The Big 3

Have you gotten over to our Great Strides Site yet? If not, I hope you'll plan to visit very very soon and sign up to walk with the TOPEL TRIO this year or maybe raise some money for the cause, or even make your own donation.

A friend from high school facebook messaged me this past weekend after seeing a Grey's episode with two CF patients in a relationship. She said, "I heard that people who have CF are not supposed to get within 3 feet of each other, is that true? If it is true, how does that affect your kids?"

My response: Yes it is true :( Because of cross-contamination. Obviously in our house it's a rule that kind of goes out the window for practicality sake. We're even not suppose to do treatments in the same room (but again, practically speaking it's not feasible). Every time they go to clinic they have to wear a mask when they are in the elevator or main areas. We meet with kiddos with CF on occasion, but as a good rule of thumb we only do it if they are healthy and not culturing any funky bacterias that could be passed to someone else.

Back in the day (like the 90s when you and I were in grade school) they had camps for CF kids but soon realized that it was not a good idea to breed all the nasty bacteria together. More dangerous strains of bacterias have also resulted from cross contamination. And again it def. depends on the person. Some people are more comfortable than others and I for one truly believe it is beneficial for our kids to meet others with CF so they don't feel so isolated, but it def. has to out weigh the risks. I do know that the internet has been an unbelievable way for adult with CF to connect with one another. This spring we met a pair of twins with CF and one of them had a lung transplant a few years ago but because she needed to be so concerned with germs and sickness she could not shake hands with anyone there. Also when our clinic puts on education days CF patients are not allowed to attend. People with CF can go to the walks but they cannot have a culture of a really long bacteria that I can hardly pronounce (it's basically bad because it is resistant to almost all types of antibiotics).