Help Kimberly raise money

Running for the Cure

When I first started my job as a Certified Child Life Specialist, I had no idea the impact that so many little ones fighting cystic fibrosis would have not only on my career, but on my life as a whole as well. 

I knew bits about cystic fibrosis from personal experience growing up with my incredible cousin Patrick (who I am running for and repping as a part of the #PatricksPosse team during this race!!!!). When I began on the pulmonology floor, I read every book I could get my hands on to be able to provide the best diagnosis education and support to my patients, not realizing that these tiny humans would teach me more than any book ever could have. 

These were some of the toughest and bravest kids I'd ever come across, but beyond that, some of the kindest, most loving and HILARIOUS children who have had to endure so much during the time of their lives when they should have been blissfully carefree. 

I'll never forget the first year on that floor when fellow CCLS Alicia and I were able to get medical clearance to take 2 school age brothers outside for the first time in MONTHS as they had been on isolation (unable to leave their rooms) during a lengthy hospitalization. Or the tearful joy in their eyes when they felt something as simple as the sun on their skin and were able to kick around a soccer ball for a mere 15 minutes. 

I'll also never forget the look of terror and panic in that same brother's eyes as a code was called, medical staff crowding his bedside and he was rushed to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit struggling to breathe- his lungs tired and weak- or the way he gripped my hand, refusing to let me go and fearful we would never see each other again. Because of advances in CF treatment and access to a new drug, this same kiddo is now a thriving teenager. 

This August, I am running to help continue the advancements in treatment and to find a cure to the disease that has taken so much from so many of the families I was fortunate enough to walk beside on their CF journeys. But I am also running for the joy that those families brought me. 

For the walkie-talkie games we played through the door when their isolation status disabled me from being at the bedside. For the innumerable pranks we played on nursing staff, the virtual school we struggled through together during COVID's peak (and subsequently having my patients ask me not to try to help with their math homework anymore, whoops!!), the therapeutic play sessions, hallway soccer games, the guitar jam sessions and creating the most normal world we could within those hospital walls. 

I am running for the multitude of caregivers and the medical team that supports those kiddos day in and day out, working tirelessly to provide the best possible care. The ones who skip holidays and weekends with their own families to administer breathing treatments and medications, to modify care plans, lead physical therapy sessions and more. For the nurses, doctors, RTS, OT/PTs, social workers and the rest of the village supporting the CF community. 

I am running for L & A and all the other angels CF took from their families far too soon, in the hopes that one day no more parents will have to bury their babies because of this disease. 

I am running for my cousin Patrick & the whole Massman clan that supports him and this cause. For all of the brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, children, moms, dads, friends and students who continue to kick ass while living with CF, and I hope you will join me in supporting this incredibly worthy cause that is so close to my heart. 

Breathe it all in- love it all out. Cure CF. 

#PatricksPosse #CureCF