By day, Schaller is an employee at a retail store. By night, she's the drummer of Hellen, a Detroit-based rock band that hosts concerts to support CF research.
She was a whirlwind of activity recently as she sped up stairs, down stairs, from the front to the back of the Royal Oak Music Theatre putting the finishing touches on her annual "Just Let Me Breathe" concert fundraiser.
"It doesn't seem like this should be happening today," she said.
Through Hellen and her organization, the Rock CF Foundation, Schaller has generated thousands of dollars for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Cystic fibrosis is a genetic chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system. It stems from a defective gene that causes the body to produce thick, sticky mucus that clogs the lungs, obstructs the pancreas and stops natural enzymes from helping the body absorb food. About 70,000 people have it worldwide, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation says.
Every morning, an air-filled vest shakes Schaller's lungs to loosen mucus. She lives in the hospital anywhere from two to eight weeks each year
- fighting off bacteria that could kill her. But she doesn't focus on the fact that life expectancy for people with CF is 37 years.
"Just in the past few years I thought I wanted to do something I love, which is fundraising," Schaller said.
She feels for her peers who can't go out for fear of getting sick.
