My son is 4, diagnosed a little over a year ago, and he does not cough up anything with his treatments. While you don't notice anything being coughed up, the treatments are helping your daughter (if anything as a preventative measure). He started the vest when he was 3 - so we only did the clapping therapy for a couple of months before starting the vest.
I just want to say that my heart really goes out to you. I have read several of your posts and know that not only is your daughter newly diagnosed, but you have a new baby that is awaiting diagnosis. I was in a similar boat about a year ago (6 months pregnant with 2nd child when my 3yr old son was diagnosed). It sounds like you've done what we all have done - jumped in with both feet and met the challenge head on, scary as it may be. I have found this message board a wonderful source of information and a great place to vent, find, and give support. I would imagine that these baby years are the toughest for CF management, yet they are the most incredible and wonderful years in childhood. You have 2 children that are so young and close in age - even without CF in your life you would have a lot of stresses. As far as your marriage question (different post), the stress level will improve once you know your son's results. We waited 2 weeks for our daughter's (carrier only, no CF), and I felt like I was holding my breath the entire time, jumping everytime the phone rang, not speaking about it, but constantly thinking about it. Plus, I analyzed everything about my daughter trying to determine on my own whether or not she had CF (some days she did, some days she didn't). You have been waiting for 10 weeks - the strain you feel is unimaginably enormous! I pray that your son's test show that he is CF-free (a joyous, but bittersweet result). It does get so much easier as the child gets older (while we don't want to rush it because those beautiful baby years rush by too fast). Since my son was older at diagnosis, I only got a taste to the frustrations that parents of babies w/cf undergo. 2 months of desparately trying to get him to take enzymes mixed with ANYTHING - we were relieved when he found it easier to swallow the capsules whole. Also, since he was big enough (and because my nurse felt sorry for me being VERY pregnant and struggling with CPT) he started the vest (so we only did clapping for about 4 months). He also started wearing the mask on his own, so we didn't have to hold it in front of him forcing him to sit still. These are huge developmental milestones for a CF child, and it made all of our lives easier.
So to sum it up, keep asking questions. You can usually find just what you are looking for on this site. Please let us know when your son's test results come in.
Jena
4 yr old son with CF
1 yr old daughter no CF
