Category: Cystic Fibrosis

Life can be surprising. When you think you know what is going on, you don’t. When you think life cannot throw you anymore curve balls, it’s a swing and a miss at bat.

When daughter, Mary, was about a year and a half, she seemed to be holding onto colds longer than other kids. Mary’s mom thought it would be a good idea to have her seen by a physician. I agreed and we went together to the pediatrician. The doctor gave Mary a drug called aminophylline. Since I had been in inhalation therapy for some years, I knew what the results meant.  On the way home from the doctor, I said to Mary’s mom, the only time I have ever seen a child literally throw up mucus after being administered aminophylline was with a diagnosis of Cystic Fibrosis. She started screaming at me that I was a terrible person for even thinking that way. We drove the rest of the way to the cabin in Elora without saying a word.

When we arrived at the cabin, the phone rang immediately. It was the doctor calling. He said that he needed to see us right away about Mary. The next few weeks were a blur as I slept on the hospital floor in Mary’s room. They ran a sweat test that conclusively showed young daughter Mary was born with CF, a genetic disorder passed from both parents. Neither of us had any history of CF in our families.