[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 16]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 21690]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             IN HONOR OF SARA BIESIADNY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. KENNY MARCHANT

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 15, 2009

  Mr. MARCHANT. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Sara Biesiadny 
of Grapevine, Texas. Sara has been selected as a regional winner of a 
ConvaTec Comeback Kids Award. This very important program honors 
annually a group of individuals living with intestinal diseases or 
recovering from ostomy surgery.
  The Great Comebacks Awards Program honors the achievements of 
children and teenagers living inspirational lives with Crohn's disease, 
ulcerative colitis and/or an ostomy. This year marks the 25th 
anniversary of the Great Comebacks Program. Each year regional awards 
are given to 12 people throughout the United States who have struggled 
with a chronic condition and have shown extraordinary strength and 
courage. Recipients are selected for having managed, despite daily 
struggles with their conditions, to live full and productive lives. In 
March of 2010, one of these recipients will receive the national Great 
Comebacks Award.
  My constituent Sara, born with birth defects of the spine, bladder 
and colon, received an ostomy shortly after birth. Despite this rough 
start in life, Sara has never wasted a moment's thought on ``why has 
this happened to me?'' In fact, she has refused to let her ostomy and 
other medical conditions get in the way of pursuing her love of sports 
and science. Even though Sara has undergone continuous medical 
procedures and surgeries since birth, she won't sit on the sidelines, 
and enjoys playing softball and basketball and swimming. In fact, as a 
freshman, she set her mind to join the high school golf team and has 
enjoyed three solid seasons with the team. Sara also has excelled 
academically. Sara, 17, is currently a high school senior and 
encourages others suffering from bowel diseases to remember, ``Having 
an ostomy or bowel disease does not define who you are, only you can do 
that.''
  The Great Comeback Awards Program raises awareness of quality-of-life 
issues for people with Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, colorectal 
cancer and other diseases that can lead to ostomy surgery. These 
diseases are painful and debilitating; and while ostomy surgery is a 
procedure that can be life saving, it is also life-changing for 
patients of all ages. The spirit and courage with which a patient 
embraces life after ostomy surgery is what the Great Comebacks Program 
celebrates. My best wishes to Sara and her family.

                          ____________________