MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!!! We had the BEST Christmas EVER!!! The kids were very entertaining, and I took pics and video until my phone couldn't take anymore:p LOL

Lil' Chris got the drums that he asked for and Ayla got her green Polly Pocket helicopter that she asked Santa for:) She was even soooo happy, that she cried tears of joy when she opened it!!! It was so adorable that it made me cry:)

As I reflect on the day, I'm feeling very blessed to have such a wonderful, happy, "healthy" family!! There are many CF families who spend holidays in the hospital very ill, but Lil' Chris has had a GREAT year until he got a cough and stuffy nose this past Friday. It has gotten worse each day, but we are doing extra Vest and Albuterol treatments to help get rid of it. He recently got a new Vest machine which is really good, b/c it pauses every so many minutes to help him learn to cough in between. This new feature has been very helpful since he got this cough. He has his next CF clinic apt on Jan 8th, so I'm really hoping and praying that he doesn't culture Pseudomonas or something worse.

I wanted to share some good news that a fellow CFer, Piper Beatty, got the call for her 2nd double lung transplant today!! It's a Christmas Miracle!! So happy for her and her family! They are in my thoughts and prayers, as well as the donor family. Please pray everything goes smoothly and she has a quick recovery.

I know it's been a while since I posted last, but you might be seeing me post more often now that my awesome hubby got me a new touchscreen laptop for Christmas!! WOOHOO!!! I LOVE IT!!!! THANKS SO MUCH HONEY!!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!
M

CF Med List Expense/BCMH Approval!!!

GREAT NEWS!!!!!

WE GOT OUR APPROVAL LETTER IN THE MAIL FOR BCMH(Lil' Chris' secondary insurance)!!!! WHOO HOO!!!!!

It's a good thing too, b/c the same day we got his approval letter, we also got a statement in the mail saying that his $1,500 for 2 of his meds was paid for!! Praise the Lord!!!

I found this cool price list for most CF meds...https://www.cfservicespharmacy.com/ProductsandPrices/

Check it out to see how much you/your child's meds are without having to rummage thru all your bills and statements:)

Here is a breakdown of Lil' Chris' meds...

Enzymes=Creon 6,000= 5 with every meal, about 25 per day=$1,200 for 30 day supply

Prevacid=once daily=$250 for 30 day supply

Aquadeks=once daily=$42 for 30 day supply

Pulmozyme=inhaled once daily=$2,700 for 30 day supply

Albuterol Puffer= (was not listed)

Flonase=$102

When he cultures Pseudomonas, he has to take the following...

Cipro=$530 for 30 day supply

TOBI=twice daily for 28 days=$8,000 

TobiPodhaler=$8,000 (this just got approved, so he may take this next time he cultures Pseudomonas instead of TOBI, b/c it cuts treatment time down by about 40 minutes per day. I was surprised to see it costs the same as TOBI)

He also takes Claritin daily too, which is not listed b/c it's for his seasonal allergies. Not sure how much it is, but our insurance and BCMH covers that also thankfully. I think it's around $40.

So, our grand total for just one month without TOBI and Cipro=$4,334

Grand total with TOBI and Cipro=$12,864

Grand total for one YEAR without TOBI and Cipro=$52,008

Grand total for one year with TOBI and Cipro every other month=$103,188 

WOW!!! CYSTIC FIBROSIS IS EXPENSIVE!! 

SO THANKFUL FOR BCMH!!!

I don't know what we would do without it!!

THANK YOU BCMH and THANK YOU LORD FOR ANSWERED PRAYER!!!

My advice to other CF families is to get with your CF clinic's social worker to find out about any other financial assistance programs your area might have. BCMH is for my state, but your state may have something similar. Also, even if you think you may make too much and won't get approved...just apply anyways. It doesn't hurt anything by applying. You never know, you might get approved anyways, b/c of how serious a disease CF is! If you get denied one year, apply again each year. Like I said, it doesn't hurt to try...your effort will pay off once you get approved:)

Please pray that we continue to get approved each year as you can see the impact it has on our family.

Thanks,

M

PS. Lil' Chris is doing GREAT! NO COUGH!! THANK YOU JESUS!!

Cough/cold update

For an update on the kids colds and coughs...

Both of their colds/allergies seem to be gone. YEA for no more sniffles!!!

As for their coughs, they seem to be gone too!!!! YEA!!!! I think it mainly stopped before the 4th of July, not sure of exact date;) Praise God that our treatment plan worked and Lil Chris' cough didn't get worse and turn into something bad. Anytime he has a cough and doesn't need an antibiotic is good, because he could build up a resistance to the antibiotic, and some of the harsher antibiotics could have serious side effects.

Just because he stopped coughing doesn't mean that some bad bacteria isn't lurking deep down in his lungs. The last time he cultured Pseudomonas he didn't have a cough at all. His next CF clinic appointment isn't for a little while, so we are praying that this cough(even though it went away without antibiotics) didn't produce anything.

Please pray that his next culture comes back normal like the last 2!!!!
Thanks,
M
PS. Sorry for no pic, I tried to post a pic of the 2 of them doing treatments together, but either blogger isn't working properly, or it's my crappy laptop. IDK:( Getting frustrated, but I really don't want to get rid of this blog. It helps me keep track of everything, but I really miss putting pics and videos on here all the time:(

Summer Vaca Fun / Cough:(

I was on vacation this past week while my husband had to work, and the kids and I had a GREAT time together!! We did many outside things in between rainstorms all week. We went to 2 different spray parks, pool, and even had fun with their old blowup pool with slide!! I guess we had too much fun, b/c by Thursday, Ayla's nose started running non-stop. At first we thought it was allergies, but when it kept running ALL day, we thought maybe it was a cold. Lil' Chris started with a stuffy nose too. Then he woke up Friday morning with a bad productive cough:( I've been hearing a lot of people having allergy issues with all these storms and hot weather, so I still don't know if it's their allergies or a cold. 

Lil' Chris' cough may be from post nasal drip, b/c his nose is stuffy. So, my last day of vaca(fri) was spent doing treatments and giving meds. We want to get rid of his cough ASAP before it gets deep down in his lungs. We've been doing more treatments to help him get it up and spit it out so that it doesn't get down in his lungs and start growing bad bacterias which could lead his health down a very wrong path.When I called the CF nurse to ask if we should increase the Pulmozyme to 2 times a day, she said no, to just increase everything else and maybe try Mucinex which works like Pulmozyme to help thin the mucus to help get it out. He has been doing a GREAT job with the extra treatments, and has spit out mucus a few times now!! Ayla has been doing her Albuterol puffer too along with Lil' Chris and has been taking a cough suppressant, b/c she started with a lil' cough. They like doing the treatments together:)

Here is what we have been doing...
After breakfast...Flonase, Mucinex, Albuterol puffer, Vest-30min, Acapella
After lunch...Albuterol puffer, Vest-30min, Acapella
Before bed...Flonase, Mucinex, Albuterol puffer, inhaled Pulmozyme, Vest-30min, Acapella

I will keep you posted on how they are doing. Please pray that his cough goes away quick and he doesn't get any bad bacteria's in his lungs. We know that every time we go somewhere...there is always a risk of him getting sick. You never know if there is another CFer there, or if another kid is sick, etc.... We try not to keep him in a bubble though.

Above is just 2 of the many video's I took this vacation:) I wish I could post the pics, but blogger isn't letting me right now:( I did post some on facebook though.

Praising God that 10 year old Sarah with CF is doing well with her new lungs. She had to get another set of lungs 3 days after the first set, but is doing better and got all her chest tubes out!! Please keep her and the 2 donor families in your prayers.
M

4th Annual Great Strides Walk was a SUCCESS!!!

Our big 4th Annual Great Strides Walk for Cystic Fibrosis was this past Sunday and it was AMAZING!! We had about 150+ walkers and raised about $20,000 dollars!!! WOOHOO!!!!

Our first year we only had about 50 walkers and only raised about $5,000...I'm so happy how our walk has grown and multiplied!! The more walkers=more money raised=the closer we are to a CURE!!! :) 

Our first year, everyone was able to stand under the pavilion and I would just stand on a table to talk, but this year there were so many walkers, that the only thing that would work was the loud speaker from the Ambulance:) And then Officer Cruz was nice enough to start the walk off with his siren! That was pretty cool! Maybe next year I'll see if Lil' Chris can push the button, that would be neat:)

This year was the first year I had to do all the announcements and everything, b/c Nate from the foundation had to go to another walk. I didn't mind doing it, but I felt bad that I wasn't more prepared. I got up there and completely went blank on a lot of our sponsors:( Next year I will def make a list and be sure to mention all of our sponsors!! So... since I can't go back in time and add them to what I said...I'll just mention them now on my blog(please feel free to share this blog post;) lol....

BIG THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS...
Panera Bread donated 100 yummy bagels. THANKS JESSICA!!!
Domino's on Burbank donated 25 yummy pizza's. THANKS VIC!!!!
McDonald's on Burbank donated 30 cheese burgers and french fries. THANKS LINDA and CHRISTIE!!!
Kohl's in New Philly, Medina, and Wooster=$1,500 for the day of the walk!!! WOOHOO!! By Sept, Kohl's will have donated about $7,000 total, and that's just OUR team, not all over the country!! Gotta love Kohl's!!!! If you don't shop Kohl's now.....you gotta start!! They raise millions for Cystic Fibrosis!!!
Wooster Christian School team had 8 different families that were there supporting Lil' Chris:) THANKS EVERYONE!!!
Preferred Wireless Sprint in Wooster
Verizon Wireless on Milltown Rd in Wooster
Wayne Savings Community Bank in Wooster
Starmark Farm in Wooster
General Building Maintance Corp. 
An anonymous $250 sponsor
The Faithful Little Cupcake
Feikert Concrete
Uncle Jim's Pepper Mustard
Pat Catan's
MCTV
Akron Aeros
Buehler's
Wooster Fire Dept
Wooster Police Dept
Samaritan Care Ambulance
Dr. Dave and his AMAZING balloon animals:)
Carrie G-Thirty-One
Stephanie W.-Arbonne
Lu Ann Miller
Phyllis and Reed Seiberling
Tim and Jessica Corbett
Kathi Bond

Overall, we had a BEAUTIFUL day for our walk, a little windy when I was trying to tape down all the prizes and when we all were trying to put up our canopies, but still a gorgeous day!! 

BIG THANK YOU to my fellow CF moms Samantha, Denna, and Alma for all their help!! Denna made little goody bags for all the kids, and made BEAUTIFUL signs for all the CF kids so the walkers could read a little bit about who they were walking for and why. Samantha got LOTS of prizes and I'm happy to say that I actually ran out of raffle tickets!!! That's the first time EVER!!! I still had stuff to give away, but there were no more names in the bucket!! WOW!!! That's awesome!! Thank you Alma and team for all the yummy cookies!!

BIG THANK YOU to Nate for bringing and setting everything all up, and to everyone else who helped out in setting up too...my husband, Spencer, Oma, Opa, Jessie, and Kevin!! I was so thankful that Kevin volunteered to take pictures with his awesome camera this year!! THANK YOU KEVIN, you're the BEST!!! I will post the pictures when I get them:)

THANK YOU to our CFers who we walked for...Lil' Chris, Daniel, Jack, Aden, Sophia, and Aubrey!! You guys did a GREAT JOB wearing your Hawaiian leis the whole time and staying away from each other, because of the risk of cross contamination!! So proud of you all!!

SPECIAL THANK YOU to all who walked for "A Cure 4 Lil' Chris!!" I would name you all, but there were so many, about 80!! That's AWESOME!!!;) We had lots of family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, and  classmates!! I'm sorry I didn't get to go around and talk more with you all. You all brought tears to my eyes with how many showed up just for Lil' Chris!! We can't thank you all enough for giving up a Sunday to walk, and for all your generous donations!! 

BIG THANK YOU to my sister and her kids for driving all the way from NC to walk for Lil' Chris:) We had so much fun at the walk, at Put-in-Bay, and Acres of Fun mini golf!! Can't wait to see you guys again!!

Thanks again everyone who walked, donated, or sponsored our walk!! It sure was a SUCCESS!!! More pictures coming soon!!! :)
M
PS. Update on Lil' Chris' CF clinic visit this last Wednesday coming soon!!

1st Day of Kindergarten!!

Lil' Chris started Junior Kindergarten on 8/21/12 at the local Christian School at 5 years old!! He had no problems leaving mommy and daddy on the first day either! He loves making new friends! He is only going half day and will do full day 1st grade next year as long as he passes JK, but I'm pretty sure he will :)

I can't believe a few weeks have gone by already! He has been doing great and already learning so much! He memorized his first Bible verse pretty quick! "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith." :) AND he has the pledge of allegiance memorized already too!! I'm so proud how well he is doing:)


His teacher is Mrs. Falkenberg and his teacher aide is Mrs. Curtis. They both are wonderful and have been VERY receptive to all that I have taught them about caring for a child with Cystic Fibrosis! Mrs F knows a family with 2 kids with CF, so she is a little bit familiar with it. I have given them both the clip on hand sanitizers that I always wear wherever I go:) It's up to them if they use them or not, but it would def keep down on the germs in the classroom, not just for Lil' Chris, but for all the kids and them as teachers too:)

We are in the process of starting a 504 plan for Lil' Chris. This will stick with him throughout his school years. Click this link for more info http://www.cysticlife.org/downloads/504FlyerFINAL.pdf
A 504 Plan is a legal, written document for students with physical impairments
such as lung disease/GI problems that limit one or more major life activity.
-It protects a child’s rights and health while at school.
-It falls under the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
-It is reviewed/updated once a year OR each time a child changes schools.
A 504 plan is not an Individualized Education Program (IEP) as required for
special education students. If your child’s CF contributes to learning difficulties,
an IEP may be required under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

The possible 504 Plan accommodations for a child with CF include:
-Your child can take his/her pancreatic enzymes during school.
-Your child can have reasonable access to snacks and unlimited access to
water due to medication use. As well as restrooms due to digestion issues.
-Your child can be isolated from sick children and other students with CF.
-The school will provide alternative activities when your child has CF
exacerbations and cannot participate in gym class.
-Modifications can be made based on health status, fatigue and workload.
-The school will provide Homebound Teaching and/or Intermittent Home/
Hospital Instructional Program with proper documentation for children with
high absenteeism.

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

As for a CF Update... Lil' Chris is doing well. He had a lil' cough when school first started, but nothing major, we did the Acapella before his first day (in the video above), just in case. He hasn't been coughing everyday, but some mornings I've noticed he has coughed more than others. I think it is just his allergies though. If it progresses, I will def be calling in an antibiotic. I'll keep you posted. He had a bad night on 9/3. He woke up in the middle of the night throwing up off and on for like 3 hours. That's what he usually does when he has something with soy protein in it, but we didn't think he had anything with soy protein, but we did eat out earlier that day and the only thing that he hasn't had before at that restaurant was a chocolate milkshake, soooo idk. We kept him home that Tuesday after just so he could get some sleep. He woke up fine and has been fine since. It's been a while since that has happened. BTW, he is doing GREAT with the Pulmozyme!! So proud of him! He likes to pour it in, and he even sterilized it with me the other day:) It's never to early for him to learn how to take care of himself, right?? :)


Check out the video above, he did such a good job smiling nicely for his first day of Kindergarten pics:) Sorry it's so long, but I didn't want to edit it and cut any pics, b/c my phone's memory card got damaged somehow and I lost a ton of pics;( Luckily I uploaded these before that happened. I CANNOT wait til the end of this month when I can FINALLY get my iPhone 5 when it comes out!!! Then hopefully I won't lose all my precious pics!

Please keep Lil' Chris in your prayers that he has a healthy school year...it's scary letting him go, but I have to;( Also, keep lil' Aubrey in your prayers as she is sick right now. Nathan, Lil' Chris' cousin with Leukemia, has a double ear infection and horrible headaches, so he could use your prayers also. Poor kid already had to miss his 2nd and 3rd day of school already:(


BIG THANK YOU  to Samantha, Aubrey's mom, for doing a CF fundraiser at Applebee's tonight!! You are a GREAT CF mom already jumping into fundraising and she is only 6 months old!! WAY TO GO!!


Thanks so much for your continued prayers!
M

1st Nebulizer...Pulmozyme Video

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

The above video is of Lil' Chris doing his very first nebulizer treatment!! Not bad for being a 5 year old CFer!! Most CFers start within their first year it seems like! He still doesn't even seem like he needs it, but from what I've gathered, it will only help him in the long run.

His first inhaled med is called Pulmozyme. It's purpose is to thin the mucus. People with Cystic Fibrosis produce very thick, sticky mucus that clogs the lungs and other organs making it harder to breathe. Pulmozyme helps thin the mucus, then the Vest helps clear the mucus out. After his Pulmozyme this morning, we did his vest about 20 minutes after, and I tried to get him to cough after the Vest, but it didn't seem to do much. I guess I was expecting a wet sounding cough that would produce mucus, but it was just dry. Not sure if this is a good sign or not.

I have always been a little scared of nubulizers with Lil' Chris, b/c I know it's very important to keep them sterile. If we don't sterilize them properly, then bad bacterias could build up on it and that would NOT be good for Lil' Chris. We were told to do it right after each use, b/c otherwise the medicine will build up on it and it will be hard to scrub it off. We rinsed it with hot water, then put all the pieces in a bowl and microwaved them for 5 minutes right after his treatment. Then when done, we shook the excess water off and let them air dry on a paper towel. We can not rinse them off with tap water, b/c that would defeat the whole purpose. I've been told that we could use a baby bottle cleaner, so I may have to pick one of those up;-)

This is all a new experience for us, so any insight would be much appreciated!! :)

Lil' Chris is doing GREAT!! He doesn't cough that much, but when he does, it is dry so that is VERY good!! A couple of weeks ago, he was waking up in the morning with lots of build up in his nose, but once he would blow a few times, he was fine. He complained of a sore throat a couple of days, and it got me worried he was getting a cold, but I guess it was just allergies. Thank the Lord!!

Right now, he is living it up having a blast on his Summer vacation, esp the last 4 weeks with his cousins!! Adding the Pulmozyme now will help him get into a routine for when Kindergarten starts this Fall. We decided to start the Pulmozyme this week, b/c I have off work this week and thought it would be good for me to be there with him for the first week so he can get used to it.

On another note...after my vacation this week, I will be going back to work on Mon 7/9 as an Assistant Store Manager of the Wooster Kohl's!!! WOO HOO!! I've finally been promoted AND within the same store!! I can't wait to get started, but this relaxing week with my loves will be so nice:) Thank you so much to all who were praying for this promotion and for me to get to stay at the same location. It really means a lot to me to get to stay so close to Lil' Chris and my family. Family time is so precious to me...to any family with a family member with a terminal illness. I'm just so glad I have the BEST DM EVER to promote me within the same store!! That almost never happens! THANK YOU JASON!!! THANK YOU LORD FOR ANSWERING MY PRAYERS!!

Have a GREAT week, I know me and the kids will...and Daddy when he has off work;-) lol
M

Our Decision on Pulmozyme or HTS / CF Update

Hmmmm, I went to go blog today and it's all different!! They changed it on me! You should still see the same, but I think just the way to write on the blog is different now. Not sure if I like it, but I'll get used to it hopefully;-)


Anyway....Big news!!!!!

PULMOZYME IS IN THE HOUSE!!!!

 Shipped in this cooler/box on ice ice baby ;) lol

 The kids had lots of fun playing with the bubble wrap and dragging each other with the long one:) lol

These are REALLY loud when they step on them and pop them!!

So sad:'( I HATE that he's going to have to take this for the rest of his life, but if it helps him, it will all be well worth it!!! He will start this nebulized drug on May 16th which is his next CF clinic appt. Please pray he takes to it well and that it works for him, b/c if it doesn't then we'll have to try the Hypertonic Saline(HTS). Thru my research, I found both good and bad things about each Polmozyme and HTS. What it seemed to boil down to was that it just depends on the CFer. What might work great for one CFer might not work so well for another CFer. It was a Big decision to choose which one, but we are praying that we made the right decision and this Pulmozyme works miracles for him!

Below is the nubulizer machine. It's the MoblAire 150psi by Invacare, which I was told is the Best of the Best!! I don't have anything to compare it to since this is the first nebulizer Lil' Chris has had...so we'll take their word for it;-)

In other Big news.....Lil' Chris has reached over  

TWELVE HUNDRED HOURS

  on the Vest!!! And he mostly sits pretty good thru it, esp since we got the iPad2;) Thank You Kohl's!! :)
As for a CF Update on Lil' Chris...he is doing VERY well!! That last antibiotic finally kicked in and his cough went away!! PRAISE THE LORD!! Our 7 step treatment 3x a day plan worked!! YEA!! Thank you all soooo much for all your prayers! It's soooooo nice not hearing him have a wet cough anymore!! It's seems like it's been way too long since he has gone 100% without a wet cough! I am one happy momma...except Ayla has had a runny nose and a cough for the past week. I think it's just allergies, but I'm REALLY hoping and praying that Lil' Chris doesn't pick up her cough. I'm so glad that she has learned that it's important not to get Lil' Chris sick. She always makes sure she covers her mouth when she coughs, and she tells Lil' Chris when he wants to get close and play, "I don't want to get you siiiiiiiiick!" :)

Again, thanks for your continued prayers,
M

Cough is worse;( New Antibiotic / Fundraiser Results for the year!!

I had to call the CF clinic today to ask for some kind of antibiotic, b/c Lil' Chris was coughing his head off all day!!! Before he started preschool, we thought his cough was getting better, but it definitely turned for the worse!! They said his throat culture result was the same as usual, MSSA, but I wonder if they took a culture today if it would be something different. I just hope that this antibiotic kicks in quick and he gets rid of this nasty cough really soon!

They prescribed a different antibiotic this time. It's called Omnicef. He has never had this one before and so far he really likes the taste of it:) YEA!!! It's not all goopy like the Ceftin. It reminds me more of the Augmentin, but it doesn't need to be refrigerated. He takes 5ml every 24 hours, so it's kinda nice not having to do it 2 times a day too:)

Lil' Chris and Ayla have had some runny noses too, but I think it is just allergies, b/c mine have been acting up too. Plus, I have shared food with them and I haven't caught a cold or anything. This is probably where the cough came from. The CF nurse said to do his Vest 3-4 times a day and do Albuterol every 4 hours as needed for his cough. I have been doing some manual CPT on him off and on, and it seems to make him cough more which is good to help him clear the mucus...if only he would cough it up and spit it out!! It reminds me of the old days when we used to have to pound on him every morning and every night as a baby;(

On August 31st, I had another CF fundraiser at CiCi's Pizza. This was my 9th one this year and thanks to my awesome fellow employee's, Kohl's gave a grant of $500 each time!! They also gave $500 for our CF Great Strides Walk too!!! So that brings the total to $5,000 just from Kohl's!!!!! This was our goal and it is the most we've raised in only ONE year from Kohl's alone for Cystic Fibrosis for Lil' Chris and ALL CFers!! I'm so proud to work with such GREAT associates and for such a GREAT company that supports such GREAT causes!!! The Lord really knew what he was doing when he put me at Kohl's 8 years ago! Now if only they would promote me.....;-) LOL!!!!
BIG THANK YOU to my girls at Kohl's who helped me out with the last fundraiser...

Patty K

Barb

Esther

Donna

We raised a total of about $680 that night!! Overall this year, our total from doing these CiCi's Pizza fundraisers is over $6500!!!!! Woo Hoo!!!! BIG THANK YOU TO KOHL'S AND CICI'S PIZZA AND MY AWESOME KOHL'S ASSOCIATES!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!!

BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO WALKED & DONATED THIS YEAR & WHO HELPED RAISE MONEY FOR CF AND FOR LIL' CHRIS!!! Everything is not in yet, but our total should be around $9,000!!!! Last year we raised almost $7,000:)

Please pray Lil' Chris' cough goes away soon. I'll keep you posted,

M

Test Results / Cure to the Common Cold???

Here are the results from Lil' Chris' chest x-ray, blood work, and throat culture from last month and what the dr said about them...

-Chest x-ray came back normal. YEA!!! :)

- vitamin D level is normal- "this is great and hard to do in the winter" the dr. said :) I guess the Coromega Omega3+Vitamin D and the gummy Vitamin D's I have been giving him this winter really helped!! We are going to continue to give the kids these year round since the whole house went ALL WINTER WITH NO COLDS!!! Can you believe it??? This was a first!! My husband and I had a sore throat at one point, and I remember feeling sick one day, but completely fine the next, so I guess it was just allergies, but THAT WAS IT!! Have we found the CURE to the COMMON COLD??? My Dad was the one who told me about Vitamin D and I guess he was right!! Maybe it IS the cure to the common cold!!! "THANKS SO MUCH DAD!!! It's soooo important to keep Lil' Chris as healthy as possible and your knowledge on Vitamins has helped him soooo much over the last 3 1/2 years of his life!! Between all the Vitamins you gave me to take when I was pregnant with him, and all the Vitamins you suggest he take like the Omega 3 and Vitamin D and Vitamin C's, AND with the AWESOME air purifier you gave us, and your knowledge on how important exercise is to the lungs, and not to mention your awesome donations to the CFF....I honestly believe you have single handily helped save and extended my son's life!!! I will never be able to repay you!! All this combined is the greatest gift you could ever give me....a "healthy" Cystic Fibrosis son!! I LOVE YOU, DADDY!! YOU ARE THE BEST DAD IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD!!!!!"

- allergy testing: "Looking at his results, the only thing that probably causes a problem, or is high enough to consider abnormal, is cats or cat dander. I would still avoid broccoli (that lab is a special send-out) since after you have a reaction, the next reaction can be more severe."

- GGT- "this is a test of liver health, as are some other tests that were sent (AST, ALT). His GGT is mildly elevated(his GGT=50 and standard range is between 3 - 22), and something we will likely keep an eye on over time, but nothing to act upon right now." ;-( I'll definitely be asking about this at our annual visit!

-Throat culture- sensitive staph aureus like the last few times. YEA!! No big bad bacteria!!! Thank you Lord, b/c Nathan, my nephew, is coming in a couple of weeks and if Lil' Chris had a bad bacteria, then they wouldn't be able to be around each other since Nathan has Leukemia.

We will go over everything in detail at his annual visit next month, so I'll let you know more then. As for an update on Lil' Chris...he continues to do GREAT!!! He amazes me everyday when I look at him and think about how much worse it could be right now. I'm praying, praying, praying that a CURE will be found before he gets worse!! The donations have been rolling in, so that gives me HOPE:) Thank you to all who have donated so far!! It literally means the world to our family!! If you haven't donated yet, but would like to, click here to make a difference today!!

Thank you for all your prayers and keep them coming!! :)

M