Parents - Any advice Please

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anonymous

New member
Hello. Last Friday, after multiple trips to the doctor due to my nephew's asthma, his doctor concluded that he may have CF and we are going in Monday morning for a sweat test. What exactly does this involve? My nephew just turned one in October. Also, what symptoms should I be looking for? This has terrified me and I feel as though Monday is never going to get here.
I admire you all for going through what you do everyday. Any advice will help.
Thank you in advance,
Summer
Albemarle, NC
 
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anonymous

New member
Hi Summer,
Its great you are so resourceful to find this website!!!! The sweat chloride test is heat activated to induce sweat, then the percentage(value) of sweat is measured, and it is that simple. The worry will be the wait. Our son was a 98 on the value test (same as the percentage type) and that is quite high. Sam was diagnosed at two years old but never had Asthma issues at all, his issues were bulky smelly stools and colds that developed into pnemonia easy.
Hope this comforts you or at least answers some questions.
 
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anonymous

New member
the test is not bad. they just wrap the arm and make it sweat. on the arms the place little strips of paper, they weight the paper before the test. they sweat them on the arm and then they weight them again for their salt content. But there are other things that test positive for a positive sweat test.
Like Celiac Sprue and other things, you need to ask the doctor what all does test positve to the sweat test. It is just not cf. It is just that if they get a positive sweat from your child then they draw blood and look for the gene. To see if it is cf or not. If you want to e-mail me Kita@blomand.net I will be glad to talk to you
 
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anonymous

New member
to the last poster you confused the heck out of me<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif" border="0">
 
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anonymous

New member
They can also do genetic testing on him to confirm a CF diagnosis if the sweat test is positive, but you want a "for sure". It involves a blood draw and a few weeks of waiting for results.

Julie
 
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allie1

New member
I see you are from Albemarle.......where will you be having the sweat test done? We live in Durham and my daughter had hers done at Duke and at UNC. Hopefully, you will be having it done at a CF clinic versus a regular hospital. Let me know if you have any questions about these facilities. We had very different experiences at each place. Good luck.

Amy
 
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anonymous

New member
Some symptoms would be loose, foul smelling stools, frequent colds, salty tasting skin, & failure to gain weight. I can't think of any others now....must be too early in the a.m.<img src="i/expressions/clock.gif" border="0">
 
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