Locked and Loaded

The official date for my Pulmonary Fibrosis swim has been locked in: April 15, 2011. What a way to spend Tax Day! (Hey, BTW you could SAVE on your 2011 taxes by making a tax-deductible contribution to the Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis: http://www.firstgiving.com/karenhiser)

I've been noticing a lot of unusual donation amounts on my First Giving page. One of my friends recently clued me in. People are trying to bump me up to the next round number in mileage. Love it! I need (or I should say that all of the PF patients need) $190 to get to the next increment--2.25 miles.

Will you help? Please pass this along to your friends using one of the buttons below, or get your 2011 tax deduction today!

Did You Know? NFL Player's Tragic Death Gives Life to Pulmonary Fibrosis Patient

As football season wraps up, and the post-Super Bowl hype dies down, it seems an opportune time to write about Chris Henry, former Cincinnati Bengals receiver who died in late 2009 following a fall from the back of a pick up truck.

The only treatment for Pulmonary Fibrosis is a lung transplant, and Chris' untimely and tragic death enabled Pulmonary Fibrosis patient Tom Elliott to receive a life-saving transplant. Chris' mother's brave decision to donate her son's organs saved Tom's life and the lives of two other organ recipients.

With further funding and research, scientists can find a cure for Pulmonary Fibrosis -- a cure that doesn't require one person to lose their life in order to save another.

Watch the CBS Sports special on Chris and his organ recipients.
Read more about Tom Elliott's Pulmonary Fibrosis experience.

Use the buttons below to share this blog post with your football friends to help raise awareness about Pulmonary Fibrosis or drown me in donations for my Swim to Breathe fund raising campaign.

I didn't sink but...

After a week plus hiatus, I finally got back in the pool for several training swims this week. Amazingly, I didn't sink, but in the short hour that I swam, another 5 people died from Pulmonary Fibrosis and 6 more people were diagnosed with this incurable, untreatable disease which gradually (or rapidly) robs its victims of their ability to breathe.

Pulmonary Fibrosis is scarring of the lungs, typically from unknown causes. Two-thirds of Pulmonary Fibrosis patients die within 5 years of diagnosis. Without a cure or treatment, the survival rate is effectively zero.

Pulmonary Fibrosis kills 40,000 people each year, the same number as breast cancer.

University of Texas research Hua Tang, PhD, was recently awarded at $377k NIH grant to study the protein kinase D (PKD), which may have some effect on Pulmonary Fibrosis development. Click here to read more about Tang's Pulmonary Fibrosis study award.

What can you do to help? Use the buttons below to share this blog post with your friends to help raise awareness about Pulmonary Fibrosis or drown me in donations for my Swim to Breathe fund raising campaign.

Treasure each breath, treasure each moment!

Famous People with Pulmonary Fibrosis

Like most diseases, Pulmonary Fibrosis show no prejudices to its victims. Famous and unknown are affected equally. Below are some of the famous people who have died from or are living with Pulmonary Fibrosis.

Celebrities Living with Pulmonary Fibrosis
Jerry Lewis (http://www.coalitionforpf.org/cpf_news_detailes.php?id=409)


Celebrities who Died from Pulmonary Fibrosis
Marlon Brando
Peter Benchley ("You're gonna need a bigger boat")
Evel Knievel
Gordon Jump (WKRP in Cincinnati)
Sam Phillips (Sun Records producer of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis)
James Doohan (As in "Beam me up, Scotty")
Mary "Jane" Russel
For more see: http://www.pulmonaryfibrosis.org/profiles_prominent and http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/470654.html


Celebrities who are helping bring awareness to Pulmonary Fibrosis:
http://www.coalitionforpf.org/cpf_news_detailes.php?id=460

• Tom Brokaw, news anchor and author, and Meredith Brokaw, author and educator
• Dick Cook, media executive, former Chairman of Walt Disney Studios, and Bonnie Cook
• Tommy Hawkins, two time All-American Basketball player, broadcaster, and baseball executive
• Tom Johnson, media executive, former Chairman of CNN, and Edwina Johnson
• Jay Leno, Host of NBC's The Tonight Show, and Mavis Leno, Human Rights Activist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee
• James Marsden, actor, and Lisa Linde Marsden, actor  
• Peter and Merle Mullin, philanthropists
• Paul Reiser, actor, writer, and producer, and Dr. Paula Ravets Reiser, clinical psychologist
• Daniel Stern, actor and director, and spouse, Laure Stern, youth activist
• Olene Walker, former Governor of Utah and PF patient

Please help raise awareness about Pulmonary Fibrosis by sharing this post using the buttons below.

Fight Pulmonary Fibrosis by donating to my Swim to Breathe fundraiser.

Does it Take a Famous Person?

In our celebrity-driven society, does it take a famous person to raise awareness about a disease or social cause? Perhaps...

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), more commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, has greatly benefited from the Hall of Famer's name being attached to the disease. Like Pulmonary Fibrosis, ALS is a progressive, fatal disease with no known cause. Despite the fact that Pulmonary Fibrosis affects almost four times as many people as ALS, it receives only half as much research funding as ALS.

You may be thinking, "I'm not famous. How could I possibly help this cause?"

Cures for diseases like Pulmonary Fibrosis and ALS are incredibly difficult to find, but the answer to your question is an easy one. Pass this blog post along to your friends and family to help raise awareness. Use the buttons below to Tweet it, post it to Facebook, or send it via email.

Donate now to the Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis.

Watch for my next post on famous people with Pulmonary Fibrosis.

You're Gonna Need a Bigger Pool

I've taken a liberty with Peter Benchley's original quote, "You're gonna need a bigger boat" from Jaws, but thanks to your kind donations, I may actually need a bigger pool, or a lot of flip-turns! (Okay, I can't actually do a flip-turn.) Contributions tally $3180 so far, which translates to just over a 1.8 mile swim for me.

Did you know that Peter Benchley died from Pulmonary Fibrosis? Yup. Pulmonary Fibrosis patients may feel like they need a bigger boat when faced with the challenges that this incurable, fatal disease presents. Killing the same number of people as breast cancer each year, most Pulmonary Fibrosis patients die within five years of diagnosis.

Please help me continue to fight Pulmonary Fibrosis by passing this post along to your friends and family using the buttons below.

How far will you make me go? Donate now, please!

We've Surpassed $3,000!

Thanks to everyone who has donated in the last few days! The total amount raised is now $3105. For those of you keeping track, that's 1.76 miles that I now have to swim!

Please consider passing this along to your friends and family. Pulmonary Firbrosis has no known cause, no FDA-approved treatments, and no cure. Most patients die with five years, and except for a small handful of lucky ones who receive lung transplants, the survival rate is zero.

Help us raise funds and awareness for this deadly disease that kills 40,000 people every year. Donate online: http://www.firstgiving.com/karenhiser

Thanks!

$2610 and counting!

Thanks to all of you, we've raised $2610 thus far for my Drown Me in Donations Pulmonary Fibrosis fundraiser!

I am happy to report that the donations are far outstripping my ability to swim that far. After being on the road (or recuperating from delayed flights) this week, I did manage to swim for 45 minutes this morning. 

While I was swimming today, another 493 people were diagnosed with Pulmonary Fibrosis. It certainly does not make for happy holidays to be given less than five years to live, during which time you will watch your quality of life diminish greatly as you struggle harder and harder to breathe.

Please help me and the Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis help the patients and families affected by this deadly disease. If you've already donated or can't afford to do so, please pass along this link to your friends. Raising awareness about this disease is the next best thing to raising money!

Thanks,

Karen

Fins & Remedial Swimming

Thank you to everyone who has donated thus far! We are up to $2300, which translates to 2300 yards (1.3 miles) for me to swim. 

Given that every morning at the Y, I am by far the slowest person in the pool, including (no offense) the grandmothers and grandfathers, I figured I better meet with a "professional" to beef up my training plan and work on improving my stroke. 

Those of you who know me well will know that taking a swim lesson required swallowing huge amounts of pride and ego (in addition to pool water). Swim lesson? Me? I practically grew up at the pool and never met an ocean wave that I couldn't conquer. But smarter minds prevailed...

My "professional" was maybe 24 (maybe). But she did give me some good drills, which I put to the test this morning during a 1 mile, completely exhausting swim. I hope she knows what she is talking about, otherwise I am just going to be really, really tired while still swimming slowly!

Jessica, if you are out there, thanks for the tips and for pushing me to get on the kick board!

Final thought: People always ask me whether I get bored swimming. No, I don't get bored; I am concentrating too hard on not drowning!

What do Pulmonary Fibrosis and Breast Cancer Have in Common?

Medically speaking, not much. However, Pulmonary Fibrosis and Breast Cancer both kill approximately 40,000 people every year. 

What differs dramatically between Pulmonary Fibrosis and Breast Cancer are survival rates and funding rates. The survival rate for Pulmonary Fibrosis is effectively zero, yet its total funding from all sources is only $450 per death, while Breast Cancer research receives $13,000 per death in funding from the National Cancer Institutes alone.

Help me fight Pulmonary Fibrosis by contributing to my Drown Me in Donations fundraiser. For every dollar you donate, I will swim one yard. How far will YOU send me?

All of the proceeds from this fundraising page will go directly to furthering the mission of the Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis (CPF). The CPF is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization founded to accelerate research efforts leading to a cure for IPF, while educating, supporting, and advocating for the community of patients, families, and medical professionals fighting this disease.

Drown Me in Donations: A Swimming Journey for Pulmonary Fibrosis

Welcome to my Swim to Breathe blog!

Dad
Four Months before Diagnosis

This is the story of my personal challenge to raise money for the fight against Pulmonary Fibrosis (PF). Having lost my father to this horrible disease in 2009, I have a deep personal commitment to this important cause.

Pulmonary Fibrosis (PF) is a lung disorder characterized by progressive scarring and deterioration of the lungs, robbing its victims of their ability to breathe. This progressive and ultimately fatal disease claims the lives of 40,000 Americans each year—the same number as breast cancer—yet PF receives only a fraction of the funding. As a result, the breast cancer survival rate is 87%, while the PF survival rate is ZERO. My father died a short three months following his diagnosis.  

There is no known cause, no FDA approved treatment,
and no cure for Pulmonary Fibrosis.

Please help me raise money to fight this terrible disease! 

For every dollar you donate, I will swim a yard on Monday, April 11, 2011. 

The more you donate, the further I will have to swim! For example, if we raise $5280, that is a 3-mile swim. For reference, an Iron Man length swim is only 2.4 miles :-)

Follow my progress here as I work my way up from my current level of 1500 yards to over 5000 yards, or more. You decide how far I'll go! Three miles? Four miles? More?

All of the proceeds from this fundraiser will go directly to furthering the mission of the Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis (CPF). The CPF is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization founded to accelerate research efforts leading to a cure for IPF, while educating, supporting, and advocating for the community of patients, families, and medical professionals fighting this disease.

Make your contribution today at http://www.firstgiving.com/karenhiser. 

Look for more posts here or follow me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/khiserFuentek. 

Thank you in advance for your help and support!!!