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!