It was a call I didn’t understand.
It was a call I wish I could ignore.
It was a call that NO Mother is prepared for.
It was the call that told me Ella had tested positive for Cystic Fibrosis (CF). I tried my best to listen while the nurse briefly explained the disease that I knew absolutely nothing about. I wanted answers, but I didn’t want to hear what she was saying.
One minute I’m trying to process this phone call, and in the next I’m hearing the nurse relate words like “CHOC” and “tests” and “specialists” and “life expectancy” to my daughter. Um, what? [Insert Momentary Breakdown]
Fast forward about six weeks (a very long six weeks), and today I am happy to report that we are staying positive. Tests have shown that Ella has genetic mutations on both CF genes, but currently shows no signs of the disease. We have learned that Ella has one common mutation, and another not so common-- In fact, only one other person in the world has the same two mutations. Told you, my daughter is special!
What does this mean? Well, it means that we still have a lot of unanswered questions, BUT it also means that we are going to remain hopeful in that Ella will stay healthy. CHOC will be monitoring her progress over the next few months, and then annually as she grows.
This has been a lot for us to process and over the last few weeks Ryan and I have stayed pretty silent. Please know that we truly appreciate the support that we have received. We are beyond grateful to those who have been praying and continue to pray. So many prayers have already been answered and through all of this we are still feeling blessed. We know that God is holding Ella's hand (actually, all of ours) to guide us through this.
