KELLYN'S STORY

Erin has always been the strongest of both of my sisters and definitely always a fighter! Funny to the bone and a talker like you've never heard, she has always been and always will be my best friend. In the past its been difficult to watch as she's fought with herself as to whether or not she would do the treatments and meds prescribed to her. I've done a lot of research and I understand that its normal for patients to want to be more like their friends and try to ignore the burden they were born with. Sometimes this resulted in neglecting the things she knew would keep her healthy. Growing up the realization that she has a fatal disease has always been with me, but since she was so athletic and so strong I guess it just never seemed to be an immediate threat. In the past couple of years since she graduated high school and she stopped playing organized sports it has changed how well her body as been able to keep the disease at bay. I feel that my whole family has been so blessed that we haven't had to deal with constant hospitalizations like many other CF families have, but in the past couple of years the number of hospitalizations have increased. Erin has never given up or given in to the disease like it seems would be so easy after so many infections, pic lines, and IV's. I know there must be times that she gets depressed and frustrated but she's always tried to keep those moments hidden from my little sister and me. Its like she's trying to protect us from the disease while all we would like to do is protect her from it. I guess that's just her being our big sister, always looking out for us just like she did when we were little. Since the more recent hospitalizations, she has been really working hard to gain weight, take all of her meds, do her breathing treatments and stay healthy. With the money donated to Great Strides we hope that more constructive treatments will arise and more than that a cure! How awesome it would be for Erin after 24 years of having this burden on her shoulders to be able to look at her future and not see a battle stretching ahead of her, but instead health and a family! Erin truly is resilient, and her hopefullness keeps us all going even when things are hard.

Please sponsor Kellyn as she walks to find a cure for her sister:

Kellyn Phillips is taking strides to make "CF" stand for "Cure Found!"
Visit Kellyn's GREAT STRIDES Home Page at
http://www.cff.org/great_strides/KellynPhillips5429