Evelyn Ventimiglia

This is my beautiful niece Cecilia. She was diagnosed at 6 weeks old with Cystic Fibrosis. Her twin brother Thomas is a carrier and her older sister Fiona does not carry the CF gene.

Cecilia's body can't hold on to salt. This creates a really thick concrete like mucous in her lungs and digestive system. Her pancreas doesn't create any enzymes that help her store fat. Ever since she was 2 months old she has had to take pills to help her digest food and store fat and fatty soluble vitamins every time she eats. This mucous can also make it difficult to breathe. She does several different breathing treatments and wears a percussion vest every single day sometimes even up to 4 times a day. Cecilia also takes a modulator therapy that helps correct her ability to hold on to salt. This is just the tip of the iceberg for her daily meds.

All that being said Ceci is doing great!! She is a happy, loving, dynamic (dramatic) toddler. Her meds is what gives her a great life. There's no cure to CF but with treatment we are now achieving normal life expectancy in some cases. I am thankful that my niece will have a normal life expectancy with treatment. But there's always room for improvement. There are different statins of CF that don't quite work as well for other kiddos as it does for Cecilia. So research is key. With research we will find a cure!

So join Cecilia's team, walk with us, donate to the cause, share the link, or just like it for support. I'll post the team link in the comments.

Please support me!