Remembering to be thankful

This morning started off with a ring -- the phone *;*. Easy enough. I'm on the PHA Help Line this week so I answer the phone in a special way -- not the typical Hello. It was an easy call, a doctors office called and said a family member of a patient wanted to make a donation to PHA and how should they go about it. I passed on the information.

Next, I looked out the window... another six inches of snow. Snow can be beautiful -- to look at... but when you have pulmonary hypertension, it's a different story. I wondered if I had to go out, who would clean my car off... who would shovel my walks and porch. This is now something I cannot do any more. Not only because of it being cold outside but because of the energy it would take to do those tasks. Luckily my son-in-law stopped and cleaned off my car.

Seems the things I once could do are now a major task. Having pulmonary hypertension is a major lifestyle change. Many people when they hear what you have think of "hypertension" which can be controlled with medication and a proper diet -- and your life may go back to what it once was. It is nothing to sneeze at but is easier to treat than having PH. Not so with having pulmonary hypertension; it is a disease that affects both your heart and lungs. It is a progressive disease, a life threatening disease with no known cure at this time. If it is detected early enough you may have a chance of having a somewhat normal life. Unfortunately, in most cases it is not detected early enough and that's when your lifestyle can change drastically. You can become a little sob (that's short of breath - thank you very much) with little exertion, you may have chest pains, edema, fainting spells; just to name a few of the symptoms.

November is Pulmonary Hypertension Awareness month and off and on I have tried to keep up with some of my other phriends who have written about their dealings with having pulmonary hypertension. Some have told their stories, some have been able to have reports on the evening news and many have been able to have newspaper articles placed in their local and not so local newspaper. Some have written technical blogs that explain this disease. All for the cause of awareness and for what I call this dastardly disease --> pulmonary hypertension. Again it is a progressive disease with no cure at this time but there are treatments and with the proper one, it can be doable. Your quality of life can be improved and your life expectancy can be extended.

This morning during ph "chat" I mentioned about the snow and one of my phriends from TX asked me to take a picture and post it. One is from my window right beside my computer looking out my back yard and my car and the other is from out my front door looking down the street. I'll have to have the kids come over and build a snowman -- I'll send it on when they do.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I want to wish everyone a Happy Turkey Day -- I have so much to be grateful for I wouldn't have enough space here to list it all. Let us all be thankful for what we do have and enjoy this very special family day.

Merle ~ OHPA
And don't forget to smile -- it's contagious