Keeping Children Healthy/PBS special on CF

[Guest guest]

I did watch the special - I thought it was a very realistic " day in the

life " of a young, 26 year old woman with CF and another man, age 40,

who has had a lung transplant. 3 of his siblings died earlier in life

from CF, one after a double lung transplant. He lives a full life but

takes over 30 pills a day (to combat organ rejection) and also 5 shots

of insulin per day as he has become diabetic after the transplant. I

did not realize that diabetes is very common after a lung transplant

for CF patients.

Another interesting fact is that the young girl was doing very well -

she graduated from college and worked for Lehman brothers- then one

year she MISSED HER FLU VACCINE, caught the flu, which progressed to

pneumonia, and it's been downhill from there. Her doctor recommends

she be listed for a transplant because her PFTs are under 30% expected

capacity. I did not know this was the marker. That was a big lesson

to me on the importance of the flu vaccine.

The show also followed the young woman (I'm horrified that I forget her

name) through her vest treatments, nebs, doctor's visit, etc., and now

she is on disability. This was a great show for people who think " oh,

they're doing fine, they look good " because clearly it takes a lot of

work to look good.

It was also heartbreaking - I definitely teared through the second part

of the show - when the girl broke down because she her doc wanted her

to be listed for a transplant, and also when the mother spoke of her

daughter suffering.

The hostess was a little too chipper for me but she did ask some very

tough and sensitive questions - for that I admire her.

Krishnan

Mom to Santosh, 6wcf and Leela, 4wocf