Charitable Giving

I probably should not admit to this here but for the most part, if you ask me for money for a charitable cause, I will give it to you. There are so many causes and so many people involved that if you are someone I care about and there is a cause that you care about, I will usually support it. For the past 4 years I have done fundraising for MS but that certainly isn't the only area that needs support.

Which brings me to another side story that I haven't told very many people. Early on in my pregnancy with Samantha, after that first appointment where you go get your blood work done and you answer a bunch of questions from your doctor, I got a worrisome phone call back from the nurse. According to my blood work, I carry the gene for Cystic Fibrosis.

I didn't ever tell anyone about this because after telling my parents there was a bit of hysteria going on. They definitely did not calm me down. It only took a small amount of internet research to find that Cystic Fibrosis leads to life-threatening lung infections, horrible symptoms and a much lower life expectancy. The idea of bringing a baby into the world that would have to face that was heartbreaking.

Cystic Fibrosis occurs in roughly one in every 3,000 live births and is genetic. A child must inherit a defective copy of the gene from each parent. I am incredibly grateful to report that while I have the gene, Dave does not which meant that Samantha was in the clear.

Now, back to the charitable giving piece: My coworker Ken is running a marathon for the Boomer Esiason Foundation which provides financial support to research aimed at finding a cure for cystic fibrosis as well as improving the quality of life for those affected by it. If you can, please donate to this cause at: http://www.firstgiving.com/ktakahashi for all the people who were not as fortunate as Samantha and for the families who are committed to finding a cure to this horrible disease.