful memories. 

While we still haven't heard back from the hospital we sent my records to about whether or not they think they can do the transplant, I've slowly stopped worrying every second of every day and actually been enjoying the days I have now. It's not easy to do and to be honest, I don't think I made a choice to stop worrying because there are times when I still stop and worry. But I think as time went on, I slowly was able to continue with life instead of wasting it. Life goes on and I had to remind myself to do the same because what is the point of taking all my medications, doing all of those surgeries, not drinking caffeine and going to all the lengths we have to keep me alive if I'm just going to spend it worrying? 

So when I do finally hear back from the hospital and if I get some bad news - I'm going to have to remind myself of this quote and the next time you start to worrying, I recommend you read this quote a few times to help you through it. 

Hope and Love,

Becca 

Ashton Kutcher Tells Today's Youth 3 Things He Learned And We All Should Take Some Notes!

I first got introduced to the actor known as Ashton Kutcher when he played a rather dumb character who relied on his good looks to get by in a show called 'That 70's Show'. Since then Ashton has starred in some great movies but to me he was always that dumb pretty boy character known as Kelso. That is until I saw his acceptance speech at the Teen Choice Awards where he gives the teens who watched some amazing advice on how to build their own life, what opportunity really is and how to be sexy in a way no one would ever think to be! Thank you to Upworthy.com for this amazing video that can really inspire this generation to truly be something of substance!

Take a look at this amazing video and pass it on! We could all use some of his amazing advice! 

Hope and Love,

Becca 

Great News for Next Summer!

I have some exciting news! Last summer I went and spoke on a panel at the Internationally Pulmonary Hypertension Conference, as many of you know. A few days ago, I got asked to be on a committee that will help plan certain sessions of that Conference. My first meeting with them will be in a week or so and I'm excited to discuss topic ideas, panelist options and everything else! I've never been on a planning committee before, especially not for a huge conference like this but it'll be an amazing experience for learning and getting experience with all of the things that planning a few sessions of this conference will teach me! I can't wait! The conference will be in the summer of 2014 in Indiana and considering that I've never been to Indiana before and I've never been on a planning committee before, this will be a summer of firsts! I will keep you guys updated about what is going on and how the planning is going!

Hope and Love

Becca

Went to the Hospital, No Worries Though - I'm Out!

Just wanted to apologize for the lack of a blog update since last week! 

If any of you follow me on Twitter (which you can click on the photo on the sidebar to the right to be directed to my Twitter account!) or if you're a friend of mine on Facebook, you'll know that I was in the hospital. ("If it's not one thing, it's another" as my mom would say!) No worries though, it wasn't for my heart this time! I had what my doctors called and yes they used this word, a "raging" UTI. I'll spare you the gory details of it, but I will say that the pain was some of the worst pain I've ever felt in my entire life. At one point I told my mom that I'd rather go through a heart cath then have a UTI ever again. Thankfully though they started me on antibiotics and they caught it before it got any worse than it already was. I got out of the hospital Sunday and was still feeling sick to my stomach which was one of the symptoms but that seems to be done now along with some of the other side effects that I won't mention incase some of you just ate! 

I do have some cool news to share with you all! Last week or so I got a package in the mail from the Pulmonary Hypertension Association and inside of it was a book called 'A Patients Survival Guide' Last summer as some of you know, I went and spoke on a panel about writing as a form of coping for patients with PH at their international conference. A lady there gave me her card and asked me to help edit and write a few things for the book. Well this book was finally published and I got mentioned as a contributor in it! As you can imagine, I was more than excited! I took a picture of the page where I was mentioned and posted it on FB and Instagram. If you have PH and you still have some questions about it, how to deal with certain aspects of the disease or want to learn about more options, I would highly recommend the Survival Guide. It's a great book with tons of amazing information! 

Thanks to everyone for their amazing support, get well wishes if they knew I was in the hospital. And to my amazing readers, thanks for tuning in for every post, no matter how far apart they may be. (I promise to get back on schedule!) Whether you write a comment, Tweet me telling me you're thinking about me or just read my blog - your support is greatly appreciated and helps me keep going! 

Hope and Love,

Becca