I have 2 children with CF. My sister in law just found out she is a carrier of the CF gene after she went through some genetic testing for infertility reasons. She has a 9 yr old son who has had bronchitis every winter but he is growing normally, in fact hes tall and stocky. She thinks he might have CF and is going to have him sweat tested next week. What if its positive does that mean my girls cant be around their cousin anymore? Please pray he doesnt have CF, she is very worried. We all are! Thank you.
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Question about CF
- Thread starter anonymous
- Start date
Hopefully he won't have CF, and if I were a betting person- based on the info you've given- he probably doesn't have it. Bronchitis is well... bronchitis. Big difference between that and CF. The fact that he's growing normally works in your favor (though obviously not the only factor regarding CF diagnosis). Wait until the results come in, then ask your CF doctor about whether or not all of them can still hang out together... Does the boy exhibit any other possible symptoms of CF? Is he diabetic? Frequently suffer respiratory infections? Is his skin unusually salty tasting? Do his hands and feet get all shrivelled up when bathing (quicker than his parents or other children)? Any clubbing of the fingers or tows? Of course you know all of these questions as you stated you have two kids with CF... Good luck and God bless..
From the sound of it, your nephew doesn't exhibit the "classic" CF symptoms, but not everyone does. If your nephew tests positive for CF and if the cousins are around eachother a lot already, they probably already have the same bugs. If he tests positive, make sure he isn't culturing something your children don't already have, and vice versa. If they are all culturing the same stuff then I would think that they can play together unless one of them is coming down with something. They could also wear masks around eachother and follow the 3 ft. rule. Hope this helped.Andrea
I can relate a little to your worries and situation. I have a five-year-old son (Sean) who has CF. Around Christmas time, we thought our nephew might have CF, as well. It is a long story (but happily it had a happy ending - they ultimately decided that he was only a carrier of CF with a severe milk alergy). However, during that time, one of our worries was what to do with the two boys. I actually asked around on a different web site about other's opinions. I heard many stories about cousins and siblings with CF who all played on a daily basis with each other. Ultimately, we decided that it would do more harm to keep the two cousins apart and we decided to use a lot of common sense and caution with the two when they were together. We decided that we wouldn't get together if either of the boys were sick or could "cross-contaminate" each other and that we would be careful about shared toys, etc. Because of their ages (5 months and 4) at the time, we didn't see masks as a solution. We also knew that we wouldn't be able to effectively enforce the arms-length rule. We decided that we would be careful about germs - we used lots of lysol and hand washing during that Christmas visit.I hope you also have a "happy ending" and that your nephew is healthy and you do not have to worry about this issue. However, if he does end of having CF, I think it is a decision that needs to be made between you, your husband, your sister-in-law, and your brother-in-law. This is something that all involved parties need to be comfortable with. I hope this helps. I wish you and your family lots of luck. Please let us know how his sweat test turns out. Katrina (mother of 3 - Sean (5) w/cf, Carolyn (3) w/o cf, and Allison (1) w/o cf
Hello,My son was always a bronchotis sufferer every winter. My son was always the highest percentile on his physcials for height and most definitely for weight. In the first grade he had his tonsils out and adnoids out as well as tubes put in his ears from having so many throat infections. He was just recently diagnosed at 15, three years ago with CF, after my daughter had gotten very ill and was diagnosed with it. My son has a 105% lung capacity, but does have lots of sinus issues. CF is as different as every human beings finger print is. It is best to discuss with your children's doctors about keeping the your kids and the cousins appart. If you nephew does test positive for CF....please remember he has had the disease since birth.....and has been around your kids for that length of time.