Alison's journey begins today

Late this afternoon we got the news we have been waiting to hear for a couple of weeks now ... my family's niece, daughter, granddaughter and cousin, Alison, who has battled cystic fibrosis since birth, has been accepted as a candidate for a double lung transplant at University Hospitals & Clinics, Iowa City!!!

For anyone unfamiliar with cystic fibrosis, it is a genetic disorder affecting 30,000 people in the U.S.  It causes the body to produce an abnormally thick, sticky mucus, due to the faulty movement of sodium and chloride (salt) within cells lining organs like the lungs and pancreas. The abnormal mucus then clogs the lungs and leads to life-threatening lung infections.

There are about 1,000 new cases of CF diagnosed each  year.  Most are diagnosed by age three. One in 31 Americans - more than 10 million people are unknowing, symptomless carriers of one copy of the defective CF gene. An individual must inherit two defective copies of the CF gene to have cystic fibrosis.

Alison's  lung capacity deteriorated a great deal over the last year and her most recent hospitalization in October, resulted in the recommendation for a double lung transplant. While this is very serious surgery and it is not without risks, we share in Alison's anticipation that when donor lungs become available to her, it will allow her to leave her oxygen tank behind. She looks forward to walking down the aisle at her friend's wedding next summer, on the arm of a young man, feeling healthy and happy like the rest of her 23 and 24-year old friends.

Please keep Alison and her parents, Scott & Joleen, in your thoughts and prayers as they begin this journey! Watch the blog for updates as they become available.