An Arrow

After having around 75 vials of blood drawn between the span of late October and mid December,  I decided to take the revolutionary route of taking a break from it all in January. I honestly think the last time I had that much blood drawn in such a short span of time, is way back when we were getting ready for the kidney transplant. I quietly told my body to relax because I needed a break. I feel lucky I was actually able to swing that one because results from my trip to NIH in December were not emergency status. There were a few changes I needed to make with adding supplements to my pill repertoire to balance out a few levels that were off, but nothing of huge concern. Truly, the more blood work that came back last fall made me more and more frustrated with everything. I still don't know what was going on with my health then, but now I can see why it all happened the way it did. (And I will write more about that next week...) I feel stronger and more confident about moving forward with everything. Funny how that works. A path connected to each mountain, even if you can't see it smack in the thick of it all.

Speaking of mountains, my friend J, conquered Kilimanjaro last week. She also happens to live with Cystinosis like I do, but that isn't the most important aspect of the story. The take away message is that she did it. She was mightier than the summit. No excuses. Unreal. Bravery that potent is what changes the world. We need more of it. We need to encourage it in each other. We need to dig deeply and find it hidden in our own veins.