I first learned of Cystic Fibrosis (CF) when I began working as a pediatric nurse in a local hospital. I met several kids with CF. The first patient I ever lost was an 11 year old with CF. One of the first kids I fell in love with was a 14 year old girl with CF. She's now 24. And I still love her :)
I thought I understood what CF was. I knew what an exacerbation looked like. I knew what medicines they would be treated with. I knew what their home regimen sounded like. I saw them struggling to breathe. BUT I DIDN'T GET IT.
In Oct. 2009, our son was born. He was pretty much immediately diagnosed with CF. This was a complete shock to our family.
Lots of time was spent researching this disease with no cure. I had to know everything about the lastest discoveries. Everything about current treatments. Everything there possibly could be to know. I learned how the mucous builds up in these angels lungs. The chronic inflammation scars their little lungs causing decreased lung function. That the mucous clogs their pancreas. This causes them to not be able to digest their food. That the average age of a CFer is only 37. There would be tons of medication to take each day. There would be many breathing treatments each day. There would be chest physiotherapy multiple times daily. The more I learned, the more determined I became that I would not let this disease destroy my child.Now I got it.
God made sure I was trained to care for Cade. He also made sure he gave Cade to a very stubborn mama. He knew I would give everything to fight for a cure for my child. And I will.
Because I can't imagine one day without this face in it.
