Just Dumping my Heart Out....

[Guest guest]

Hi Boys and Girls,

I have been up since 5 a.m. reading posts. Slept good in my new bed. It is the first night's sleep since I can't remember when. There was no sleep before the hospital and certainly none while there. What a zoo!

I have sat here in my quiet house full of sleeping people with tears streaming down my face, reading of your concern for me. I am overwhelmed that you care so much. So many of us have never met and yet there is such rapport and a genuine heartfelt connection. To know that all the while that I was so frightened and felt totally alone, you people were sending up prayers all over this planet to our Father on my behalf..... And, that you cared enough to hold my name up to him is AWESOME!

I have been on the other side. When one of you have been undergoing biopsy or in the hospital and seriously ill, I have spent the day praying and waiting for word. I never knew that it was possible to care that much for a virtual stranger. But, when I look at these posts and realize that you really do care for me and about me, it just fills my heart up.

When I knew Kerry was coming to the hospital, I was more excited than when anyone else came. She was struggling to even talk and was so out of breath. I knew that she had put forth great effort to get there and to bring me just what I wanted. She walked way too far from the parking garage through that giant hospital complex just to see me. But, when I saw her face I knew that she knew. That is what I felt when I saw you guys in Chattanooga. That is what I feel when I come here.....I know that you know. You can try explaining it to people and thier eyes glaze over. You people need no explaining. I knew how Kerry felt when she walked in that door. When I was in Chicago last year and Leanne came to my daughter's house, traipsing through the snow in zero weather....walking up the stairs, not able to even get her breath to say hello....I knew.

I am saying all this to say Thank You for being here, for sharing yourself with me and with each other. I am urging those of you who feel that you have nothing to say, say anything, just let us know that you are there. This group needs to survive when we are gone. So many people, including me, have been helped through this group. We learn so much from each other. We hold each other up through the bad times. We are growing and we are talking and the word will get out. I would love to believe there will come a day when not one person on this planet will ask the stupid question, "what is pulmonary fibrosis?"

I am still really weak and tired, this is an ordeal and I aim to survive it. I just need a little help from my friends and I KNOW that I have that here.

I love you all, Joyce Dalton