Stephanie Schaeffer

Dean was born with Cystic Fibrosis, a rare, genetic, life-shortening disease that affects several parts of the body, most notably the lungs and pancreas, making it hard for people with CF to breathe, digest food, and absorb nutrients. Dean sees a pulmonologist, nurse, respiratory therapist, nutritionist, physical therapist, behavioral therapist, and social worker, and his quarterly CF clinic visits can last 3+ hours. Dean also takes numerous medications and does his nebulizer and "shakey vest" therapy twice a day, every day. This increases when he's sick. He's had countless x-rays, pulmonary function tests, blood draws, throat cultures, and a few hospital stays under his belt already. Dean sacrifices a lot each day due to CF, and his disease limits what we all can do in order to keep him healthy and slow the disease progression. Fighting this disease is a battle that our family fights together.

But Dean is not going to be defined by his Cystic Fibrosis. He is resilient, a fighter, and is such a happy kid. Dean participates in clinical trials to further along research and development of new medicines and treatments to help fight this disease. His health has done a 180 because of a special medication that he's on that helps modulate CFTR function in his body, and he's never been healthier because of it. Your support and donations would help further CF research and get important drugs like this to market. All of Dean's medicines and treatments have been created and made possible by the support from the CF Foundation, and by support from people like you.

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.

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! 

Thank you for all of your love and support,

-Stephanie

PS: Dont forget! Employers may match your donations!