May is cystic fibrosis awareness month. Life with cystic fibrosis (CF) can come with a lot of unseen challenges, like dozens of pills and hours of specialized treatments.
CF is the most common fatal genetic disease affecting Canadian children and young adults. There is no cure. Of the Canadians with cystic fibrosis who died in the past three years, half were under the age of 34. Cystic fibrosis is a progressive, degenerative multi-system disease that affects mainly the lungs and digestive system.
myFM’s reporter Jeremy Hall knows the dread of CF too well. His daughter Avril is 9 years old and has CF.
When Avril was born she remained in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for more than 200 days and endured 3 surgeries before finally going home. Avril and her family do specialized treatments and she takes medication every day to prevent her from having to return to the hospital.
With all the challenges that come with CF, Hall says there is hope on the horizon with new medications.
The Walk to Make Cystic Fibrosis History is taking place this Sunday all over the province. There is still time to register or donate to the event by clicking on the following link: https://walk.cysticfibrosis.ca/register