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You don't live with CF - you fight it

By ERNEST HOOPER
Published September 27, 2007

Stratton Patterson's active lifestyle belies the fact he has cystic fibrosis.

The 10-year-old enjoys flag football, swimming, fishing and golf. This summer he attended a sailing camp in North Carolina even though his life-threatening condition creates respiratory and digestive problems.

Stratton smiles with ease and gets as much as he can out of life, but when I asked him about coping with cystic fibrosis, I didn't quite get the expected warm and fuzzy answer.

"I have a bad attitude about it," Stratton said wryly. "I don't like it."

You go, boy.

Spunky Stratton longs for a cure, as do his parents Rick and Gabrielle Patterson. The South Tampa couple teams with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to host Endless Summer, an Oct. 5 fundraiser at the Tampa Yacht & Country Club.

The Pattersons' path to hosting a major fundraiser started six years ago when doctors diagnosed Stratton with CF, a genetic disease that affects about 30,000 children and adults in the United States.

At first, Gabrielle and Rick weren't ready to take that walk.

"We kind of went into this denial, like you've got to be kidding me," Gabrielle said. "You look around and ask, 'What does it mean? Why does it happen?'

"Eventually, we realized we had to take ownership of this disease."

Gabrielle went from devastated mother to devoted advocate. She became an expert on the challenges of CF and the treatments and drugs available to control the symptoms. It amazed her how much she had to know to help Stratton.

It helped to learn that 90 cents of every dollar donated to the foundation goes to research, care and education. Foundation officials characterize CF as an orphan disease, meaning major drug companies don't see it as a priority. So it funds its own research using a business model the nonprofit community heralds.

The results are significant. Virtually every drug therapy advance stems from the foundation's support.

Officials also are pleased with the state-initiated CF screening for newborns last week. The initiative should significantly increase early detection of the disease, dramatically increasing the chances for CF patients to live better lives.

So the Pattersons and foundation supporters have something to celebrate, and the fundraiser will allow a unique approach. Unlike a lot of other soirees, attire at the Endless Summer event is resort casual - think Tommy Bahama shirts and sundresses - and the traditional sit-down dinner is being eschewed for Caribbean cuisine and cocktails.

It sounds like a good time, but imagine what kind of celebration they will stage if Stratton no longer has to worry about this debilitating disease.

That's all I'm saying.

FAST FACTS

Endless Summer

What: A benefit for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

When: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 5.

Where: Tampa Yacht & Country Club, 5320 Interbay Blvd., Tampa.

For information: (813) 249-2111.

[Last modified September 27, 2007, 00:48:05]