Princess Margaret Hospital
Jayde’s Battle
Six-year-old Jayde is in her first year at pre-primary and loving it.
But trying to stay well enough to go school is a constant battle.
Jayde has spent her life coping with the devastating effects of cystic fibrosis, the most common life-threatening, recessive genetic condition in Australian Children.
Like all CF sufferers, Jayde’s body produces an abnormal amount of thick and sticky mucus that is very hard to move and causes blockages. As a result, Jayde has to endure breathing difficulties, a persistent cough and lethargy.
Repeated infections can also lead to serious complications and irreversible lung damage. Dorn July 2000, Jadye condition was picked up by the newborn screening program introduced just weeks before her birth.
This early detection meant she was able to receive treatment immediately, and was even started on a physiotherapy program at just two weeks old.
"When Jayde was first diagnosed I was devastated. Now it's a part of our lives and we take each day as it comes," Jayde’s mum Maria Tana said.
For Jayde and her family, living with the symptoms of CF is a constant challenge and demands a strict routine of intensive daily physiotherapy, regular visits to PMH, a special high calorie diet and up to 30 tablets each day. "To look at her you'd never know anything was wrong. But she has a constant cough and we have to be really careful that she doesn't catch any infections or colds," Maria said.
CF is a life shortening condition and, in the past, most children did not survive childhood.
However today, with improved treatment and a lot of hard work, most people with CF are living into adulthood and leading productive lives.
