Our Past with Cystic Fibrosis

I was redesigning my website today and trying to make it as user friendly as possible. As I was updating the pages, I came across Diana's page. For those that don't know, Diana was 16 years old when she passed away from Cystic Fibrosis back in 1989. It took two years after she was born to finally put a name with her illness. Why have a page dedicated to this teen? Well, she is my sister-in-law - yet, sadly, I have never met her. She was Greg's oldest sister - 2 years older to be exact and it was only after Greg (my husband) was born with CF did they figure out why she was so sick.

The family doesn't talk about her a lot but I ask Greg about her from time to time. What was she like? Did you guys fight like siblings often do or were you close? How did you cope with losing a sister from the same disease that you, yourself, are fighting against? All the questions in the world won't give me back the chance of being close with my sister-in-law but it helps to remind me of the life she lived and the life the family lived. Back in those days, Cystic Fibrosis was still a terminal childhood illness and many children didn't make it through their teenage years. Alas, she was still a fighter and remembering her helps me remember what could have been for my wonderful husband and what we, and others, are fighting for. Yes, Greg has had his miracle transplant but he still has CF and we still fight to find a cure and stop the disease from taking another life.

You see, I couldn't imagine life without my husband. He is my miracle and although he is not my life - he makes my life more enjoyable. I pray that everyone could be so in love - and be able to survive everything that comes their way - together. So, keeping my sister-in-law's dedication page on my website reminds me of where we have been and how blessed we truly are. Yes, he still had to take medications and see a doctor because of his double lung transplant but there are no tubes on his face and nothing keeping him from truly living the life he was given.

~Shan
http://www.angelcove.us
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