Sophia Hope Dean is our daughter who was born January 2007 and diagnosed 2 weeks later with Cystic Fibrosis. The past year has brought many ups and downs for our family--finding out about Sophie's diagnosis and then dealing with all that was to come with it. We feel very fortunate to have found such a great doctor at Duke--Dr. Voynow and her team. They are truly a gift from God. As most of you know, Sophie has been in the hospital several times this year... all with a wonderful outcome thanks to her team! It doesn't make it any easier to accept her diagnosis or to accept the fact that these visits are just a part of our lives now. It truly feels like putting your heart out in the world with no protection and there's nothing you can do to protect it. Sometimes it's such a hopeless feeling to know that all you can do is her treatments and medicines and then pray for her health.

Each day with Sophie is quite an adventure, she's a growing little one who wants to explore EVERYTHING! Each day, we make sure that Sophie gets her nebulizer treatments and physical therapy in the morning and evening and extra when she's sick. Before each meal we give her enzymes to help digest her food as well as vitamins once a day to make sure she gets enough of the vitamins people with CF lack. These are the easy days though, when she's sick or her lung function is down, we have to do several treatments a day with antibiotics and more nebulizer treatments with medicines. These are the times that it's hard on everyone--Sophie just wants to be a toddler and we just want her to be able to as well. Despite all that she goes through she still loves life and everyone she meets. We are more than blessed to have been given the chance to be her parents. GREAT STRIDES is the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's largest and most successful national fund-raising event. This year, we're walking in the GREAT STRIDES walk at the 2008 Cary - H.D. Ritter Park walk on 05/03/2008. Please help us meet our fund-raising goal of $7,000.00 by sponsoring 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! Just click the "Click to Donate" button on this page to go to make a donation that will be credited to my team. Any amount you can donate is greatly appreciated!

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a devastating genetic disease that affects tens of thousands of children and young adults in the United States. Research and care supported by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is making a huge difference in extending the quality of life for those with CF. However, we continue to lose precious lives to CF every day. That's why your help is needed now more than ever to ensure that a cure is found sooner - rather than later. To learn more about CF and the CF Foundation, visit www.cff.org.

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!

Love,

Josh, Erica and Sophia Dean