Walking for a cure: Plunketts hope to make Great Strides for Cystic Fibrosis

By ROXANNE COOKE

The Mirror

Every day, 10-year-old Alison Plunkett takes six pancreatic enzyme supplements per meal and three with every snack, an antacid, a specialized multivitamin, nasal spray to help mucus buildup and two medications administered through a nebulizer.

All of them may seem daunting for a fourth-grader, but Alison and her family are used the medications after nine years, said her mother, Deanne Plunkett. Alison was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when she was 18 months old.

Finding something else for Alison to do, like reading or watching television, makes the process of taking her medicine easier, Deanne said.

“(The nasal spray) is inhaled while she watches SpongeBob in the morning,” Deanne said. “She’s a trooper.”

The summer after Alison’s diagnosis, the Plunkett family began participating in the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s Great Strides Walk fundraiser.

The CF Foundation is one of the best charities for health care, Deanne said. Regular people raise money and most of the funds go directly into research and treatment.

“It’s kind of a grassroots event,” said Alison’s father, Rich Plunkett.

Deanne and Rich are the event chairs for the 2006 Great Strides Walk in Federal Way, which takes place Saturday, June 10, at the Rhododendron Gardens and Bonsai Collection at Weyerhaeuser main campus. Check-in begins at noon and the walk starts at 1 p.m.

CF is a complex genetic disease affecting nearly 30,000 children and adults in the United States, according to the CF Foundation’s Web site. It causes the body to produce abnormally thick, sticky mucus, due to the faulty transport of sodium and chloride within cells lining the lungs and pancreas. The mucus clogs the lungs, which can lead to life-threatening lung infections. It also obstructs the pancreas, preventing enzymes from reaching the intestines to help break down and digest food.

As an infant, Alison had frequent stomach aches. A sweat test — the typical method for diagnosing CF — revealed that she had the disease. Alison began taking pancreatic enzyme supplements to help her body break down food.

She looked and felt a lot better within a month, Deanne said.

Today, Alison gets heartburn and stomach aches often, but for the most part she is very healthy, Deanne said.

“Her lungs are almost normal,” Deanne said.

Staying active is an important part of Alison’s health, Deanne said. Alison enjoys jump rope, soccer and playing scrimmage with her older sister Kaitlin.

“Jump roping is my favorite at recess,” Alison said.

Community support has always been strong for the Plunkett’s Great Strides team, known as Alison’s Angels.

“It’s been awesome, it always has,” Deanne said.

Each year before the walk, Deanne sends letters out to the community to ask for their support.

“It’s amazing the responses we get,” said Rich, who had a retired coworker send them $1,000 one year. “That’s not to say the $5, $10 donations don’t mean as much. They mean just as much.”

Deanne’s mother holds rose-making parties for the “65 Roses” project, which is a unique aspect of the Washington/Alaska Chapter. The words “65 roses” are used by many children with CF to describe their disease; the words are easier for them to say, according to the CF Foundation’s Web site.

Handmade roses are sold during the walk at $100 apiece. The goal is to sell 65, Deanne said. This year, the Firefighters Foundation is sponsoring the rose project.

Great Strides is the largest event the CF Foundation does nationally. There are 10 walk sites in Washington and Alaska. The Federal Way walk site is new this year. She and Rich decided to create a new walk site after the Tacoma walk moved to Gig Harbor. The family currently lives in Bonney Lake, but used to live in Federal Way. The couple is expecting attendance at the Federal Way walk in 300- to 350-range.

The mission of the CF Foundation is to assure the development of the means to cure and control cystic fibrosis and to improve the quality of life for those with the disease. The median age of survival for a person with CF is nearly 37 years, according to the CF Foundation’s National Patient Registry. Currently, nearly 40 percent of the CF population is age 18 and older.

“CF used to be known as a children’s disease,” Thrasher said. “The face of the disease has changed a lot in the last 10 years.”

Refreshments and snacks will be provided during the Federal Way event, said Allison Thrasher, director of special events for the Washington/Alaska Chapter of the CF Foundation.

Rich plans to rent an ice cream cart to hand out ice cream bars, kettle corn, cookies and bagels. Top Foods in Lakeland Hills donated 500 bars. There will also be a raffle, door prizes and a disc jockey.

It’s a family-oriented event, according to both Thrasher and the Plunketts.

Walkers who raise at least $100 through pledges and personal donations receive a free “Team CF” T-shirt on walk day, Thrasher said. Participants are encouraged to raise a minimum of $150. The goal for the Federal Way event is to raise $60,000.

“The funds that are raised will be used as efficiently as possible,” Thrasher said.

Nearly 90 cents of every dollar raised goes directly into cystic fibrosis research and treatment programs, Thrasher said.

“Our excitement for Great Strides season builds all year long because we are part of a national effort to raise $28 million for CF research and care,” said Dottie Moore, executive director of the Washington/Alaska Chapter.

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