Jeff 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.

Help us get one step closer to a cure for Cystic Fibrosis. Please support our team by donating to our CFF Great Strides team, "Dean's CF Destroyers." We will be walking in May for Dean, and for all others affected by this terrible disease.

With supporters like you by our side, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation continues to lead the way in the fight against CF, fueling extraordinary medical and scientific progress. The life expectancy of someone born with CF has doubled in the last 30 years. Despite this progress, many people with CF do not benefit from existing therapies either because their disease is too advanced or because their specific genetic mutations will not respond. They are moms, dads, sisters, brothers, daughters, sons, friends, and co-workers who struggle every day in the face of this devasting disease.

We walk in Great Strides for them. Let's make CF stand for "Cure Found."

From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU.

-Dean's CF Destroyers