Please watch Faith's 2008 video above & know that this fund-raiser will be helping to extend the health & life of Faith & 30,000 others battling CF. We are still losing precious lives to CF every day!

How do you respond to a question like that from a 2.5 year old?...I’ll tell you that on days when I’m literally laying on her with most my weight so she can have 5 vials of blood drawn to check how her body is coping with CF, things surely don’t seem to feel OK. Sadly, those times are only minimal compared to what she may go through someday soon….for every time she gets sick, she walks the tight rope of possibly needing hospitalization and IV’s to get through the infection.

In this past year, Faith has been on antibiotics 3 or 4 times because an illness has taken her little body too long to overcome; fairly typical in CFers. She had recurring sinus congestion for over 3 months, which almost put her in the hospital just before Christmas & yet another illness in January, again pushing the line of hospitalization. That sinus issue also caused her to lack an appetite & she began dropping drastically down the weight chart (it is important for her health to stay above the 50th percentile for weight as research has shown a direct correlation between lung function & weight).

We are truly blessed & grateful to have such a wonderfully caring & proactive CF team of doctors & nurses at Sutter who help to keep her in the best shape. Their efforts combined with those of mommy & daddy are what’s brought her back up to great health in February! Faith just had her 3 month check up with the CF team & is doing fantastic! Her lungs are clear, her weight is up & all her blood & throat culture labs are about perfect. Faith has always done a great job taking her enzymes with food & is now up to about 22 pills per day. She also does a breathing treatment & thumping vest (“bump bumps”) for close to an hour daily as prevention which helps clear & break up any mucus in her lungs. We are fully aware that her health can decline rapidly, which changes everything in a matter of days.

*ABOUT the walk:*
GREAT STRIDES is the Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Foundation's largest & most successful national fund-raising event. This year, it will be held at the *California State Capitol, West Steps, in Sacramento on May 3, 2008* from 8AM check-in to about noon. Breakfast snacks, lunch, entertainment & a kids’ corner of activities will be provided! The Walk Route will be a 5k/10k that will start at the Capitol, go through Capitol Mall, through Old Town Sacramento, down K Street Mall, and then around the Capitol Gardens (1 time around is approximately a 5k, 2 times around is approximately a 10k). Be sure if you have a yellow shirt from last year to wear it & we'll all walk together! I will also have some new 2008 shirts as well as the CFF one!

Donations are used efficiently and effectively toward supporting research & specialized care that improves the quality of life for those with CF. And, it's tax-deductible.

Making a donation is easy & secure! Just click on the link above & it will be credited to our team. Or you can give me cash or check (payable to Cystic Fibrosis Foundation) & I can donate it at the walk site. *Any amount is greatly appreciated!* If you need any ideas for fundraising on your own, I’ve got a gazillion or if you are unable to donate, please come walk with us anyway!

Once again, thank you for supporting our family & the mission of the CF Foundation!

Stephanie @-->----
Proud mommy to Faith, almost 3yrs w/ Cystic Fibrosis & Brooke, 1 year w/o CF