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I am married to Dennis, aka "Bubba" and have 2 children, Jacob 7 and Hannah Grace 3. I am a stay-at-home mom. I volunteer with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and with the Mother's Club @ Jacob's school. Hannah Grace has cystic fibrosis. We found out when she was 7 mos old. For more info or to volunteer, please go to www.cff.org.
Photo Collage by Dundoo - MySpace Editor..
Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com..!Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disease affecting approximately 30,000 children and adults in the United States. A defective gene causes the body to produce abnormally thick, sticky mucus that clogs the lungs and leads to life-threatening lung infections. These thick secretions also obstruct the pancreas, preventing digestive enzymes from reaching the intestines to help break down and absorb food. More than 10 million Americans are unknowning, symptomless carriers of the defective Cf gene. An individual must inhereit two defective CF genes--one 25 percent chance that their child will have CF; 50 percent chance that the child will be a carrier of the CF gene; and 25 percent chance that the child will be a non-carrier. CF occurs in approximately one of every 3,200 live Caucasian births (in one of every 3,000 live births of all Americans). About 1,000 new cases of CF are diagnosed each year. More than 80 percent of patients are diagnosed by age 3; however, nearly 10 percent of newly diagnosed cases are 18 or older. People with CF have a variety of symptoms including: very salty-tasting skin; persistent coughing, at times with phlegm; wheezing or shortness of breath; an excessive appetite with poor weight gain; and greasy, bulky stools. Symptoms vary from person to persondue, in part, to the more than 1,000 mutationsof the CF gene. Cystic Fibrosis is caused by a defective gene that codes for a protein responsible for salt (sodium chloride) transport in the body's exocrine glands. CF causes different glands in the body to be defective, including the bronchial glands, pancreas, sweat glands, and glands of the digestive system. A cystic fibrosis patient may have any or all of the following symtoms: *Recurrent chest infections with a cough and difficulty breathing *Diarrhea *Greasy, foul-smelling stools *Swollen abdomen and wasted limbs *Clubbing of the fingers and toes *Salty skin. Cystic Fibrosis affects about 30,000 people in the US, 20,000 Europeans, and 3,000 Canadians Approximately 12 million people are carriers in the US 1 in 22 Caucasians are Cystic Fibrosis carriers About 2,500 babies will be born with Cystic Fibrosis this year. Cystic FIbrosis affects 1 in every 1,600 births in Caucasians, 1 in every 13,000 births in African Americans, and 1 in every 50.000 births in Asian Americans.
"A woman has strengths that amaze me, she can handle trouble and carry heavy burdens, she holds happiness, love and opinions. She smiles when she feels like screaming. She sings when she feels like crying. Cries when she's happy, and laughs when she's afraid, her love is unconditional, there's only one thing wrong with her and that is that sometimes she forgets what she is worth."
