Wednesday, May 16, 2007
C.F. = Continue the Fight
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Bob and Christine Coughlin had 2 healthy children when Christine became pregnant with number 3. There was no reason to imagine the third pregnancy would evolve any differently that the others.
But at 20 weeks, only halfway through her pregnancy, Christine discovered she was a carrier of the gene which causes Cystic Fibrosis. When Bob was tested, they found out he was a carrier too. At 21 weeks, after an extensive amniocentesis, they knew their baby had Cystic Fibrosis. “It was like the whole world collapsed around us,” Bob says, “It was horrible.”
Mimi Gallagher remembers the day very close friends of hers discovered their baby girl had CF. “I would have gone crazy on the doctors,” she says, recalling that the couple had been told there was no chance of CF, since the husband’s tests had come back negative for the disease. “But they’ve made it their lifelong mission to fight this thing [instead].”
They tackle it from two different perspectives, Mimi explains: mom stays on top of all new research, and follows rigorous nutritional routines – which up to this point has meant no hospitalizations (a feat in and of itself); and dad is an eternal optimist, always seeing the bright side. Together, Mimi says, they make an unbelievable team. And 2 year old Kate has the spunk, the energy and the attitude to prove it.
Cystic Fibrosis is an inherited chronic disease that affects about 30,000 children and adults in the US, and 70,000 worldwide. The lungs and digestive system of CF patients suffer from unusually thick and sticky excess mucus caused by a harmful gene. This can clog the lungs and lead to life threatening infections, and obstruct the pancreas and stop natural enzymes from breaking down and absorbing food. Parents of CF kids constantly worry about getting enough calories into their bodies, and giving them the enzymes at every meal which will help their bodies absorb the nutrition they need to grow.
Fifty years ago the life expectancy of a child with cystic fibrosis did not stretch even to elementary school. Now, with aggressive treatments being studied at hospitals like Childrens Hospital in Boston, where the Coughlins are very involved with their son, and MA General Hospital , where little Kate gets seen, people with the disease can expect to live long lives.
Both families dedicate an extraordinary amount of time to assisting in the search for a cure through involvement with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. This weekend the foundation’s largest event will take place in cities all across the nation.
Great Strides is a group walk which raises critical awareness and funds for the CFF. Last year, Great Strides raised more than $31 million. Since the first walk in 1989, participants have raised more than $180 million to support the Foundation’s research and care programs.
Mimi remembers her friend’s birthday last year, when she went to blow out her candles. “I can’t make birthday wishes anymore.” Mimi remembers her saying. “My only wish is for Kate.” Consider walking on Sunday for Kate, for Bob and Christine’s son Bobby, and for the thousands of other children and adults suffering from this devestating disease.
“I think Bobby teaches us how to live life to the fullest so that we can continue on, continue to fight…” Bob says proudly. Help Continue the fight - Take a Great Stride for a child on Sunday!
To register online, click here http://www.cff.org/Great_Strides/find_a_walk_site/ or call (800) FIGHT CF. Or visit, http://www.cff.org/GREAT_STRIDES.
To see a Children’s Hospital movie about little Bobby Coughlin, click here.
The Golden Age of Childhood (Online)
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