Anika
This we are celebrating our 25th year having a Cystic Fibrosis Great Strides walk team (Started as Mackenzie’s Marchers and then The Bradley Bunch). In that time, our team has raised over $390,000. We will definitely go over $400k with this year. We are so grateful to all of you who have donated over the years. We have never received any ‘corporate’ money; it has all been family and friends! You rock!
Kenzie is 25 years old. She’s currently freelancing as a scenic artist/theatrical painter and works at several theaters in the Bay Area, most notably Berkeley Repertory Theatre and San Francisco Playhouse. She also occasionally works with Berkeley Rep’s School of Theater as an assistant to their teen and middle school programming. In her free time, Kenzie enjoys making stained and fused glass works of art, trying all of the local food the Bay has to offer, and cooking fun dishes with her boyfriend Chris.
By the Walk, Anika will be 23 years old. She graduated from Hunter College in New York City in December with her teaching degree! she spent the fall semester before graduation student teaching at a local middle school in Manhattan teaching English Language Arts with a wonderful mentor teacher. In January, she started her first official teaching job teaching English Language Arts to 7th graders at a public middle school in the Bronx. She spent most of her year working in classrooms and studying for her teaching exams, but she did still make time for some fun - like going to concerts, one of her favorite things! She came home to Chicago over the summer to see 5 Seconds of Summer with Teri and went out to New Jersey to see Taylor Swift with her friend Lily in June! Over the summer, she and her best friend, Sophia, did a whirlwind trip between New York, Chicago, and Ohio to visit each other and see some family! Anika loves living in New York City, especially with her little black cat, Leia, who turned 2 in October, and is a total cuddle bug and loves to keep Anika entertained bouncing all over the place with her pom poms, feathers, and laser light!
Three years ago, Anika was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis-related diabetes. Diabetes is a common complication of cystic fibrosis with around 40-50% of adults developing it. She’s monitoring her glucose (yes, finger sticks) and is on a low dose medication to stabilize her blood sugar.
Both girls have a few CF Clinic visits every year; they have recently transitioned to Adult CF Clinics from the Pediatric Clinic. Anika takes about 8 different prescription drugs a day and Kenzie takes about 4. Each takes 7 enzyme capsules before every meal and snack. They are often on antibiotics as part of their treatment. They each do respiratory therapy twice a day for about 20 minutes/session. The therapy includes wearing a ‘Vest’ that is hooked up to an air pumping machine. It beats air against their chest/back for 20 minutes to loosen mucus in their lungs. They breathe medicines daily using a nebulizer and inhaler.
The CF Foundation has made incredible progress in improving and extending the lives of those with Cystic Fibrosis. The mean life expectancy for a person with CF is now 56 years. This is up from 18 in the 1970s and 32 when the girls were born. Your donations helped make this happen!
Trikafta is the new wonder drug for CF patients. The first drug that is proven, in studies, to increase lung function. Your contributions over the years have directly helped these new drugs and new treatments get developed and tested. Thanks to all of you who have donated for funding the research that made this possible!!!
The walk date this year is May 19th. We hope to have one last big walk this year. We will have a tent and hope many of our old walkers can come - hoping the weather will be beautiful! We will continue to raise money every year, but this will be our last big “team”.
Please support me!
Help me reach my fundraising goal by donating to my 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 gift is 100-percent tax deductible.
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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.