Harold Goldman

On February 3rd, 2011 Eliana Elizabeth showed her proud Mom and Dad how strong she could be! Born with a distended belly due to a meconium cyst that stretched from hip to hip, she had to have surgery 18 hours after she was born. In surgery, Dr. Oz removed the cyst, untwisted her intestines, and removed the damaged areas leaving her with an ostomy bag. SO STRONG, she fought through the pain a baby should never experience and healed quickly at the sight of her incision. However, the struggle continued. At two and a half weeks, we were asked to meet with the lung center. Thinking it was just another doctor telling us what they thought our next step would be. We were blindsided by the news that our daughter has a "life shortening disease" called Cystic Fibrosis. As weeks passed by we fought back tears and admired the strength of our smallest baby girl.

Unfortunately, Ellie's ostomy was located very high on her "gut", and having Cystic Fibrosis, she did not gain weight and failed to absorb any nutrients. Back to the operating room she went. At 6 weeks, not even at term yet, she knew she was leaving her mom and dad and just cried in the strange hall with the new faces hovering over her asking for her short medical history before she was sedated once again. A long 2 hours and 43 minutes later, Dr. Oz came back out and said the re-connection surgery went well and it was all up to Ellie on how fast her little 5-pound body could recover. Shortly after our conversation, Ellie was wheeled out to the hallway before they took her back to the NICU.  Eliana spent almost 90 days in the NICU.

Ellie is such a fighter! She has been through more medically in her lifetime than most adults EVER experience.  

At home, Ellie has Bailee, her 16-year-old big sister who is very protective of her little sister. Ellie's other big sister, Bella, almost 15-years-olds, is Eliana's partner in all things fashion and makeup.

These days Eliana loves to spend time with her volleyball and hopes to be on a team in the fall.  Eliana also loves to play outside on her trampoline and web swing, and  enjoys riding her skateboard.

Great Strides is a bg reason Eliana has had such a successful life up to this point.  With your donations, the foundation can put money towards the research and development of new drugs and therapies to fight CF.

The AMAZING doctors who work with children who have Cystic Fibrosis devote their lives to research for finding a cure. Trials are being done RIGHT NOW for the specific strain/mutation that Ellie carries. But, there is no government funding for Cystic Fibrosis. It comes from fundraisers throughout the year. This is our chance as a family to try and help Ellie live a longer life.

Help us make CF stand for Cure Found!

There are approximately 30,000 Americans living with cystic fibrosis. They are moms, dads, sisters, brothers, daughters, sons, and friends who struggle every day just to breathe. I walk for them. Will you join me and support my fundraising goal?

Real progress has been made for those who have CF, but there is still no cure for this devastating disease and many lives are cut far too short. We’ve come so far, but there’s still so much work to do. I will not stop striding until all those with cystic fibrosis have a cure. We will not leave anyone behind.  

Please support me!

We are at a pivotal moment in the history of cystic fibrosis and your support matters. With your help, we can invest our resources in research today, while raising funds for tomorrow, to ensure we have what it takes to reach the finish line. Together, we can make CF stand for Cure Found. Please help me reach my fundraising goal!