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Feature Story: Becky’s Story

July 19, 2010 by Lori Mitchell

The average person takes 21,600 breaths a day. Every, single one of Becky’s breaths, all 21,600 of them, is painful. And every one of those painful breaths is one less breath her ravaged lungs can take. But there is a way to help take her pain away.

When Becky was just an infant she was diagnose with Cystic Fibrosis, a fatal genetic disease that damages the lungs. Becky was not expected to survive beyond her teens. As recent as a decade ago only about 35% of the kids with CF reached 18 years of age. Today the numbers are increasing. Everyday past the age of the 18 is a gift, but the gift comes at a price. The price is daily pain and treatments. At 24 Becky is living on borrowed time, but cherishes every day she wakes up.

Becky has tried to live as normal a life as possible. She was excited in her sophomore year of high school when Jason asked her out. He has been her constant companion and moral support ever since. One time when Becky went on vacation in the Pacific Northwest with her family she got very sick. She was rushed to the hospital and had to have an ovary removed. Beside himself with worry and unable to get to her, Jason mailed a stuffed cow to give Becky Buy Ampicillin Online moral support while he was unable to be at her side. Moo has been a constant companion since she received him, and still makes every trip to the hospital with his charge.

After high school Jason got into the University of Pacific prestigious pre-pharmacy school. Jason is incredibly talented and had a bright future planned as a pharmacist. But Becky, who lived in Sacramento with her family, kept getting sicker and sicker. Jason started skipping more and, more classes and spending more and more time at the hospital at Becky’s side.

Jason’s professors worked with him, giving him extensions and allowing him to make up tests, but it eventually got too much for Jason to be away from Becky. He made the selfless decision to give up his lifelong dream and his opportunity for a superior education to return to Sacramento to Becky. Jason transferred to California State University Sacramento where he majored in Conservation Biology.

Jason and Becky want to get married but are unable to because she has to keep her health insurance in order to maintain coverage of her pre existing medical condition.

Becky’s life has settled into a comfortable pattern now. Because CF is a degenerative disease, every single day she is just a little sicker than she was the day before. Though Becky battles this terrible disease she works full time as an assistant manager for Bel Air grocery stores. Becky goes to work most days at 4 AM, then comes home to her daily 4 hours treatment, and then goes to bed to start the routine over the next day.

Four hours a day, every day of Becky’s life is spent in a vest that works using air pockets that shakes some of the mucous that has cemented in her lungs loose, but it’s just not enough. Becky is spending more and more time in hospitals these days, at least once a month. She has had a plethora of intestinal surgeries and has unfortunately contracted MRSA during one of her stays.

They are just playing a waiting game with getting her new lungs. She can’t go on the transplant list too early because every day with these lungs is another day added to her life. New lungs will just be a stop gap, because this disease will eventually destroy them too. According to the CF website, a lung transplant could add five additional years to her life.

But there is something that can give Becky a better quality of life for now. It is a machine called The Frequencer. The Frequencer would help clear the mucous build up in her lungs and allow her to take relatively pain free breaths. However, the Frequencer is expensive, and Becky’s insurance won’t pay for it, because they consider her current treatment to be a reasonable alternative even though it is clearly inferior. cialis reactions It is possible that the Frequencer could add years to Becky’s life.

The machine costs $20,000. Jason tried to take a second mortgage out on their house to but it for her, but he wasn’t able to.

Through it all Becky’s friends have never heard her complain and in fact, Becky always takes the time to inquire about their health issues.

Becky just continues to take one day at a time and treat each day as a gift. She dreams of a day when she can go camping with Jason and their friends, but mostly she dreams about taking just one pain free breath.