Renee And Stephen Bernardi

I'd like to introduce Reese, our 13 year old daughter. She's a teenager with all the sass, but is such a sweetheart and is truly an amazing individual. Reese is a great student and is in 7th grade.  She continues to play basketball (playing travel and AAU) and has found her passion.  She is a beast on defense!  

As you can tell, Reese is a busy girl. She does all this while having Cystic Fibrosis. Reese gets up earlier than most for school so that she can get her 40 minutes of treatments done. She also has to make time in her busy schedule for her evening treatments (another 30 minutes). She takes her Enzymes with every meal (to help with her digestion) and does this all without complaining! Reese is a very healthy girl, a model patient at her clinic every other month! We could not be happier with her current health.

The past few years there has been some GREAT EXCITEMENT in the CF community! A new drug was approved by the FDA in 2019 called Trikafta. This is the first triple-combination therapy available to treat patients with the most common cystic fibrosis mutations. FORTUNATELY, Reese qualified for this medication and started taking it in 07/2021, with great results.  After almost 2 years she still breathes better/ easier and coughs less.  Her breathing test results continue to be off the charts and her CF team is so proud of her progress!  We want to thank each and everyone of you who donated, who have walked, who have shared or even just sent love and support.  Without you, Reese would not be where she is today!  

By donating and/or walking with us at the Great Strides event, you can help accelerate the Foundation’s pursuit of new therapies and provide vital support to meet the needs of the CF community.  There is still much work to be done and your participation will help us get one step closer to ending this terrible disease.  Let’s make CF stand for Cure Found.