Overcoming Difficult Times

                              Overcoming Difficult Times
My name is Javier Junior, I am 14 years old, and I want to share with you lovely people, a story about my dad Javier and his illness, Cystic Fibrosis. Many of you guys really don’t know what Cystic Fibrosis is or are aware of the drastic affects it can have in a person’s life. Cystic Fibrosis is a hereditary disorder affecting the exocrine glands. It causes the production of abnormally thick mucus, leading to the blockage of the pancreatic ducts, intestines, and bronchi and often resulting in respiratory infection.

 

I have a loving father that has had this disease for his whole life for about 49 years. Let me tell you a little more about my dad and his life. My dad was born on August 23, 1965 in a little town called “Las Jicamas” in Guanajuato, Mexico. My dad is the youngest of his siblings, three sisters and one brother. My dad had a younger sister Lilia that suffered from the same illness, but unfortunately she died at the age of three and a half. When this happened, all the children had to be screened for this disease, and my dad tested positive for CF. He was diagnosed at 8 years old and he has been getting worse as the years have gone by. My dad has been using a lot of medicine since, and has had to visit the hospital every 2-3 months. He has also been hospitalized every once or twice a year because of infections.

 

My dad is a great mechanic, but unfortunately his illness has made his body very weak, causing him to give up his job. My mom, Maria also needed to stop working because she needed to take care of my dad; she helped my dad with everything. For example, she gave him his medicine and helped him walk around the house.

 

 My dad, my mom, my twin sister Cecilia and I have been taking care of my dad. We help him with his wheel chair around the block of our neighborhood. Our family hasn’t been able to go on many family vacations because we needed to stay here at home taking care of my dad.

 

I am on a soccer team and in every game, I see other dads playing with their children, having fun and running around. I haven’t really been able to enjoy that feeling because my dad’s disease doesn’t enable him to walk as much as other people. The disease was practically taking over my dad’s body.

 

On April 9, 2015 my dad received a call from his doctors at Stanford, CA. The doctors immediately transferred my dad to the hospital in Stanford, CA for a lung transplant.

 

It has been 17 days since my dad got his new lungs, and he has been doing very well, but there are certain days where he needs assistance from his doctors because he is receiving side effects from all the medicine he has been given.

 

Our family is very happy that we are finally going to be able to enjoy having fun with my dad when he is able to leave the hospital. For the next year, we will experience financial hardships due to my dad’s recovery and won’t be able to work for more than a year. My mom will also be taking care of my dad’s recovery. Please help me and my family in this hard time, god bless you all.