Karen Elizabeth's Team

Dear Family & Friends, April 2022
It’s that time of year again to support our continued efforts to find a cure for Karen and so many others affected by Cystic Fibrosis. The progress in the research is very exciting, and new drugs are now available to help in the treatment of CF, and they are that much closer to a cure. I hope you will once again consider helping us raise money for a cure for cystic fibrosis.

Here’s a Karen update: December 19, 2021, Karen broke her right ankle for the fourth time in two years. This time, the end of her fibula completely separated from the rest of the bone—this required surgery, which she had on January 7, 2022. The injury had grown cartilage and formed a new joint. The surgeon happily removed this ‘new joint’ and put a 3” screw permanently in the bone. She was non-weight bearing for eight weeks and then back in her cam boot March 1 and doing physical therapy once a week to regain strength and use of the ankle. She has done incredibly well and is now done with the cam boot and wears her ridged brace for church activities and dance classes (only allowed to walk steps at this point). PT is hoping to move her to full dance class participation within the next two weeks. Then it will be about a couple of months of building back strength and stamina so that she can get back to competing possibly by September. Time will tell and we are in no hurry, just want a solid healing so she can just dance to her heart’s content. Yes, yes, Karen has participated in her Irish dance classes throughout this entire injury, as she has for the past injuries. She sits in on classes and hand dances (a way for the dancers to practice when traveling to competitions and to train the mind). In addition, Karen got to do a choreography for the dance school’s big stage show (this she just choreographed for the show but wasn’t in). Anyway, she is taking the healing process very seriously and hoping to dance this year at some point, but willing to do whatever is necessary to ensure she is healed well before getting back to dancing again.
Karen finished high school in December 2021 started a couple of accelerated courses at Red Rocks Community College to get all of her pre-requisites met before applying to the radiology program in the Fall of 2023. She has to be 18 and won’t be until January 2023, and the program starts in the Fall of each year). Her high school graduation ceremony is May 14, 2022 (as is this year’s CF Great Strides Walk).

Karen’s health update: Karen still has lingering tremors from the Trikafta that she took in 2020. She has had a persistent cough that no amount of antibiotics has been able to remedy to date. She has been living under the threat of a hospital admission since November 2021, which she has, so far, been able to avoid. In February, her cultures came back with the odious pseudomonas bacteria and very high levels of MSSA (regular staph-she always grows some, but it is high for her right now). So now she is on a month-long (all of March) nebulized treatment of Tobramycin, hoping that the pseudomonas will go away. Her CF doctor says if not, she may need to be admitted for IV antibiotics to keep it from becoming colonized.
Approximately 30,000 Americans are living with cystic fibrosis. They are moms, dads, sisters, brothers, daughters, sons, friends, and co-workers who struggle daily to breathe. We walk for them and hope you will support us in our efforts. Real progress is being made in the search for a cure, but the lives of people with CF are still cut far too short. Unfortunately, there still is no cure for this devastating disease. By walking (or supporting us with a donation) on May 14, 2022, I am helping add tomorrows to the lives of people living with cystic fibrosis. Will you join me? Please support me by donating to my Great Strides fundraising campaign today!

Please support Karen this year with your generous donations! We want to try to have monies collected ASAP, so please make your donation today! Any amount you can give is very much appreciated. Please help us reach our fundraising goal by donating to our Great Strides fundraising campaign. Your gift will help add tomorrows to the lives of people with cystic fibrosis by supporting life-saving research and medical progress. Your donation is 100-percent tax-deductible. Great Strides is a fun, family-friendly event that raises awareness and support for people with CF and their families. The walk this year:

Walk Date: 5/14/2022 at 10 am

Make checks payable to: CFF or CF Foundation
(Note in MEMO line: KAREN ELIZABETH’S TEAM)

Mail to: Tammi Barnes
8457 Dover Ct.
Arvada, CO 80005
Event Location: SLOAN’S LAKE, DENVER, CO (same place it’s been in the past)

Please support Karen this year with your generous donations! We hope to have all monies collected by no later than MAY 1, 2022, or sooner this year, so please make your donation today! Any donation amount you can give is very much appreciated. Please help us reach our fundraising goal by donating to our Great Strides fundraising campaign. Your gift will help add tomorrows to the lives of people with cystic fibrosis by supporting life-saving research and medical progress. Your donation is 100-percent tax-deductible.
Love,
Bret, Tammi, Cyndel, Amanda, Dana & Karen