For Alyssa....

This is Alyssa, she is the same age as Lily. Her mom and I belong to the same online group and have known eachother since we were both pregnant. After Alyssa was born, she was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis, which is a serious and life-altering illness. Through the internet, I have watched this child grow and bloom and I find her and her family amazing. I know it would mean the world to Alyssa, her friends and family, and all families dealing with CF if anyone could donate, even just a bit. We are hoping for a cure in Alyssa's lifetime and I will personally continue to donate every year from here on out in honor of this beautiful little girl. I hope you will too!

From Alyssa's Mom:

Alyssa was born on Jan. 18, 2006 with meconium illeus (a bowel obstruction). Luckily she did not need surgery to remove the obstruction. But we soon learned that this problem is most often seen in children with cystic fibrosis. Many months and many tests later (and many doctor's insisting she was perfectly fine) we received word that her genetic tests revealed a cystic fibrosis diagnosis.

Once diagnosed, Alyssa was accepted as a patient at the CF Center at Akron's Children's Hospital. We have had fabulous care there. Aside from having some weight gaining issues and one hospitalization last spring, Alyssa has been doing really great. She was born pancreatic sufficient, meaning her pancreas was not being effected by the cystic fibrosis. Recent test have shown that her pancreatic functioning is declinging, but most kids with CF are born pancreatic insufficient and Alyssa is now on enzyme replacement therapy to help with this situation.
We have learned that the best way to treat Cystic Fibrosis is to take a preventative care approach. The goal is to keep her healthy lungs healthy for as long as we can. Alyssa's current care approach includes taking enzymes to help her absorb food and nutrients, doing breathing treatments to open her airways, and using her "Vest" for chest physiotherapy twice a day to keep CF specific bacteria from colonizing in her lungs. As her symptoms progress, there will be added medicines and treatments. Despite all these treatments, we are told she will eventually colonize many CF bugs. These bugs create life threatening lung infections and take their toll on the lung functioning.

GREAT STRIDES is the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's largest and most successful national fund-raising event. This year, our family, will again be walking in the GREAT STRIDES walk on April 26th at Hessel park. Please help us meet our fund-raising goal by sponsoring one of us. Your generous gift will be used efficiently and effectively, as nearly 90 cents of every dollar of revenue raised is available for investment in vital CF programs to support research, care and education.
Making a donation is easy and secure! Together, we can make a difference in the lives of those with CF! Thank you for supporting the mission of the CF Foundation and GREAT STRIDES!

If you want to see the Team Alyssa's Hope website, you can go to http://www.freewebs.com/teamalyssashope


Donate Here:

http://www.cff.org/great_strides/HeatherWalter

or here:

http://www.cff.org/great_strides/DebraCrabtree

Please take a moment to watch the videos of Alyssa and learn more about her and CF:

This Year's Video

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Last Year's Video

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