2014 Great Strides Commercial for our 5th Annual Wooster Walk

Here it is...our 2014 Great Strides Commercial for our 5th Annual Wooster Walk for a CURE for Cystic Fibrosis!!!! It will play on MCTV in Wooster starting in April until the day of the walk on May 4th. So, be on the lookout;)

BIG THANK YOU TO MY WONDERFUL HUSBAND FOR PUTTING THIS ALL TOGETHER ALL BY HIMSELF THIS YEAR, HE EVEN DID THE VOICE!! THANK YOU, HONEY!!!:)

Featured in the commercial are CFers...Lil' Chris, Harrison, Aden, Aubrey, and Sophia.

Harrison will be new to our walk this year...he's such a cutie:) It looks like we may have another new team this year too...McKenna's Maniacs. I haven't met them yet, but I look forward to meeting them at the walk:)

Our goal for the walk this year is a total of $22,000 raised and so far between all the teams, we are at $4,615. Not bad, but we got a long ways to go. So if you know of any businesses that would like to sponsor our walk, please let me know! We have different levels of sponsorship and we will advertise their business at our walk.

Also, our goal is to have 200 walkers and right now we are at 55, so please make sure you sign up today! It's easy to register, just click the team you want to join and then click "join our team" and answer a few questions and make a password. Quick and easy!! Usually I register most of my team for them, but with the new website this year, I found out that I can't. They have to register themselves, but luckily it's not hard and the best part is...whenever I share my team link, someone could donate towards ANY of my walkers!! That's pretty cool!! We can try to share the love:) Remember, if you raise $100 or more, you will get a free CF shirt at the walk:) All you have to do is ask 10 people to donate $10 or 5 people to donate $20!! Simple:)

Here is the link to all the teams, so all you have to do is click on the team you want to donate to or "Join" to walk or help raise money!! http://fightcf.cff.org/site/TR?pg=entry&fr_id=2280

I'll update more about all the fun things we are going to have at the walk soon:)

BIG THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HAVE DONATED OR SIGNED UP TO WALK SO FAR!!! WE ALL GREATLY APPRECIATE THE SUPPORT!!!!
M
PS. I posted the new commercial at the top of the blog also, and it will stay there in case you ever want to watch it again when you check one of my posts;)

1st Grade and JK!!

I can't believe Lil' Chris and Ayla are both going to school now!! Lil' Chris is in 1st Grade and Ayla is in Junior Kindergarten. Time sure does fly!!!

They started on Tues 8/20/13 and they are both LOVING Wooster Christian School!! Ayla has the same teachers that Lil' Chris had last year, which is wonderful b/c they already know to be germ cautious even with Ayla, b/c she could bring home germs to Lil' Chris. Lil' Chris loves his new teacher and classmates! He's already asking for a play date with one of them:) He said "Micah's my best friend!" :)

 Here is Ayla's outfit that she picked out all by herself...Kohl's of course;)

Lil' Chris goes 9-3:30 and Ayla goes 9-12. Lil' Chris gets to take the bus in the afternoon which he LOVES!!! This was the first time he ever rode a bus all by himself...my lil' boy is getting soooo big;(

 
His new teacher has been very receptive to everything I have told her a bout being germ cautious. She even put a hand sanitizer in her recess bag, and he has a small one in his desk! She said she will move his desk if someone close to him is coughing or is sick just like they did last year. It seemed to work pretty good last year! He only had 2 colds during the school year, and after the first one it unfortunately turned into a bad cough which turned into our worst nightmare...Pseudomonas:( But, he did the harsh treatments of Cipro and TOBI and we were successful in eradicating it after a few months!!! He has cultured "Normal" since then!! His next CF clinic apt is on 9/18, so I am curious to see what his culture result will be. I'm praying it continues to be Normal and no Pseudomonas!! Pseudomonas is a VERY VERY dangerous bacteria to have in his lungs.

The Administrator has been super helpful in setting up his 504 plan again this year. We only had to add one thing to it b/c he will be eating lunch there this year. Since calories and keeping his weight up is soooo important for CFers, I asked that he be monitored and pushed a little to make sure he eats. So far so good! The first day he came home and said "Mom, I ate my WHOLE sandwich...even the crust!!" :) YEA!!! I'm trying to figure out how to get more calories into his lunchbox...this is all new, so still figuring things out;) I'm thinking maybe buying something that won't spill so I can put his whole milk or scandishake(600 cal drink) in it. I'll figure something out.

I'm also getting with the Administrator to send a letter out to the parents of both their classes to inform them what CF is, that it's not contagious, and to ask if they could please keep their child home if possible when they are sick, or to let the teacher know in the morning so that she can keep them separated. This is HUGE HUGE HUGE and very important for Lil' Chris' health, b/c just the common cold could put him in the hospital!!

The kids are selling Eagle Cards as a fundraiser for school, so if anyone lives in the Wooster area and would like to buy one, just let me know! They are only $10 and have many different great deals on them!! One of them being a buy one public skate admission and get one free at Alice Noble Ice Arena. That's where I do most of my CF fundraisers!!! I'm proud to say that a few of the others on the card have helped out with CF in one way or another too!! Here are some of them...
Domino's Pizza(they donated all our pizza for our walk the past 2 years:)-buy one pizza and get one free
Auntie Anne's-buy 2 pretzels and get one free
Buffalo Wild Wings-buy a sandwich and get one free
The Faithful Little Cupcake(they did a CF fundraiser last year:)-buy a coffee and get a free cupcake
Hartzler's Ice Cream-buy one small ice cream and get one free
OH-YO Frozen Yogurt-buy one and get one free up to 10oz
Omahoma Bob's BBQ(they did a give away at our CF walk:)-buy one dinner and get one free
Wayne Lanes-buy one game and get one free
Wendy's-buy one combo meal and get one free (you get your money back right here, b/c one combo meal is like $7 and you can do it up to 4 times, so you spend $10 on the card and can get potentially $28 worth of food for free!!:)
There are others too, and some you can do up to 4 times and others are 2 times each, and others are unlimited amount of times, like Domino's!!! :) The best part is, that you have a whole year before it expires!! Let me know if you are interested, b/c we only have until 9/19 to sell them!! Last year we personally used 2 cards!! The Wendy's alone was worth it!! :) 

BIG THANK YOU to 5 of our neighbors who bought them already!! It really is a great deal! The kids were soooo excited to go around and sell them! I was surprised that they were not shy about it at all!! LOL We did half the neighborhood the other day, and we will do the other half tonight or another night:)

As for a CF update...Lil' Chris is doing GREAT!!! He got something new that is kinda cool...but I'll save that for my next post;P

Please pray they both have a great, happy, HEALTHY school year!!!!
Thanks,
M
PS. It's kinda nice having time to blog again:) lol

Best Teacher / CF Walk Update / Thank You!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MRS. FALKENBERG!!!

It was a privilege to be a part of Lil' Chris' teachers birthday! 

She is such a wonderful woman! She gets the Teacher of the Year Award from me;) She really loves and cares for Lil' Chris:) She made a collection jar for CF and has been talking it up all year to collect change for CF! The jar is getting very heavy;)

She also has been talking up our CF walk coming up in just 2 weeks! We now have 7 families coming from the Wooster Christian School just to support Lil' Chris!!  

That's AWESOME!!! 

This is going to be our biggest and best walk yet!! Normally we have about 75 total walkers with all teams combined...this year I have about 80 just for A Cure 4 Lil' Chris team!!! That's def a GREAT feeling to have all the wonderful support!! :) I think I might have to get with Domino's about ordering more pizza's! I'm praying that they will still donate all of them:)

We have doubled our teams too! In the past we had 3 teams at our walk, Lil' Chris, Daniel, and Jack. Now we have 3 more teams! Aden, Aubrey, and Sophia!   
I'm sure we all have mixed feelings about having more teams...on one hand we love it that our walk is getting bigger and bigger, but on the other hand...that means more kids were diagnosed with this horrible disease known as Cystic Fibrosis:(
But I'm very glad to see that these wonderful CF parents are taking an active interest in their child's health by getting out there and raising money and awareness for a CURE!!! 

TOGETHER, WE WILL MAKE CF STAND FOR CURE FOUND!!!  

Thank you everyone who has signed up to walk and/or donated!! We can't thank you all enough!! 
If you haven't donated yet and would like to, just click the Great Strides Logo in the upper right hand of this blog and then "click to donate" or click "join my team" to register to be a walker:) Let me know if you have any questions!

HUGE THANK YOU to Carrie G and Stephanie W for doing the Thirty-One and Arbonne CF Fundraisers!! We raised a total of $1,350!!!! WOOHOO!! THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO BOUGHT SOMETHING FROM THESE 2 FUNDRAISERS:) WE GREATLY APPRECIATE IT!! AND THANK YOU CARRIE AND STEPHANIE FOR DONATING YOUR COMMISSION!! YOU GIRLS ROCK!! BIG THANK YOU TO MY KOHL'S TEAM FOR HELPING OUT AND GETTING US THE $1,000 GRANT!!
 If anybody wants to do a Thirty-One party or Arbonne party, let me know and I will hook you up with these amazing girls:)

BIG THANK YOU to Verizon on Milltown for sponsoring us!! You guys are AWESOME!! Look forward to seeing you at the walk!! :)

Thanks, 
M
PS. I have about 5 other posts all started, but not finished yet...big news coming soon...and more than just one;o

Walk/Commercial Update / Big Thank You's :)

The new commercial for our CF walk is in the mail to Clear Picture!!!! WOOHOO!!!

BIG THANK YOU to MCTV for helping spread the word about Cystic Fibrosis and our Great Strides Walk!!!

Pretty soon it will be playing all over Wooster and possibly Massillon!! They usually play it one month or so before our walk, and our walk is only a month and a half away!! I'm getting very excited!!! I can't wait!! This year is going to be GREAT!!!

We are going to have Domino's Pizza, McDonald's, Panera Bread bagels, fruit, water, soda, Pat Catan's craft table, different emergency vehicles for the kids to explore, and of course Dr. Dave and his wonderful balloon animals:) There will be lots of prizes given out too just for coming and joining our walk and donating:)

If you would like to sign up under our team "A Cure 4 Lil' Chris," just click here or click the Great Strides logo on the right side of this blog and click "Join My Team"!! It's that easy!! You can even make your own team and be a team leader if you want!!

If you don't live around here, but would like to still participate, you can go to cff.org, click the Great Strides link, and then search for a walk in your area!! We have many walks all over and you can even create a team for Lil' Chris and walk for him!! My sister-in-law does this in NJ, and my sister D does this in NC, but this year she is driving out to join our walk!! YEA!!! :)

Also, if you can't walk, but would like to donate, click here. I haven't ordered my thank you cards with Lil' Chris' pic on it yet, but I hope to today;) All who donate will receive one:) I know some who line them up on their fridge year after year and compare how big he has gotten and how many new treatments were added in just one year. Plus...he's a pretty cute kid...who wouldn't want his pic on their fridge;p Hee Hee!!! You can always mail me a check if you don't like using the computer:) Just make it out to Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Email me for address.

And.... if you can't walk or don't have the money to donate right now, you could always ask your company if they would sponsor our walk(or you as a walker) or donate something for the prize giveaways at the walk! Also, you could send out a quick email to your whole address book and tell them of Lil' Chris' story and ask for donations. You can share my blog or my Great Strides link with them:) I know a few people who have raised a couple hundred dollars for Lil' Chris this way:)

BIG THANK YOU to Sprint Preferred Wireless in Wooster for being our Kick Off Sponsor!!  Thanks so much Kevin W. for contacting them and walking again this year!!:)

Another BIG THANK YOU to Wayne Saving Community Bank in Wooster for sponsoring our walk by being our Single Rose Sponsor!! Thanks so much Jeanette H. for setting that up and for walking this year!!:)

Big Thank You to all who bought something from my Thirty-One and Arbonne CF Fundraisers!! We GREATLY APPRECIATE IT!! I don't have the totals in yet, but when I do, I'll let you know how we did:) BIG THANK YOU to Carrie G. and Stephanie W. for donating their commission from the parties:) You girls ROCK!! If you would like to set a party with them, just let me know and I will get you their contact info:)

If you have any questions, please let me know!!
Thanks everyone,
M  

2013 CF Commercial / Fundraisers close this Thurs

Above is our 2013 commercial for our CF Great Strides Walk for a CURE for Cystic Fibrosis!!! I hope to double the amount of people and double the amount of money raised this year!!! If you haven't signed up to walk yet, click here to sign up under my team "A Cure 4 Lil' Chris," or you can make your own team and be a team leader! Let me know if you have any questions!


Here was last years commercial we made...


This year is our 4th annual walk for CF here in Wooster. I can't believe it's been that long already!! I still can't believe that Lil' Chris will be 6 years old one month after the walk!!! 50+ years ago, kids with CF never made it age 5 or 6...and here we are with a very energetic, happy, healthy little CF boy:) I can't thank those who donate and walk with us enough to show how much it really does mean to our family and all families that suffer from CF. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!! WE ARE SOOOOO CLOSE TO A CURE!!! WE WILL GET THERE WITH YOUR HELP!!

If you can't walk with us, but would like to donate, click here to donate in honor of Lil' Chris:) Thank you sooooo much!!

So everyone knows, my 2 CF fundraisers from last week, Thirty-One party and Arbonne party, will remain open until this Thursday 3/14!! A percentage of every purchase will go towards a CURE for Cystic Fibrosis!! Here are the links...

To purchase some awesome Thirty-One bags, click this link...https://www.mythirtyone.com/shop/catalog.aspx?eventId=E2826354&from=DIRECTLINK

To purchase some awesome all natural hair, skin, make-up, and nutrition products, click this link and respond to the invite, put your name and email in, then click "shop online"...https://www.arbonne.com/cm/a/external/invitation/showInvitation?presentationId=720035&attend=N&language=en&country=US&guestId=4358453#

We are hoping to raise at least $250 from each party + the $500 from Kohl's for each party equals to $1500!! We CAN do it!!

Thanks,
M

CF Fundraiser Tonight and Thurs!!

My Thirty-One CF fundraiser is TONIGHT!! Click below if you would like to order and have 25% go towards Cystic Fibrosis!! This months special is for EVERY $31 spent, you can get any tote for 50% off:)

https://www.mythirtyone.com/shop/catalog.aspx?eventId=E2826354&from=DIRECTLINK

This Thursday is my Arbonne CF Fundraiser, 6pm at my house! Let me know if you can make it!!

Thank you soooo much to those who have ordered already!! 

We GREATLY APPRECIATE EVERY ORDER!!!!

M

PS. Guess who went skiing???  Pics coming soon;)

Pseudo 3rd time in a row?????

 Eeeeek, is it Pseudo AGAIN????

I got a call from the CF nurse yesterday around 4:15pm, but of course I was at work and didn't hear her message until I had my dinner break. I hate it when that happens, b/c then I have to wait til the next day to call them back since it's after hours. So naturally, my husband and I think the worst...that he cultured Pseudomonas yet again:'( That seems to be the only time the CF nurses ever call us. 

Needless to say...I didn't get much sleep, b/c if he did culture Pseudo this 3rd time in a row, then he would have to do TOBI every other month. TOBI is really hard on all of us. Lil' Chris has to sit there for ONE WHOLE HOUR in the morning before school AND ONE WHOLE HOUR before bed, whereas we are used to just doing his Vest for 30 minutes in the AM and PM and we do the Pulmozyme the same time as the Vest in the evening, but adding TOBI was putting another 20-30 minutes onto his daily routine. We made it through the last 2 times he had to do it for 28 days each, but we were REALLY looking forward to not having to do it for awhile.

So, I got a call from the CF nurse just as I was about to take Lil' Chris to school this morning and I braced myself for the worst news possible......but.....she said that he DIDN'T culture Pseudomonas!!! WOOHOO!! Praise the Lord!! I was so excited!! I of course let Lil' Chris know the good news right away!! It didn't even phase him...all he kept thinking about was how he was taking his 50 words/flash cards that I made to show his teacher that he can read them:) He's such a laid back kid when it come to his CF! I've seen CF kids get so emotionally involved with their CF that it's so hard on the whole family, yet Lil' Chris just takes everything that's thrown at him like it's nothing. He just does what's best for himself! I love this kid:)

What this means, is that the Pseudo may have been successfully eradicated! There will be no changes in the rest of his meds and treatments. He will get another throat culture at his next 3 month check-up on 5/8/13. Then the worry game will begin again. Please keep Lil' Chris in your prayers that the Pseudo never comes back again! A CURE is right around the corner, he just needs to stay as healthy as possible until all us CF Mommy's and Daddy's can raise enough money to fund the much needed research for that CURE, since it is not funded by the government. Please help support CF and make a donation today or sign up to walk with us on 5/5/13!! Click here or you can always click the Great Strides link under the picture at the top and to the right of this blog:) Thanks so much!!

I had waited to update my Great Strides video for 2013, b/c I didn't know whether I was going to have to add that he does TOBI every other month or not, but now that I know his TOBI has been cancelled for next month until he gets another culture, I can post my finished product:) I must say, it's always hard updating this video each year, but I am super happy not to add TOBI in for every other month!! Praying next year there won't be any adds!! Here it is, my Great Strides Video for 2013, sorry it's mostly the same, but I like the back story, and I did add some new pics at the end:)....

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

Don't forget...I have 2 CF fundraisers coming up next week. Thirty One Party on Tues March 5th at 6pm and Arbonne Party on Thurs March 7th at 6p, both at my house:) Let me know if you can make it and for directions!! You can still order even if you can't make it to the fundraiser...a percentage of each sale goes towards a CURE for Cystic Fibrosis!!! 
Thanks, 
M

2/20/13 CF Clinic Visit / Fundraisers

 YIPPEE!! Doing TOBI for the last time ever, hopefully:)

 3 month check-up, 5 1/2 yrs old

 PFT(Pulmonary Function Test)

Lil' Chris had a GREAT 3 month check-up at the CF Clinic yesterday!! His weight was 46 lbs and 9 oz and his height was 47 inches. At his last visit on 10/24/12, his weight was 46 lbs and height was 46 inches, so he grew a whole inch!! No wonder I had to buy more pants for him for school!! LOL His BMI was 30 and now it is around the 35th percentile. The dr said he is doing well still b/c he grew so much. His PFT last time was 97/92 and this time 96/91, again, they said this was still good since he grew so much:) We'll take it!!

On the way to the clinic, he asked me if he was getting any shots at the drs and I said no. Then he asked if he was getting a throat culture, I said yes, and he said "Yea!! I LOVE those!!" Gotta love this kid!! How he can love it when they shove something down his throat like that is beyond me!! But I am VERY glad he doesn't mind it:) It makes my job a lot easier;)

Lil' Chris was VERY excited to tell the dr that he has been eating more foods...he told them how he ate FOUR slices of pizza the other night, and how he LOVES Mac n Cheese with cut up hot dogs in it now!! He calls it his Favorite Mac n Cheese and Favorite Pizza :)

He was also excited to tell his dr that he can now read over 50 words!!! He even read some to the drs, since that's what we were doing in between all the drs coming in and out. I was telling the drs that we just had a conference with his teacher that morning about whether or not he is ready to move onto 1st grade next year or not. He is a little behind the other kids, and that's my fault, b/c I haven't worked with him enough on reading and everything else. I've been trying really hard to work with him everyday and in just one week he has made HUGE strides!! If we keep it up over the next 2 months, he may still be able to go to 1st grade. We'll see. 

He seems to do well with me, but in class I guess he doesn't participate much. And when the teacher does one on one with him, it's very hard to get the answers out of him. We aren't sure why. Maybe b/c he is shy, maybe b/c he is afraid he will get the answer wrong, maybe b/c he has anxiety about it or something...not sure. The dr suggested that he may know the answers, but has a hard time expressing himself, and that maybe he should see a Speech Teacher/Therapist or something to see if that would help. I would hate for him to be held back a year, but if it's best for him, then we will. I don't want him to struggle every year trying to catch up. I just hate thinking that he won't graduate until he is 18 instead of 17. With his life expectancy already short, I just hate for him not to get out and live life as soon as possible...on the other hand....it gives me one more year to somewhat control his meds and make sure he is taking them;) God knows best, and whatever is His Will, we will go along with it and be happy:) It was cute when the dr asked him what his favorite book for Mommy to read him is and he said "The Bible." :) Last year when his teacher told him to bring in his favorite book, he wanted to take his Bible...one proud Momma here:)

We took his Acapella to the drs and the PT said that he is doing it well, but should breathe longer when doing it and count to five when breathing out and when huff coughing. She also suggested that we should do it after each of the 3 sets on his Vest, but we don't have to. I don't see that he needs it right now, since he isn't coughing, but when he does have a cough, I def agree! I told the dr that I can't remember the last time he's had a cough! I LOVE it when that happens:) When I looked it up on my blog, it's been 4 months since he has had a cough:) YEA!!!

I asked the dr why it took longer this 2nd time around on administering TOBI and she said to check the setting on the compressor. It should be set at 40 or 45. In the hospitals they use 50, but it might make the hose pop off. So I checked ours and it was a little below 40, so I changed it. To check it, all you have to do is turn it on and put your finger over where the air comes out and look at the gauge and turn the knob. We have the Moblaire 50psi compressor. We LOVE it!!

I had to cancel my Arbonne CF fundraiser for tonight:( I only had one or 2 people say they would come. It's my fault for trying to do it on a Fri night. What was I thinking??? You can still order online until 3/1 and 35% will go towards a CURE for Cystic Fibrosis!! Just let me know! Check out what they have at Arbonne.com. From what I hear...those who use Arbonne products swear by it and won't use anything else!! The party has been rescheduled for Thurs March 7th at 6p at my house. We are going to do a Spa Day!! So get ready to be pampered girls!! I can't wait!!

My next CF fundraiser is on Tues March 5th at my house at 7pm for a Thirty-One Party!! YEA!! Last time we raised $750 for CF!! Hopefully we can do it again! Click here to get started shopping and ordering today!! 

If you haven't signed up to walk yet, click here to register under my team, or you can start your own team and be a team leader! The walk is on Sunday May 5th at 11am at the pavilion by Ida Sue School!! 

 My birthday is this Sunday, and all I want again this year is a CURE for Cystic Fibrosis!!! So please click to donate!!! It sure will make my day:)

I will let you know his culture result when I get it. I will call them next week to find out. Please please please pray for no Pseudomonas!!! If he cultures Pseudo again, then he will be on TOBI every other month...which means an hour of treatments in the morning and at night:( :( :( His next 3 month check-up is on 5/8/13 at 10:50am, a few days after our walk.
Thanks,
M 
PS. My husband and I will be working on the new CF commercial soon for our walk:) YEA!! 

CF Walk and Fundraisers Update!!!

I got confirmation to go ahead and make another commercial for our Cystic Fibrosis Walk!! WOOHOO!! We LOVE you Clear Picture!!!! Thanks so much for donating this air time and helping us spread awareness about CF and our walk!!!!

I also got confirmation that Domino's will be sponsoring our food again this year!! Thanks so much Vic!! Love me some Domino's pizza, it's the BEST!!!

More great news...Panera Bread is getting more involved this year!! They are not only going to donate bagels, but are going to give out gift cards too and possibly do Pin-Ups and more!!! WOOHOO!!!! Isn't that GREAT news!!!

Denna was able to get The Faithful Little Cupcake to do Pin-Ups for the whole month of Feb!!! That's AWESOME!!! They will be doing them at both locations, so if your in town and want something sweet in the month of Feb, stop by The Faithful Little Cupcake and buy a Pin-Up for $1 or more and put your name on it to show your support for Cystic Fibrosis!!  :) Please help me spread the word!

I've started to set up some fundraisers too. I have one at Alice Noble Ice Arena on 2/13, and an Arbonne Party at my house on Fri 2/22 at 6pm!! 35% of Arbonne orders will go towards a CURE for CF!! Arbonne is a health and wellness company with all natural, safe products...skin care, nutrition, makeup...so many options! I hope you can make it! If so, please email me or leave a comment and I will contact you with my address:) Also, for those who can't make it to the fundraiser, but would like to order, I will post a link and you can still help out CF by ordering even if you live in another state!! :) 

Thanks everyone for all your support for Lil' Chris and CF!!
M
PS. Lil' Chris is still doing great! He has a hard time taking the Cipro still, but at least he isn't hiding them this time;) Please pray that the TOBI and Cipro knock out the bad Pseudomonas in his lungs!

CF Update / Bad Virus or something???

TOBI arrived Wed evening, but we didn't start it til Thurs morning. He has been doing great with the TOBI, but he HATES the cipro pill b/c it is chalky. I hate Cipro b/c he can't have any milk or cheese 2 hours before or after taking it...I'm sure he hates it b/c of that too;p The reason is, b/c it makes the Cipro not work as well apparently.

Thurs he came home from school with some kind of virus. I was very worried it was the flu, but thankfully it seems like it was just a 24 hour bug or something. He had a very bad headache in the middle of his forehead, a sore throat, and a bad tummy ache. He was just lying around with no energy. Then around 6pm he started throwing up off and on until 11pm. He was throwing up like he had Soy Protein which he is allergic to, but he usually doesn't have the other symptoms with it, so we aren't sure what he had. Today he seems fine. He took all 8 pills and ate his whole bowl of cereal and has been running around playing with Ayla!! Then he did his Albuterol, Vest, and TOBI. For some reason, the TOBI seems to be taking a lot longer this time than it did a couple months ago. Not sure why, it's the same dosage. Maybe the setting on the machine got bumped. I'll have to check it out.

I almost took him to our Pediatrician yesterday, but our CF clinic(by the time they finally got back to me) said not to take him b/c it's too dangerous for him b/c he could pick up something worse. I almost still took him, but he refused to go and I thought maybe that was a sign. So I didn't take him and I am sooooo glad I didn't b/c he is doing so much better!!! Who knows, if I would've taken him, he could've picked up the flu that's going around like crazy and then possibly end up in the hospital. Good thing Lil' Chris knows his body;-)

Unfortunately Ayla is complaining of a sore throat today, so I'll have to keep a close eye on her:(

I have soooo much to do to get ready for the walk and fundraising!! No better place to make a list than on my blog, right?? LOL...

1. I have to make a new fundraising video or at least update my old one;p I've used that one like 3 years in a row, so I really want to make a new one, but it's so time consuming, so we'll see. 
2. I also have to start working on the 30 second CF commercial for Clear Picture. So far I have pics from Denna with Aden doing his treatments. Thanks Denna!! She is really on the ball!! I still have to take a few pics of Lil' Chris;)
3. I have to get all the food nailed down for the walk...Dominos, McDonald's, Panera Bread, Frito Lays, Buehler's fruit, and ice from Speedway.
4. I have to contact the radio stations
5. I have to nail down some of the entertainment for the walk...Dr Dave who makes the best balloon animals and Pat Catan's for a craft table. 
6. And most importantly...I have to raise money for a CURE!!

Samantha, Denna, and Alma are doing a lot to get ready too...
Samantha is going to contact the police dept and fire dept to try to get a police car, ambulance, and fire truck for the kids at the walk. She's also going to contact the newspaper to get an article about the walk. Try to get water donated for walkers. And Samantha, Denna, and I are working on getting prizes for the walkers:)  Alma is going to make her WONDERFUL cookies again and maybe some of her famous cupcakes too;) She is also going to try to get water and soda donated. The 4 of us are also going to try to put together some signs, one for each of our kids to put up around the walking path with info about our kids and their pic on it:)

So, lots to do and only 3 months to do it!!! It's going to be soooo much fun!!! I can't wait!!

Sign up to walk today and if you can't walk, but would like to sponsor me, click this link as it is 100% tax deductible and will get us one step closer to a CURE for Cystic Fibrosis...

http://www.cff.org/Great_Strides/LilChrisChris6765

 
Thanks for your continued prayers that Lil' Chris kicks this Pseudomonas out!!!
M

2012 Great Strides Totals / TOBI Update

Totals are in for 2012 fundraising...our walk raised $16,800 for a CURE for Cystic Fibrosis!!! WOOHOO!!! We've come a long way since our first walk where we raised like under $5,000 I think:) Each year we raise more and more for a CURE for Cystic Fibrosis and I can't THANK YOU ALL enough!!! It means soooo much to all us CF families!!!

Our A Cure 4 Lil' Chris team raised $6,967!! WOOHOO!!! That's awesome!! My calculations were over $7,000, but one of the Kohl's grants took longer than I thought and actually is on my new 2013 Great Strides Walk page:) That's ok, I'm starting off with a bang!! Although had I realized, I would've put in the extra $33 to put us at $7,000 ;-) LOL Oh well! Here is my link for 2013, who's gonna be my first sponsor? Remember, it's 100% tax deductible...

http://www.cff.org/Great_Strides/LilChrisChris6765

Yesterday we had a GREAT 1st meeting to kick off the new fundraising year and start getting ready for the walk this May 5th, 2013 at 11am!!! I'm really excited about this year, b/c we have 2 new committee members who are really motivated to not only have a great walk, but most importantly raise as much money as possible for a CURE for our little ones and all CFers. Big THANK YOU  to Samantha and Denna for being so passionate about a CURE and wanting to help in any way!! 

Samantha has a 9 month old CFer named Aubrey. She is the cutest lil' thing:) She was diagnosed at 3 months old. Her older sister, Makayla, went to preschool with Lil' Chris:) I wish they could hang out more often since we live so close, but it makes it hard having cfers in both families as we have to be careful of cross-contamination:(

Denna has a 9 year old son named Aden with CF and another son without CF named Alex. Aden was just diagnosed a little over a year ago. Denna has a great outlook on becoming a committee member, "It'll be good for not only myself but also Aden and Alex. Just for them to learn that no matter how small the contribution, every person can make a difference." Together, the 5 of us...Denna, Samantha, Alma, Kathy, and myself...can and will make a BIG difference!! :) Denna has already jumped in and has started getting things going for the walk and it's only been one day!! And Samantha has already gotten prizes for the walk and has done a few fundraisers already!! I'm soooo proud of these 2 ladies and proud to have them on our committee:) It's gonna be a GREAT Year!!

BIG THANK YOU TO NANCY, my sister D's mother-in-law, for doing a Yankee Candle fundraiser for CF and raising $267.60!!! WOW!!! That's AWESOME!! The cool thing is...I didn't even ask Nancy to do this, SHE came to me with the idea!! I LOVE her passion for a CURE for CF!!! Nancy has always been a BIG supporter of Lil' Chris and has donated each year and is always thinking of new ways to raise money for a CURE!! I can't THANK YOU enough, Nancy!! We love you!!

As for a CF update on Lil' Chris...his TOBI should be arriving today on our doorstep. This will be his 2nd time on TOBI and Cipro. We have had the Cipro for a few days now, but we had to wait until the TOBI got here to start it, b/c they have to be taken together. If he cultures Pseudomonas again after this next 28 days of treatment, then he will be on just TOBI, not Cipro and TOBI, every other month:'( Please pray this doesn't happen. If it does, then we'll take it one day at a time. 

WE NEED A CURE NOW!!!!!!! They are soooo close with the new drug Kalydeco combo. Lil' Chris just needs to stay as healthy as possible until it gets done Phase 3 and clinical trials, and gets approved by the FDA. Please pray this is a CURE or a better control of the lung issues associated with CF!

Thanks everyone,
M  
PS. Happy Birthday to a faithful blog reader, Kevin W.!!! Hope you have a great day!!! ;)