My Great Strides Story
Peter Bradley
Fundraising for Chicago Great Strides 2026
Peter Bradley
Mackenzie and Anika were diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) before they were born.
Kenzie is 27 years old. She works at the Palo Alto Children’s Theatre as their Associate Production Manager and freelances as a scenic artist at several Bay Area theaters. She recently moved into a small house in Berkeley with her boyfriend Chris and they adopted two young, bonded cats: Cheeto and Jiji. In her free time, Kenzie enjoys making stained glass works of art and trying all the local food the Bay has to offer. Teri and Pete always have a great time visiting her and Chris. This year Kenzie took them to an Oyster Farm.
By the Walk, Anika will be 25 years old. She has been teaching English Language Arts full-time at a public middle school in the Bronx, New York. She loves her 8th grade students and has some amazing colleagues who have become great friends. She is almost done with graduate school to get her Master’s degree as a literacy specialist and will graduate in December! She and her little black cat, Leia, have been living in Queens with two roommates for almost two years! She loves her roommates and her new neighborhood in Astoria, New York. She has been home many times this year to visit Chicago, once with her best friend Lily. Pete and Teri came out to visit her in February.
Both girls have CF Clinic visits every year; they have 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 occasionally go 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.
Six 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 and is on a low dose medication to stabilize her blood sugar.
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 wonder drug for CF patients. The first drug that is proven, in studies, to increase lung function. This year Anika transitioned to an even newer CF drug that replaces Trykafta. It is Alyftrek. She gets blood draws monthly to track her progress and look for problems. Your contributions over the years have directly helped create these new drugs and treatments get developed and tested. Thanks to all of you who have donated to funding the research that made this possible!!!
Last year was the 26th year for the Bradley Bunch Walk Team. We no longer have a walk team as the girls have moved out of town. We do continue to raise much-needed funds for the CF Foundation. Last year, we raised just over $10,000. Our total amount raised for those 26 years is now over $417,000. We never expected to be this successful! We have so many long-term contributors. Thank You!
Kenzie is 27 years old. She works at the Palo Alto Children’s Theatre as their Associate Production Manager and freelances as a scenic artist at several Bay Area theaters. She recently moved into a small house in Berkeley with her boyfriend Chris and they adopted two young, bonded cats: Cheeto and Jiji. In her free time, Kenzie enjoys making stained glass works of art and trying all the local food the Bay has to offer. Teri and Pete always have a great time visiting her and Chris. This year Kenzie took them to an Oyster Farm.
By the Walk, Anika will be 25 years old. She has been teaching English Language Arts full-time at a public middle school in the Bronx, New York. She loves her 8th grade students and has some amazing colleagues who have become great friends. She is almost done with graduate school to get her Master’s degree as a literacy specialist and will graduate in December! She and her little black cat, Leia, have been living in Queens with two roommates for almost two years! She loves her roommates and her new neighborhood in Astoria, New York. She has been home many times this year to visit Chicago, once with her best friend Lily. Pete and Teri came out to visit her in February.
Both girls have CF Clinic visits every year; they have 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 occasionally go 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.
Six 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 and is on a low dose medication to stabilize her blood sugar.
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 wonder drug for CF patients. The first drug that is proven, in studies, to increase lung function. This year Anika transitioned to an even newer CF drug that replaces Trykafta. It is Alyftrek. She gets blood draws monthly to track her progress and look for problems. Your contributions over the years have directly helped create these new drugs and treatments get developed and tested. Thanks to all of you who have donated to funding the research that made this possible!!!
Last year was the 26th year for the Bradley Bunch Walk Team. We no longer have a walk team as the girls have moved out of town. We do continue to raise much-needed funds for the CF Foundation. Last year, we raised just over $10,000. Our total amount raised for those 26 years is now over $417,000. We never expected to be this successful! We have so many long-term contributors. Thank You!
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