After she recently blew through almost all the books in our house including attempts at books like Jane Eyre, she finally resorted to reading health books. Last night, she asked if she could start reading an educational book for young teens about cystic fibrosis. My knee-jerk reaction was to say "heck no!" With 6 lives lost this week due to CF (4 in one day and 2 under 10 yrs old), I'm not wanting my little girl to learn any of the harsh reality of what is ahead. However, she's going to have to learn and understand more about what she is up against. For a 10-year-old she is extremely mature.
Elena is 5 inches shorter than me. She is already borrowing my clothes and can just about fit into my shoes. Needless to say, she is growing up so fast right before my very eyes.
I will let her educate herself on this disease. She is smart, she knows what she has and that it can be bad, very bad.
Thank goodness for all the wonderful CF role models we have. They give us hope. The Reaching Out Foundation, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the Miles for Cystic Fibrosis organization, and Rosebuds all give us hope. The many CF families whom I have met over these last 10 years give us hope.The CF doctors and their amazing staff give us hope. The genetic researchers and the pharmaceutical companies give us hope.
So yes, Read On Elena. Educate yourself and arm yourself for this battle that you will have in your life. You will fight it and you will win it because you are surrounded by a lot of love, a community filled with hope, and a lot of amazing people fighting with you and for you.
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Update on Elena's reading... She read the book in 2 nights and her response when I asked her if she had any questions or concerns, "No. I pretty much understand what I'm dealing with. This just filled in the gap." Truly way way grown up.
