Bethany Masingale

Hey guys! The Nashville Great Strides Walk for Cystic Fibrosis is Saturday, May 11th and is coming up so soon! I'd love it if you'd join me in fundraising and walking if you can!! 

Cystic Fibrosis is a genetic, chronic lung and digestive disease that produces thick sticky mucus in the lungs and other organs. The mucus happens because of issues with the sodium chloride channel. While the mucus needs to be coughed up and is helped through daily treatments and therapies, there is often times so much of it that it stays there and creates life threatening infections. So many infections creates scarring that is irreversible and is the cause for a decline in lung function. 

This is just the way CF affects the lungs. This disease also affects the digestive system, sinuses, liver, and reproductive system. CF affects 30,000 people in the U.S. and 70,000 people worldwide.

There are over 1,700 different mutations within CF so treating the disease requires a lot of research for all the different mutations. There is no cure, but there are some incredible new drugs coming down the pipeline that the CF community cannot wait to get their hands on! Because of all of you who have helped by donating in the past, we have had many FDA approved therapies that are helping us live longer and manage our disease a little better. Namely, Trikafta. Trikafta IS the miracle drug I believe helped me get pregnant with my sweet Archie. It is the reason I am doing so well, but 10% of the population can’t take this drug because they have a different mutation. So, there is still so much work to be done!! 

The research for CF is not funded by the government, so the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation sets up fundraising events like the great strides walk in order to raise money for more research and to hopefully make CF stand for cure found! 

Come walk with me at Father Ryan at 9 am in Nashville and/or donate to my page!! Please and thank you SO much!