THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 16, 1995 TAG: 9511160718
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 07 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SCOTT McCASKEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 99 lines
Cheryl Sleeper always had wanted to fly on a plane, go to a tropical rain forest and see a volcano.
Thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Eastern Virginia, this 13-year-old's dreams came true.
Last month, Cheryl and her family flew to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and embarked on a weeklong cruise of the Caribbean. Cheryl found both a rain forest and a volcano on Martinique.
``It was really cool,'' she said. ``There were lots of pretty flowers, big trees and vines in the rain forest. The volcano was weird-looking, a big mountain with a whole lot of clouds on top.''
Cheryl has cystic fibrosis, a genetically inherited disease that causes lung destruction, intestinal damage and bacterial infections. There is no cure.
The girl's grandmother contacted the Make-A-Wish Foundation three months ago. In September, the Sleepers received a ``Get Excited'' letter from the organization.
``The Make-A-Wish people really did this right,'' said Dan Sleeper, Cheryl's father. ``We had an A-class suite on the 11th floor and went to a party with the captain. They treated us like royalty.''
The foundation grants wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses who are between the ages of 2 1/2 and 18. The Eastern Virginia chapter has granted 300 wishes since it was formed in 1986. Sixty wishes were granted in 1994.
Cheryl has spent about half of this year in the Cystic Fibrosis Center of the Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters. She said the vacation was ``really great'' but just staying out of the hospital is what's really important to her.
``The most frustrating thing is missing school and not being able to see my friends,'' this warm-eyed, spunky teenager said.
Cheryl, who lives with her family in the Colonial Heights section of Norfolk, is in the eighth grade at Ocean View Academy. She is an A student, frequently studying in the hospital and doing makeup work at home. Despite her condition, she is often active, recently climbing Jockey's Ridge in Nags Head.
``I had to stop now and then, but I made it to the top,'' she said. ``Did you know that there is an old hotel under the sand?''
Her parents allow Cheryl and her brother, Joseph, 16 - who also has cystic fibrosis but of a less-severe nature - to do as much as possible.
``We try to let them live life to the fullest,'' said Carolyn Sleeper, Cheryl's mother. ``Cheryl has been on a good roll lately. She's been out of the hospital for a month.'
At any time, however, Cheryl's condition can deteriorate to the point that she cannot move or breathe without aid. In the hospital, she is on a special drug-study program and is given intravenous and inhalant antibiotics, along with chest therapy and counseling. When at home, she uses inhalants, is sometimes on an IV and must take special vitamins and enzymes.
Cheryl was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when she was 2 1/2. Both of her parents have the recessive gene for the disease but didn't know it when Cheryl was born. The medical community didn't discover the cystic fibrosis gene until 1989.
``The situation hasn't been easy,'' Dan Sleeper said. ``We've learned to take it a day at a time.''
For Cheryl's mother, things also can be frustrating because the illness doesn't show much from the outside and many people don't understand it.
``You have to educate almost everyone that comes in contact with your child and tell them about the disease,'' Carolyn said.
Although there is no cure for the disease, there has been recent progress in fighting the illness with gene therapy. The first human trials began in 1993.
``Gene therapy, we think, offers the most hope for a cure,'' said Carolyn Habbersett, medical editor for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's home office in Bethesda, Md. ``This new technology certainly keeps us motivated.''
A broad estimate places the number of people with cystic fibrosis at 30,000 nationwide. About 600 Virginians have the disease. More than 100 patients are being treated at The King's Daughters center.
The good news is that the average life span for a person with cystic fibrosis has risen from 12 to 29 over the past 20 years. Cheryl, showing her positive spirit and a very mature nature, said: ``That means I'll probably make it to 30.''
A lot of support for Cheryl and her family comes from their church, Ocean View Baptist. The clergy and members of the congregation give moral backing, as well as helping out with everyday needs in times of crisis.
``I don't think we could have made it without our church family,'' Dan Sleeper said. ``People are always there for us, ready to help out any time.''
Cheryl's mother echoes her husband's feelings.
``It really comes down to our faith in the Lord,'' Carolyn Sleeper said. ``When we went on the trip, everyone at church was praying that Cheryl would stay well. . . . It was a nice vacation but for a sad reason.'' MEMO: For information on cystic fibrosis, call the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
Virginia Chapter, 481-1383.
ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by PAUL BATES
Cheryl SLeeper was granted a Make-A-Wish vacation with, from left:
hewr father, Dan; her brother, Joseph; and her mother, Carolyn.
by CNB