Life's challenges-cystinosis

Everyone knows that life is full of challenges. This certainly won't be the only blog that I post on this issue. But after posting the blog about my girlfriends, it made me think of truly how exceptional the friends that I have here are. I've never met people that were more committed to their respective causes than this group. I think we become more committed to something when it is presenting a challenge in our lives or the lives of those around us. The friends that God has given me here are so interested in one another's lives and well being that one person's challenge becomes the other's and so the cycle continues.

There is a disease called Cystinosis, that before moving here, I had not heard of- even as a nurse. It's rare and it effects children at birth. We have friends here who have two children with this disease and it has changed their lives forever. What I have seen these friends do is embrace a really difficult life challenge. To put it lightly, in order to manage their children's illness, they have to give their children some kind of medication every hour for at least 12 hours a day. They take turns getting up at night to give the kids medicine in the middle of the night. They do all this and still know that their children are likely to have long term, serious medical problems as a result of this disease. The more I learn about the disease from them, the more I admire their dedication to seeing a cure.

Not only have I watched my friends deal with this on a daily basis, I have watched others of my friends come along side them and get committed to the cause for a cure for these two precious children and incidentally, many more across the nation whol also have this disease. I mentioned in my girlfriend blog that I love watching my friends use their gifts. One example is my friend Amber who is using her gift of organization and planning to benefit this cause. In October there will be a Cystinosis Carnival that will raise money for research of this disease. My friends Brittney and Brett (the parent's of the children with cytinosis) have made it their mission for this period of their lives to see a cure for this illness. So, together with Amber they are planning this event. I can't wait to be a part of it. If you are reading this and you want to know more about cystinosis you can go to the cystinosis link that is on my blog. www.cystinosisfoundation.org.