Fall 2002 ~ Newsletter
Hope: A National Perspective
Newsletter Navigation:
Quick Navigation:
"Hope Springs Eternal..." Thoughts from a Founder of the CF Foundation
by Doris Tulcin, Executive Director of the Greater New York Chapter & Trustee Emeritus of the CFF
When my daughter was born in June of 1953, I knew from the moment of her birth that something was drastically wrong. Is was not until September that the disease of Cystic Fibrosis was diagnosed. At that time, there was little known about how to treat CF and the prognosis for her life was poor. In fact, she was given one year to live.
We were desperate parents - not knowing what to do or where to go. Not willing to accept this death sentence, we were determined to do whatever possible to prolong her life. Fortunately, within a short time, we were able to identify other groups of suffering parents around the country. The outcome of that is history, because in 1955, the National Cystic Fibrosis Research Foundation was born. This beginning gave families hope. Hope that we were not along fighting this mysterious enemy, but hope that finally - through our collective efforts that something would happen and that we would save these special lives. That hope became a reality.
As the Foundation has grown and invested heavily in research to develop better treatments and therapies, the average age of survival today is early to mid-thirties. That means that many young adults are now older adults and that, in itself, is a success story. However, we cannot be satisfied until every young life can be saved - not only saved, but a productive and meaningful life can be lived. Hope for the future was the important vehicle that drove all of us in those early years. However, the impetus to raise the millions of dollars to support vital medical programs became a priority. Hope alone would not have impacted the lives of people battling CF every day. A control leading to a cure will eventually be realized through all this hard work so that we may achieve our ultimate mission.