Sunday, November 22, 2009

cystic fibrosis


I strongly advise you to read Victoria Tremlett’s article in yesterday’s Guardian magazine entitled “Experience: I hope I’m here for Christmas”. She’s a 22 year-old woman who was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when she was two and she writes very eloquently about her long, frustrating wait for a lung transplant. All very humbling.
We have a Year 10 student, Nick, at our school with CF (another pupil at school with CF died last year) and I’ve spent a fair amount of time with him since he started secondary school. He’s absolutely brilliant – bubbly personality, very popular with his peers and prepared to have a go at everything - but I know just how tough it’s been for his mother (especially as a single parent). Although the life expectancy of CF patients continues to increase (about 75 per cent of affected children survive to young adulthood), coming to terms with the average life expectancy of between 30 and 40 must be very hard to live with.

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