Why did I choose Cooley's

Hey there everyone,

So I've never written a blog before, please bare with me. I thought this would be an interesting way to share my experiences and raise some more awareness for the Cooley's Anemia Foundation. The Cooley's Anemia Foundation helps those suffering from a blood disorder called Thalassemia. The disorder affects a persons hemoglobin when in the beta and alpha, intermedia and major forms. I won't go into to too much more detail or this blog post would probably be 20 pages long, but please go to http://www.thalassemia.org/ and learn as much as you can about Thal, the website has alot of great resources for people interested in learning about Thal and getting innvolved. I decided to do my internship with the Cooley's Anemia foundation last summer when my fiancee Ian suggested it as an opportunity. Ian was diagnosed with Beta Thalassemia intermedia when he was still a child. He had undergone countless surgeries and more blood transfusions than I can count. He also chelated every night (well he chelated every night since we had started dating anyways). Chelation was the only way to get rid of the excess iron from the blood transfusions. He wasn't chelating for a long time before I met him, because he simply (as he put it) did not care to anymore. This happens alot with thal patients, it is a very rough and annoying process. However I told him when we decided to start dating, listen buddy either you chelate or this isn't gonna happen. Harsh... maybe, effective... Yes. So for the next two years of our relationship we dealt with all the transfusions and the chelating, and the hospitalizations. It amazed me that he continued to try and be as normal as possible, I had the most infinite amount of respect for him, more than I think I ever had for any one person. He went to school for Physical Therapy, was in a band  called The Red Eyes for a while, we did most normal things that 20 something couples do. Sometimes it was hard, but I think dealing with Ian's Thal made us closer and more in love. I was so in love with him, he was funny, intelligent, clever, kind, and did I mention handsome, yeah he was a definite hottie. The day he asked me to marry him was the happiest day of my life. We were convinced that if we just did everything right, and just kept loving that God would help us. I guess God works in mysterious ways, because this past december Ian was hospitalized for his liver enzymes going up. Everything looked like it was going to get better though. This had happened in March and Ian recovered and we went back to living our normal lives. However the doctors discharged Ian, and said he'd make a full recovery. He didn't He was discharged on Friday December 24,2010, and he passed away on Tuesday December 28, 2010. So Basically my whole life plan had to change. Everything we had worked for together, everything we were planning on doing the following year, graduating and getting married seemed like a dream so far away. I was lost and I mean I have never been more of a wreck in my entire life. It lasted months, heck I still feel like that most days. I don't know if it will ever get better. But I do know nobody should ever have to feel this way. This is a feeling I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. I realized that I wanted to make sure nobody has to feel this. I decided to go back to school and continue on my internship path with the Cooley's Anemia Foundation. I want to make sure I can help others with this blood disorder so that they can all live happy healthy lives, along with all of their loved ones. I was able to work with the foundation during the spring 2011 semester. My PR Cases and problems class decided they wanted to help me with my cause. Shout out to all of the students in my class right now they are all AWESOME, words can't even begin to explain the calibur of these students. We worked with the foundation and organized the Bloomsburg University Care Walk, "Walk This Way to Find a Way". The event was a complete success raising close to 6,000 dollars. It was also a lot of fun. So that brings me to today. I moved into my apartment in uptown New York City at the beginning of the week, and I started my internship on Wednesday June 1, 2011. So now that you know a little more about me and my background and why this cause is so important please keep reading my blog :). I will have updates on what I'm working on with the foundation, my life as a working city girl, and any other good information about thal I can find. Please feel free to leave comments or questions. I will definitley answer all questions.