How it all began and the start of the Blog

June 27, 2012 is a day we will never forgot. This was the day it was confirmed Faith had Cystic Fibrosis. I still remember sitting in the Doctors office looking at Brandon confused and not understanding what this meant for our lives or Faith. Let me back up a bit and explain how we got to this day.
    Shortly after we brought Faith home from the Hospital we had our first Doctors Appointment with our family Doctor. We took her in for a normal check up and everything was great. It was towards the end of the appointment when we were told Faith had a newborn screening test done for Cystic Fibrosis and her results had come back high. It was not a guarantee she had Cystic Fibrosis, but more testing was needed. The next day we received a call from Lori one of the nurses from the Alberta Children's Hospital Cystic Fibrosis Clinic. She was calling to set up an appointment to bring Faith in and have a sweat test to confirm diagnosis. On the day of the appointment we went the hospital with no real thoughts one way or another. We went to the lab and had a sweat test done. The sweat test measures the concentration of chloride that is excreted in sweat. Normally, sweat on the skin surface contains very little sodium and chloride. People with Cystic Fibrosis have 2 to 5 times the normal amount of sodium and chloride in their sweat. During the sweat test, medicine that causes a person to sweat is applied to the skin (usually on the arm). The sweat is then collected on a paper or gauze pad and then taken to the lab to be measured. The test takes a total of about 20 mins. After the test we went over to the CF Clinic to meet with the Doctor and wait for the results. Dr. DiBartolo came into the room and introduced herself. She sat down with us and explained what Cystic Fibrosis was and what this would mean for Faith if the diagnosis was confirmed. Shortly after Lori the nurse came in with the results from the sweat test and it was confirmed that Faith did indeed have Cystic Fibrosis. We sat there in silence in the room just staring at one another with emotions running wild through our head. We were about to embark on a life long journey with our daughter with a disease we had never heard of before. We have started this blog and dedicate it to Faith. It is our goal to keep everyone up to date on Faith's journey as well as educate as many people as possible. We may not have all the answers but together we can work towards a cure!!