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Khaleb’s Story

In 2022, Khaleb joined CRA for an overnight camp session, his first time ever spending the night away from family. For four nights, Khaleb experienced the magic of camp in a place specially designed to keep him healthy and safe.

Khaleb

Khaleb was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis when he was born. CF is a serious illness that affects every part of a person’s life. As individuals with CF are discouraged from spending time with others who also have the disease, it’s often hard for kids with CF to find a place where they can connect with others facing similar challenges.

Khaleb was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis through a newborn screening at the hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio. Before he was born, I had no idea what cystic fibrosis was and even though I was told NOT to google it, I did. I fell down the rabbit hole of doom and despair that google took me. Every-timeI looked at my little bundle of joy, I would just cry. To look at him you would not think that anything was wrong with him.He was always a happy baby, loving music and bright colors. He was always very observant even at such a young age. As he grew older, he developed a love for robots and anything that he could build. LEGOs are a staple in our home to this day.

“I really think being diagnosed at birth helped us easily work in his treatments into our schedules. When he was younger and we had to do treatments, he was too small for a vest, so I had to do them by hand. When it came to getting him to take his medicine, it was these little enzymes that I had to sprinkle onto spoonfuls of applesauce or pears. To this day he is not a huge fan of either of those.These days, he takes his pills (after several reminders) with just a quick sip of water.His treatments are done in front of the tv while he is either playing with LEGOs or the many transformer robots that he has collected.”
-Lathronia Jefferson, Khaleb’s Mom