Thank you for the kind words everybody.  Really though, you don't need to worry or pray for me.  I'm extremely healthy and with current drugs and new drugs on the horizon, I don't really think my health will ever be too much of an issue.  May be a little tough at times, but I expect to live a long, happy life.  Some people have not diagnosed until as late as their 60's, and my doctor's tell me if it wasn't for my sister, I may have been one of those people.  And for that I thank her, as I will be able to maintain my health better since I am aware of my condition.  But yes, please do pray for my sister and all other CF patients who aren't so fortunate.  I have a few friends with CF I have met through the Johns Hopkins clinic that are in pretty bad shape, one with kidney and liver failure, and another that is on the waiting list for a lung transplant.  It really is a devastating disease, and I hope to help everyone who has to live with it lead better lives, and I thank you all for joining my cause.
 
Also, there have been many other great and saddening stories here that I want to thank everyone for sharing.  I will keep everybody with these conditions, as well as their families in my prayers.
 
Flip

Why We Fold - November 10
 
All the things that we love, that we hate; what would it be like without them?  What would life be like?
 
Sit back and think about the things that we have now that some don't. I had what I think was a good life growing up but right now I'm in college on a college budget sitting in a cramped dorm room.  To my left is my rig, in front is my keyboard with a tempermental delete key. To my right is a picture that reminds me why I fold.
 
That picture is of my father's side of the family, those memories somehow sealed in a piece of paper. Everyone is smiling there, but I can't take another picture with three of those people anymore.
 
About 12 years ago, my grandmother passed on. 8 years after that, an uncle passes and a year ago, my great-grandmother left.
 
This is a reason why I fold: so other families along with the rest of mine can hopefully have an extra day to make one more memory to seal in one more piece of paper that hopefully lives forever.
 
To Great-Grandma U, Grandma K and Uncle D:
Thank you for the memories,
Adam

warthorn

Adam, sorry for not replying when your post got featured this morning. I'll PM you when I get off work tonight. Great post and thank you for sharing. If there's an afterlife all those people are probably very proud of all you do!

Thanks
 
Here is my November 11th post:
 
Since today is Veterans Day, first off I want to say thank you to all service men and women in the world. Truly, without you, the US wouldn't be anything like it is today. Thanks!
 
When I was trying to put my thoughts on paper this morning, I read through some of the posts around the web that Warthorn mentioned and this one just stuck out to me (link):
 

nomad8u from [H]
I fold today for their tomorrows.
I fold today that I might ease their sorrows.

I fold today for those not met.
I fold today for those I'll never forget.

I fold today that I might ease their grief.
I fold today for someone's relief.

I fold today.
I willfold tomorrow!

 
 

Thanks for today's Adam. Glad to see someone took a look at the other teams' pages too
 
Happy Veterans day to all... Sure there are lots of vets back home folding and probably a few on-duty. In fact I'm sure there are since I sold a few of them stuff

Thanks for the kind words!

Wow nice article! Wish I had checked email earlier. In one of my classes we talked about how an increasing number of at-home caregivers are children.
 

warthorn
Let's fold for these kids today, so that some day other kids will know what their parents were like before a disease hollowed them out. 

 
+1

To everyone that I missed individually, great job to everyone who posted why they're folding.
 
I'd like to add that the 10~10~10 contest has got me buying more equipment and folding even harder.  Damn, the love of the chase is great. 
 
Fold On

drougnor

Random Entry - 11-23-2010

Hope no one minds my poaching an entry, but I REALLY dislike seeing this go fallow.

It's been a week and a half since I had nearly two feet of hair in total lopped off.  I've got my first 'grown up' hair cut, and it's taken some adjustment to be sure.  But that's not why I fold.

I got my letter of recognition from Locks of Love yesterday, but that's not why I fold, either.

I fold because I want to ensure that the SMALLEST number of children end up in a position to NEED a wig from the donated hair from Locks of Love.

I fold so we won't need charities like Child's Play any more. 

I fold so EVENTUALLY we'll have our bodily faults in check as much as we can so Humanity as a whole can push itself to the limit.

d

 
YES. Well said! 

+1!!   
 
Nice to see this thread in its own sub-forum now!

Thanks for the post d! Random ones are welcome on days nobody's scheduled, just send me a PM like you did. Sorry I wasn't home earlier to catch it.
 
And the subforum.... whoa. just whoa.

tank, thanks for sharing this. added it to the OP for now. texinga sent one in advance for thanksgiving, but we can definitely keep yours there til tomorrow afternoon.
 
I'm very sorry to hear that about your grandmom This is a hard time of the year to face those situations. Wish you and your family all the best, and hope she's in good shape tomorrow to read some more.

Interesting point of view labeld. I have to agree that we all understand the competitive nature we have and the fueling of the competition by the points system. This is what feeds my addiction too, but I have to say it was not the motivating factor to get me started in the first place. Nobody is going to kick you out of folding for your reason, so Fold On!

Sorry to get it up late labeld, had to leave before you posted. Up now though!
 
While I agree with rj (wouldn't do it for the same) your honesty is very welcome. Your reasons, teams, points, etc all do the same thing... kick the crud outta proteins. Can't argue with that.

I believe that if you do good things, good things happen.
This is why I fold,
 
-Adam

Sorry this post is so late in the day, been going back and forth to hospital the whole weekend due to family coming to visit. So my story...
 
I married my wife Amanda in May of last year, one month after we were married she started feeling out of breath and having trouble doing small tasks like walking up stairs. We went to the doctor thinking it was prabably just asthma. Three incorrect diagnoses' and several doctors later, we were told that she had a tumor the size of a fist pushing against her lung that caused fluid build-up and eventually collapsed her lung. The doctors first plan was to open her up and remove the tumor, you could imagine our shock when dealing with that news. Luckily another doctor had a look and decided that the better route would be to try chemotherapy since the tumor was Hodgkins Lymphoma. The type of chemotherapy was ABVD which is relatively mild compare to treatments for other cancers. Six months later she had finished 5 rounds of chemo and many radiation treatments, it was a miserable time for both of us but we got through it and we anxiously waited for her scan results that would tell us she was in remission and we could get on with our lives.
 
At the end of her treatment, Amanda was feeling a lot better and i was deployed to Kuwait since she was well enough to care for herself. I had hoped to return a year later to restart our long healthy lives together. Unfortunately, six months in, i got a call from Amanda and she told me that a recent scan showed the cancer had returned and it was more aggresive than before. I got permission to return stateside immediately and treatment was underway upon my return. This time the chemo regimen was called ICE, a very harsh chemotherapy with sever side-effects. Unlike the previous treatments she had, this chemo left her bed ridden and too weak to do much on her own. She would get infections regularly due to her weakened immune system and all of her hair came out within the first couple of weeks. It was heartbreaking to see how sick she was and all i could think about was how much there needs to be a better way to treat cancer.
 
One day in late september this year, her stomach started to hurt so bad that we had to take her to the hospital, she was diagnosed with Typhlitis, an infection of the lower intestine that could be fatal even when treated. Her body was so weak that even under constant care in the hospital she suffered a cardiac arrest and went almost thirty minutes without oxygen to her brain. The doctors stabilized her but told me that due to the length of time she was under, she most likely would not recover most of her brain function. I was told that my 24 year old wife would probably spend the rest of her life in a hospital bed. Bear in mind, this was not caused by her Hodgkins Lymphoma, this was a direct result of the chemotherapy. I'm not blaming the doctors or the scientists for using this type of treatment, in many cases it does help people. However, nobody should have to endure this misery, there just has to be a better safer way to treat cancer. I read about the research being done at the stanford labs and decided i'd do everything i could to support the folding at home project. I'm realistic, i don't think there will be a new treatment developed in time to help my wife, but if people in the future can survive cancer without chemotherapy than we need to do eveything we can to make that a reality.
 
Now for the good news...
Contrary to what several neurologists told us, Amanda has made leaps and bounds in the past couple months in terms of recovery. For the first month and a half, she was completely vegetative. One day a few weeks ago, after much patience and repitition i got her to say her name. She can now carry on conversations and regained a large portion of her memory(some things are still a little fuzzy) She began physical therapy this week and we hope to have her walking by christmas. We had a nice thanksgiving here in the hospital, she enjoyed the turkey, potatoes and stuffing my family brought in and hopefully we can have our next holiday meal at home away from the hospital.
 
Once she is strong enough, she will have to continue her chemotherapy, we're not looking foward to it but it's the only option she has to see the end of her disease. So everyone cross their fingers and fold like crazy and maybe we can see an alternative cancer treatment in our lifetime.
 
Amanda and I at Virginia Beach Summer of '09

 
This picture was taken today, i love that she's smiling again