Eye On The Prize

This is the story of a young woman's frightening, and eventually disabling illness, which started as eye problems, vocal problems, then turned into lung, joint, skin, and kidney failure. She was convinced that somehow this was all her fault as a result of an event that had occurred in her younger years, until one persistent doctor got to the root of all of the problems: Wegener's granulomatosis. The illness was finally diagnosed in 1987, and years of aggressive treatment followed with chemotherapy. Not wanting to sit around, she decided to put her unfortunate life circumstances toward a purpose of helping others and to go to school, but found that this would be another fight, as funders were often opposed to this dream for many reasons. She kept her eye on the prize, and although it was not easy, and oftentimes, suffered health crises throughout college, and graduate school, did obtain her goals by 1995. This book is written for those who suffer from Wegener's granulomatosis to help them to feel less isolated, or for anyone with a disability to show it is possible to stay on course with their goals. Although it may seem like you are climbing the highest mountain, you can achieve anything you set your mind to.