MyChart
Research is Rewarding for Samantha
August 16, 2012
The new medication worked so well that she was able to reduce first to one pill a meal, then to just one pill a day. “I was excited about that,” she says. Samantha went on to join three trials of new drug/nebulizer combinations for the lung problems that are part of CF. That allowed her to reduce her twice-daily regimen from 10-15 minutes to 2-3 minutes.
Improved treatments have helped Samantha lead a very full 24 years. She was recently married. She graduates from Boise State University this spring. She volunteers for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and serves on the Patient and Family Advisory Board for the St. Luke’s Cystic Fibrosis Clinic.Samantha understands that research is uncertain, that it doesn’t always benefit the individual participants. She participates to promote progress toward better treatments and the ultimate goal of a cure. “It instills hope that it is possible.”
She’ll continue to volunteer for research studies. She does it for herself, for her two sisters with the disease, for her St. Luke’s care team (“They are like family”), and for the future. “Supporting medical research,” she emphasizes, “is meaningful.”
Related Clinic
St. Luke's Cystic Fibrosis Center of Idaho
610 W. Hays Street
Boise, ID 83702
(208) 381-7092
Related Specialty
Pediatric Pulmonology
Treatment for children who have diseases affecting their lungs and respiratory tract.