One of the many times that Brandon Hargroves was in the hospital, a nurse brought his young son in to visit. The little boy looked at Brandon and said, "But dad, he doesn't look sick." The nurse looked down at his son and answered, "What's wrong with Brandon is on the inside."

If Brandon's dad, Don, could get one message across about cystic fibrosis, that's what it would be. He's spoken about cystic fibrosis on so many occasions and had offers of wheelchairs and other things that cystic fibrosis children simply don't need. What they do need is time – and money for research. Hargroves worries that the fact that they don't look "sick" or "disabled" may be holding back cystic fibrosis research.

The fact is that children with cystic fibrosis do look perfectly "normal" from the outside. Oh, maybe they're a little smaller and thinner and get out of breath more quickly, but otherwise they're perfectly formed little children living under the cloud of an incurable disease.

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disease, meaning that both parents have to be carriers of the gene for their child to be affected. Currently, about 30,000 children and adults in the United States have cystic fibrosis. It is estimated that more than 10 million people carry the defective gene even though they don't have the condition themselves.

Content on this site is not a substitute for professional medical or healthcare advice, diagnosis or treatment, and may not be used for such purposes. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical question or condition. Reliance on information presented on this site is at your own risk. This site contains the opinions and views of other users. Given the interactive nature of this site, we cannot endorse, guarantee, or be responsible for the accuracy, efficacy, or veracity of any content generated by our users.