I'm a CF Advocate

On Friday I met with a representative from my congressman's office (Congressman Michael McCaul). The cystic fibrosis foundation organized a nationwide initiative for people to meet with their Congressman and tell them their "CF story." The main points of the meetings are to make our Congressmen aware of CF and encourage them to vote "yes" on bills supportive of CF research and funding for CF patients.

Overall, I felt like a bit of a tool - I kind-of rambled my way through the meeting and forgot to mention a few key points about my CF story (such as my surgery scheduled for this week!). I think part of my problem is that my CF is so mild I felt like I was complaining about something I should feel thankful for - you know "feel sorry for me and vote on CF issues because I'm sooo sick..." The entire time I was wondering if she was remembering the terminally ill cancer patient she recently met with and thinking "Girl! You aren't sick! We've got WAY more important diseases to fight for!" (However, she gave ZERO indication of this and was VERY, VERY nice, and I really liked her).

The meeting definitely had some positive outcomes. She was not aware of the Congressional CF Caucus and was excited to hear about it. It would make me very happy to see his name listed on it sometime soon. She was also interested in learning more about local CF fundraisers, - it be awesome to see him at one of those! I just keep reminding myself of these positive outcomes so I don't feel too embarrassed :)