I am a late entry to walk in the annual cystic fibrosis walk, but decided that I have enough contacts and means to reach them in one day to raise my goal of $1,000 toward research for a cure for cystic fibrosis.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with CF, here is some info for you:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cystic_Fibrosis
• http://www.cff.org/AboutCF/Faqs/

Approximately 30,000 children and adults in the United States have cystic fibrosis. An additional ten million more—or about one in every 31 Americans—are carriers of the defective CF gene, but do not have the disease. CF is most common in Caucasians, but it can affect all races.

The severity of cystic fibrosis symptoms is different from person to person. The most common symptoms are:

• Very salty-tasting skin
• Persistent coughing, at times with phlegm
• Frequent lung infections, like pneumonia or bronchitis
• Wheezing or shortness of breath
• Poor growth/weight gain in spite of a good appetite
• Frequent greasy, bulky stools or difficulty in bowel movements
• Small, fleshy growths in the nose called nasal polyps