Dear friends and family,

It’s that time of year again-running/fundraising season! Craig and I have been hard at work building up our mileage to prepare for the Chicago Half Marathon September 12, 2010. Our mission is to raise money for Cure JM to support important research that affects our family and the lives of many others.

Julia is doing great. It’s been an incredibly active summer and she’s been learning to swim and master the monkey bars! It really fills us with joy to see her so active, as we know that muscle weakness is an issue for so many JM kids. Julia started treatment in September 2008 with heavy-duty drugs like prednisone and methotrexate, but I’m happy to report that she is nearly off all the medications two years later. While two years seems like a long time, in fact her medication course has been on the short end of what’s typical (many kids are on medications three plus years) since she’s been doing so well. While we still have some concerns we are hopeful that she’s on a path to permanent remission.

Juvenile Myositis is a rare autoimmune disease (3 in a million are affected). Because of the drugs used for treatment and the rarity of the disease we do not receive research funding from pharmaceutical companies. The exciting thing about Cure JM is that we are a small, parent run, 100% volunteer charity. Funds we raise directly support Julia’s doctor’s research team. Dr. Pachman has seven researchers that study JM, and she is only one of three doctors nation-wide that specialize in JM. Because of Cure JM research funding Dr. Pachman is able to focus on research instead of writing grants to secure funds. She has published many papers that benefit pediatric rheumatologists all over the world. In this way her work is far-reaching. It’s not just JM kids that benefit either; the research is helpful to other autoimmune diseases as well.

Our family is enrolled in some genetic studies the lab is conducting, and soon they expect to study cardiology implications for JM kids as they become adults. Without Cure JM fundraising, these studies are not possible. Your support will directly aid these research efforts. No amount is too small. We are very grateful for your support and the emotional support we’ve received from friends and family.

Our heartfelt thanks,

Becca and Craig Lewandowski (Julia and Mack too!)

P.S. Thank you to all of you who voted in the Pepsi Refresh Project. We are beyond excited that our little organization clawed our way to the #1 spot when voting closed August 31^st. The official grant winners will be announced September 22^nd. Your votes made a difference!

Cure JM Foundation is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization