Loren Scholtz

My Great Strides Story

I was diagnosed with CF as a baby. It has been a lifelong fight to stay healthy, endless breathing treatments, skanda shakes, high fat/calorie diets, many enzymes and oral medications, hospitalizations and surgeries. There was a point where only two antibiotics worked for me and everything else required hospitalization. I was hopeless, yet didn’t have any other option but to fight  

Trikafta has been a game changer. It’s an oral medication that reverses the symptoms of CF. It has made me feel the most “normal” I have in my whole life. I can now sleep flat in bed with my ceiling fan on, am not constantly in pain from coughing 24/7, sleep through the night and my mood has greatly improved. It’s truly been a miracle. 

There have been 3 people, now 4, that have always been by my side. My parents, brother and husband. I wouldn’t be as stable and healthy as I am without their love and support through my worst days. You really have no idea what this disease is like if you haven’t experienced it first hand. So many tears and never taking the little things for granted. 

People didn’t used to live long when diagnosed with CF. I remember looking up the life expectancy and it was 40 years old. Here I am at age 30 and doing the best I’ve ever done. Here’s to proving to be more than a statistic. 

Nearly 40,000 people in the United States have cystic fibrosis: a progressive, genetic disease that affects the lungs, pancreas, and other organs. They are moms, dads, sisters, brothers, daughters, sons, and friends who face the sobering prospect of a shortened lifespan. I walk for them.

Working alongside the CF community, the CF Foundation has fostered the development of more than a dozen CF treatments and helped add decades of life for people with CF. Yet, many people with CF do not benefit from existing therapies. Our vision is a cure for every person with cystic fibrosis – a life free from the burden of this disease – and we will not leave anyone behind.

You can support me!

By supporting my fundraising goal, you have an opportunity in your lifetime to be part of ending this disease. Please consider joining us and help make medical history.