When we kissed our baby and noticed a salty taste, I remembered a TV commercial I heard all the time when I was a child. It said to kiss your baby for life and if they tasted salty they could die. I could not remember what that commercial was, so I called my aunt who was a nurse. She said it was Cystic Fibrosis (CF) but for me not to worry that my baby did not have that, that everyone tastes salty when sweating. At three months our baby was diagnosised with CF. My aunt told my mother there was nothing good about CF. The doctors told us to forget every hope, plan and dream we had for our child. They predicted that our child would not live to start school much less grow up. It rocked our world. However, God helped us through the dark hours and days ahead and our child has thrived and been a great joy. Our child has grown and even graduated from High School. However, his brother who also was born with CF, did not live to see his third birthday. It has amazed me how my children have just accepted the challenges they have had to face. They have not allowed CF to be who they are.

Fulfilling the needs of a child with CF is challenging and time consuming. When our oldest child was 11 months old we started participating in the GREAT STRIDES: Taking Steps to Cure Cystic Fibrosis walk. Although we found it hard to ask people for money, we felt we were doing something constructive to ensure our child would have a future. Through the years our family and friends have joined us in our efforts to raise money for a cure. We have not missed a year of GREAT STRIDES: Taking Steps to Cure Cystic Fibrosis and have added other fundraisers such as the Annual Homeschool Bowl for Breath/Silent Auction.

The reality faced by the entire CF community: the opportunities in CF science are outpacing the rate of fund-raising. In other words, there are more drug development and potential therapeutic options out there today than the CF Foundation has money to fund. To leave them unfunded and undeveloped is not an option. For as parents we can not accept the median age for survival for patients with CF is 35 years. We well remember the day the CF Gene was discovered in 1989. We were so sure a cure would soon follow. However, although a cure has yet to be found, we have seen positive results from the research. Each year has brought about new treatments which have really helped improve the lives of those living with CF. They have given our child and others who live with CF a brighter future. The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation has come a long way in fighting CF; however we are not there yet, and can not stop until CF stands for Cure Found.

Please join our family in this fight. Our 2nd Annual Homeschool Bowl for Breath raised $2,500 (with matching grants from Wal-Mart). With us all working together our 3rd Annual Homeschool Bowl for Breath can do better. We have the means to make a difference in the lives of a lot of people and I thank you for joining us in this fight. Anything you can do will be highly appreciated. Please pray for my family and for all who live with CF.

A Homeschool CF Mom