Eli

Well, I haven't blogged in awhile, and since my last, Tori has had four teeth pulled, the Charlotte's Web performances have come and gone (very successfully! I'm so proud of my students!), and Tori and I are on Spring Break! Yay! But, I'm blogging today for my nephew, Eli. I wrote the following article for our local papers, and I wanted to post it here, too...

Team Eli Murray Fights for Cure

My Testimony:
Three and a half years ago, God blessed our family with my nephew, Eli. My sister, Candace, had had a healthy, uneventful pregnancy except for one slightly abnormal ultrasound showing a possible abdominal obstruction. But the doctor was not worried and told her and Bill, my brother-in-law, that when Eli was born, they would do another ultrasound on his belly to make sure everything was okay.

So Eli was born. He came 9 days early weighing 6+ pounds and appeared completely healthy. Eli did have heavy meconium (when the baby has bowel movements in its amniotic fluid), and the doctor had to immediately suction him to make sure he hadn’t ingested any of that fluid, but all else was fine. When Candace and Bill asked about the ultrasound, the pediatrician who first evaluated Eli said it was unnecessary and that they had a healthy little boy. So home they went.

But something was not right. I think we all knew and suspected that Eli had something wrong, but no one really talked about it. Speaking those fears out loud was too scary. But Eli was not gaining weight, and he was becoming almost unresponsive, sleeping all the time. Candace is an RN, and she started researching. Her research led her to suspect Cystic Fibrosis. I then did some research, too, and found out that people with CF taste salty. The next time I saw Eli, I snuck a taste, and there was no doubt.

At two months of age, Eli’s little body looked like the pictures we see of malnutritioned children in third-world countries--his arms and legs looked completely emaciated, and his belly looked swollen. At his two-month check-up, he was sent for testing and we could no longer not talk about our fears. Eli had CF.

So what is cystic fibrosis?
Cystic fibrosis is a life-threatening disease that causes mucus to build up and clog some of the organs in the body, particularly in the lungs and pancreas. This makes breathing difficult, and the thick mucus also causes bacteria to get stuck in the airways, which causes infections that lead to lung damage. The mucus also stops digestive enzymes from getting to the intestines. The body needs these enzymes to break down food, so people with CF become malnutritioned.

How do people get cystic fibrosis?
Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disease. To have cystic fibrosis, a person must inherit two copies of the defective CF gene—one copy from each parent. If both parents are carriers of the CF gene their child will have a 25% chance of inheriting both defective copies and having cystic fibrosis.

Who gets cystic fibrosis?
Approximately 30,000 people in the United States have cystic fibrosis. One in every 31 Americans are carriers of the defective CF gene.

Is cystic fibrosis fatal?
Currently, there is no cure for cystic fibrosis. The average lifespan of a person with CF is 30-40 years.

Eli needs your help!
“Great Strides” is the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s yearly fundraiser to raise money for research to find a cure. Here’s how you can help!

• Donate online at www.cff.org/great_strides/candacemurray


• Donations can be made at Simmons Bank in Charleston or Ozark.


• Donations can be made at County Line Schools.


• An Easter Bunny picture session will be held at Vesta Methodist Church on April 4th starting at 9 am. Pictures are $2.50 per child. Breakfast and an egg hunt are also included in the price. All proceeds will go to the fundraiser.