My Great Strides Story
Becoming a nurse has been the most rewarding and enriching choice I’ve made to date but I didn’t truly realize it until I became a pediatric nurse in 2018 and met this kid named Joe.
Now, I didn’t get the chance to know Joe the way the rest of my coworkers did but he definitely impacted the way I looked at every patient after him, especially my other Cystic Fibrosis kids. The year I transferred to pediatrics was the year Joe aged out of our hospital but that didn’t stop him from convincing his new nurses to bring him over to get some chocolate milk, hang out at the secretary desk for a few to say hi the staff, get some G tube extensions and convince one of his pediatric nurses or techs to do his laundry for him! That year, I watched as not only Joe struggled with his health but my new team struggled to watch it happen.
Seeing the bond he had with the nurses who had taken care of him for the majority of his life was something I didn’t see often in the adult world I came from. That’s what Joe left me when he passed away. He showed me how important it was to find something to connect with each one of my patients so they could feel as safe as he did with the team who cared for him his whole life. It’s the lesson I continue to use for each and every patient but my CF kids always have a special place in my heart thanks to Joe. That’s why CF Strides is so important. It continues to bring awareness and education about Cystic Fibrosis to others and helps to improve treatments until we have a cure.
Great Strides Information
There is currently no cure for cystic fibrosis. By participating in Great Strides, I am helping to end this disease for thousands of people impacted by CF.
Cystic fibrosis affects the lungs, pancreas, and other organs. The symptoms can vary from person to person, and as people with CF live longer than ever before, their disease can become more complicated, leading to serious health issues.
The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation has made extraordinary progress — including fostering the development of more than a dozen CF treatments — but these treatments are not a cure and not everyone can benefit from them. We must keep going.
Your support makes a difference.
By donating to my fundraising goal, you will help advance our mission for a cure for all. Please consider joining us and helping make CF stand for Cure Found.
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IMPORTANT NOTE ON ATTENDANCE AT FOUNDATION EVENTS:
Updated July 5th, 2023
The CF Foundation is committed to ensuring the health and wellbeing of individuals attending Foundation events. Individuals attending CF Foundation events must abide by the Foundation's Event Attendance Policy www.cff.org/attendancepolicy, which includes guidance for event attendees living with cystic fibrosis.