At eight pounds, three ounces and a full head of brown hair, she was the most precious things we had laid eyes on (ok, we're a little biased). She had all ten fingers and toes and in good health, or so we thought. June 27th started out as a normal day. A typical chaotic morning with a newborn and a 3 year old followed by a doctor's visit for Alexis. Arriving at the doctors we were in good spirits
until the doctor came in. We were told the news of Alexis' genetic disease. She holds two copies of the DeltaF508 Cystic Fibrosis mutation - a severe form of Cystic Fibrosis. We were crushed, immediately thinking the worst, our daughter, only ten days old, would not live into her teens. As you can imagine, tears were free falling. Since that day, we have made several visits to Children's Hospital. Although a diagnosis with a life threatening illness will be challenging to deal with at times, we have learned through the professional staff at Children's that most of these kids live normal, healthy lives. Median age for a Cystic Fibrosis patient is now 41 years old. Life expectancy has increased almost 10 years over the last decade, as research and understanding how the disease affects the GI system and lungs have improved. With no federal funding for CF, as parents, we cannot stand-by and watch this disease affect our precious daughter. We wanted to start something, for her, to help raise money and awareness. With our love of health, sports and fitness, we decided to create Athletes for Alexis. Our goal with Athletes for Alexis is to honor those who supported the CF Foundation and passed too young from this disease, help those currently suffering, and pay it forward to those who will be born with Cystic Fibrosis. We also want Alexis to know we did everything in our power to allow her to have a normal, healthy life. We want CF to stand for Cure Found!!
