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The reason for the fundraising

I know I've probably been rather irritating with all the fundraising pushes lately. It's fundraising season, what can I say.

For a brief moment however, I want to share some prayer requests that remind me - and hopefully others - why we work so hard to raise this money and to work towards better treatments and someday a cure.

Please keep our friend Chris F. in your prayers. He'll be going into the hospital next week for a bunch of tests. We all know how anxiety-ridden that experience can be. I, personally, find waiting for test results nerve wracking. Someone (believe it or not a nurse) once asked me what's the point of getting so nervous - you can't do anything about it anyway. It's a point of view I just can't wrap my head around.

I put up a nice show - joke about NIH being Club Med etc. - but the truth is every time I go I'm nervous about results. What shoe is going to drop next? Will this be the visit where everything starts to change? I can't help it. I can't understand how anyone could not feel that way about it. I know it's all in God's hands, but still, anticipation of answers that can have such a profound impact on your life is just stressful.

Also, speaking of test results and stress, please also pray for another HPS friend, Maria M. Maria is meeting with a transplant team tomorrow. I'd be biting all my finger nails off for sure! She's going to need a community of support, and we in HPSland are awaiting our marching orders to see what she needs.

I don't know Maria well, but I'm impressed as she and her family seem so on top of things. So often as you watch families go through this process, it can be frustrating because you want to share what you've learned from watching so many friends seek lung transplants - and sometimes the families emotionally just aren't ready to hear it, and it costs valuable time. Maria and her family seem very on top of it all. I pray she gets a shot at the transplant list!

Lastly, sometimes I have an HPS'er in mind that I want to pray for, but I can't share their story or their name because of privacy - even a first name. We have an HPS friend who is very, very ill right now. Even though you don't know who they are, or the story, please pray for them and their family. Sometimes there's a point at which nothing else can be done. All we can do is pray that our loved one is comfortable and that they have a good journey home.

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