On April 11th, 2025, I was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis after unknowingly living with it my entire life.

Last year, I wrote about clarity. About finally understanding the fatigue, the infections, the questions that never had answers.

This year feels different.

This year, I think about the kids.

I think about the parents who sit in clinic rooms hearing the words "Cystic Fibrosis" for the first time. I think about the fear that comes with that moment. The uncertainty. The thousand questions about what life will look like.

I was fortunate. I built a life before I ever knew I had CF. And now, because of decades of research funded by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, I have access to treatments that have truly changed the trajectory of my health.

But not every child has that same option yet.

About ten percent of people living with CF still do not qualify for the breakthrough modulator therapies that target the root cause of the disease. Their mutations do not respond to the medications currently available. For those families, the wait for progress is still very real.

That's why Great Strides matters.

It's for the little boy or girl who deserves to grow up believing their lungs are strong because science made them stronger.

It's for parents who deserve hope in that first appointment.

It's for the kids who are still waiting for a therapy that works for them.

And it's for continued breakthroughs so that one day CF is no longer something any child has to "live with" at all.

The progress we've seen didn't happen by chance. It happened because people showed up. They donated. They believed that research changes lives.

If you're able to support or share this page, you're helping protect the next generation of kids living with CF. You're helping fund the science that ensures no one is left behind.

Thank you for walking this with me.