CF Letter Spring 2012: Two big events to report this year!

Firstly, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation has reached an exciting milestone in its efforts to develop new treatments for cystic fibrosis. In January the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first drug that targets the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis. Therapies currently available to people with cystic fibrosis treat only the symptoms of the disease.

This new therapy, Kalydeco/VX-770, was developed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. with significant financial support from the CF Foundation, a $75 million investment. In Nick’s case, a second therapy needs to be approved by the FDA, which hopefully will be next year. When these two therapies become available Nick and many others can begin living a normal life. Our progress in the search for these new therapies and a cure would not be possible without your prayers and support. Thanks so much. They have made a difference.

BUT, more research is needed to really make CF an inconvenience, not a fatal disease. So, just more money…that’s where you can come in. Please donate to CFF if you can. Donate online at http://www.cff.org/great_strides/BarbaraKreager (for some reason, the entire address is often required). Or, mail a check for CFF to me at 1087 Walnut Ridge Rd. Brevard, NC 28712. Please provide me with your email even if you prefer sending checks. The “survey says” online fundraising is more efficient, saving postage and paper that can turn into donation dollars.

Our second big event this past year is really two fold. Nick graduated from UNC, and took a job the very next day with an advertising agency in Durham, NC. He’s working long hours, sometimes 7 days a week, but he’s learning lots and seems to be enjoying it. After getting his Associates in Aviation, Joseph continues to study biology at UNC- Greensboro while working in a plant research lab; he even went to Costa Rica this past summer to save sea turtles.

We have a wonderful church renting the skatepark, making it more of a teen center and reaching lots of kids. Tim and I have been healthy, eating well and exercising. We’re fitting into things that have been shoved in the back of the closet! I am substituting in all grades; just finished three straight days of Algebra and had to really rack my brain to remember concepts. Joseph was a great help in explaining things to me, math wizard that he is. We hope your family is happy and healthy and we thank you for any amount of donation you can manage this year. I love getting yearly notes from you! Bkreager@comporium.net

Sincere thanks,

Barbara, Nick, Joe and Tim