I want to share the latest info on the success of....

our 2nd annual Phenomenal Hope for a Cure.
The following is a copy of the "report" that I just posted on the PHA discussion board. I'm going to try to post the same info here. Thanks for all of your support, love and prayers with this event. As you will see, it was EXTREMELY successful!

Thanks for reading!
love
annette

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On November 17, 2007 we held our 2nd Annual Phenomenal Hope for a Cure Fundraiser in Omaha, NE. We were all very nervous since last year, our first year, was such a success. Well, I'm here to report that the 2nd Annual Phenomenal Hope for a Cure Fundraiser was significantly more successful than last year! We have so far (we got another $1,000 donations this last week!) raised over $51,000!!! That is at least $10,000 more than we raised last year! Included in that is well over $3,000 that was made from silent and/or oral auction items that were made and/or donated by phriends from all over the country!

Just to give you a quick synopsis...We had a sit-down dinner for about 250 people. The mayor of Omaha, Mayor Mike Fahey was our honorary chairman. He declared November 17, 2007 as Pulmonary Hypertension Day in Omaha. He also presented us with the proclamation at the dinner. We had a local sportscaster, Mr. Dave Webber as our emcee. We also had a local and exceptional auctioneer, Mr. Glenn Evert donate his time as our auctioneer.

While people were shopping and bidding on the numerous silent auction items, there was a slide show on a big screen showing the "PHaces of PH." It was a slide show of phriends that I put together with music.

When the attendees "shopped" at the silent auction items, they immediately knew if they were looking at an item made and/or donated by a phriend, because I had their picture and name displayed by their item.

The evening "officially" started with my sister, Kathleen, introducing Mr. Webber and then Mr. Webber thanking everyone for coming and acknowledging the sponsors (drug companies, medical groups and individual businesses and physicians) then introducing the mayor. Mayor Fahey then spoke about pulmonary hypertension using talking points provided by PHA. He then presented the proclamation to the four phriends that were on the fundraising committee.

Following that, we had a local pediatric ph specialst, Dr. Paul Sammut spoke specifically about pulmonary hypertension in children.

Following his talk, my youngest son, Chris presented the documentary he made for this years event, "Hope." This year he focused on 4 children with ph. Of course, it was amazing. (even if I am a bit biased)

I was then introduced. I asked for a moment of silence for the 3 local phriends that we lost to ph since last year’s event. Then I gave my "speech."

"Pulmonary Hypertension is a life-changing diagnosis.
Many of us lived with symptoms for several years before we were diagnosed. These symptoms included shortness of breath, light-headedness and even chest pains. Then once we were given an actual name for how we had been feeling, our lives really began to change. We started visiting the doctor more frequently. We began taking many new medications. Some of us started to use oxygen. We began to learn what our physical limitations were. We began to learn about the potential problems and negative outcomes associated with Pulmonary Hypertension.

PH IS a life changing diagnosis.
Many of us have learned that our physical limitations cause us to slow down and even many of us have had to quite working. We may not be able to do things we once took for granted like walking up a flight of stairs, going swimming, riding a bike or even walking the dog. Our days now include schedules for mixing medicine, taking medicine and even resting.

You see, PH IS a life changing diagnosis. BUT, we are the lucky ones.
With a slower pace comes a better appreciation of what life has to offer. We no longer take things for granted. Time with our family is precious. Time with our friends is precious. Time spent reading a book or listing to music is precious.

You see, WE ARE the lucky ones. Never before have there been so many choices in treatments for PH. Never before have we had so many scientists and physicians working to find more treatments and even a potential cure for PH.

You see, we ARE the lucky ones.

Just look at the people in this room. They are here for us, the people with a rare disease. They are here to support us and to support the hope, the hope we ALL have to find a cure. Thank you for coming."

We then went into the oral auction and the evening closed with Mr. Webber thanking everyone for coming and reminding all to take the information about ph and PHA with them.

So, that's about it. I hope this short report and some of the photos from the evening help you feel like you were there. Because, you WERE there, you were ALL there, in my heart.

Thanks for reading.
Much, much love,
Annette
www.annettesexcitingblog.blogspot.com

ps First picture is the mayor presenting us the proclamation. I'm shaking his hand.

I have been a BAD BLOGGER!!

I'm hoping this picture makes up for it! I don't have a good excuse for not writing. I've been tired. But, I've mostly been lazy! Although Rod, Chris and I were suppose to go out of town for a wedding reception last night, but I had a terrible headache and was really tired. So, we had to skip out on that one. I feel bad about missing it.
Chris is still in town and it has been great seeing him. We've seen several movies! On Christmas night, we saw "National Treasure." It was an excellent movie! Chris, Rod and I also went to "Charlie Wilson's War." It was also an excellent movie! The three of us also went to "The Great Debaters." ALSO an excellent movie! Kathleen drove up from Lincoln and we saw, "P.S. I Love You." It was pretty good. But, I had no idea what it was about before we went to it. It was good, but I hate paying money to cry. I can do that at home for free.
Well, I've got to get going. We're going out to dinner with another family who has all of their kids home for the holidays also. I took a nap this afternoon so I should be good for another couple of hours.
Again, I'm very sorry for being such a bad blogger. I've decided that "cheating" on my blogger promise is very similar to cheating on my diet. When I've already eaten one handful of Fritos, another handful is not such a big deal. When I've already missed one day of blogging, another one (or two) doesn't feel like as big of a deal either.
M-m-m-m-m-m-m...where is that bag of Fritos?

Thanks for reading.
Annette

On the 1st day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

Two puppies playing


Two cousins playing


One dad a-smiling



One son a-ginning



and Rod in a motorcycle helmet!

Merry Christmas to you all!

I am so sorry Jacque, I completely forgot to get to my blog these last couple of days.
As it is for everyone, it's a crazy time of the year!
I figured out why I've been feeling so crummy. Bending over is really hard on people with pulmonary hypertension. I realized that I was bending over ALL of the time with the puppies! I would have to bend over to get one of their toys, pick up a mess, etc. So, Rod went up to Lowes and bought me a couple of heavy-duty grippers. It has helped quite a bit. In fact, Asa was getting ready to squat and "do his business" in the family room when I grabbed his rear end with the grippers! Fabulous!!

Chris got home last night. Tonight we go to church then have dinner at our home with Rod's brother and his family. Rod, Nick and Chris took over the Christmas Eve cooking a couple of years ago. We have a delicious prime rib, potatoes, rolls, pie, etc., etc., etc!! Then tomorrow we have Rod's brother and his family and my sister and her girls over for lunch and presents. Usually, Rod,the boys and I open gifts to and from each other first thing in the morning before everyone else gets here. But, Nick won't be around. He's on the transplant rotation and is on-call on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. So, we'll do presents whenever he gets some time off. Also, my sister's oldest daughter is still in Taiwan teaching English and won't be home until the fall. So, it's all going to be a bit "off" this year without our oldest "kids" around.

Well, I suppose I should get something done. Again, sorry for missing the last couple of days. Merry Christmas everyone!

Thanks for reading!
much love
Annette

Another quick "hello."

I'm really tired tonight. I'm going to mix my Flolan early and go to bed early. Chris is coming home Sunday night, so I want to be finished with shopping, wrapping and resting by the time he arrives.

Thanks for reading (what little there was :) )
Annette

An escape!!

So, "the boys" and I are having a really good day. We were playing inside and they actually would actually lay down once or twice and kind of relax! I had also taken them outside a couple of times and they "did their business" and stayed right with me, coming in every time I told them to! So, we were inside and they started smelling the floor, which is a big "tell" that they need to go to the bathroom. They had been doing such a good job of listening to me that I figured I'd take them out like before. Well, as you have probably already guessed, their "listening time" was over! Not only did they not listen to me when I called them, they started going further and further away from me! I kept walking towards them telling them to "come" and they just kept looking at me and running further away. They were out in the field and heading towards the street! I couldn't drag my sorry rear through the snow drifts to get to them. So, I went to the garage and got Rod's big, giant Ford 350 diesel truck. I revved it up and drove it right out to the middle of the field! I grabbed Haver, since he kind of seems like the dominant one. He's also the HEAVY one. I put him in the cab and grabbed Asa. Of course, before I got Asa inside the cab, Haver jumped OUT of the cab! You have to try to get this visual. Here is this little 35 pound or so yellow lab jumping out of the cab of a giant pickup truck! He looked like he was flying! The only good part of his flying so far was that when he landed he was pretty deep in a snow drift! While he was stuck, I was able to get Asa in the truck and then grab Haver! I can't imagine what a sight I was driving this giant truck out in the middle of the snow-filled field chasing a couple of puppies around!
Needless to say, when we all got back to the house, we ALL took a nap! They, of course, had to take their nap in the laundry room as a "time-out!"
And yes, I am going to bed early!
Thanks for reading.
Annette
(the tired, but very happy old woman!)

Another "Pantyhose Dinner"

It is now 10:30 p.m. I just finished mixing my medicine and I have to go to bed. These long and late nights of being nice and behaving myself are wearing me out! Sorry for the short post.
More tomorrow.
Thanks for reading.

Annette