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Birth Date Gender Ancestors Alpha type Alpha gene Diagnosed Treatment Siblings Children Grandchildren Great Grandchildren
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Pat a.k.a. Patti I live in Wisconsin. I was a Customer Service Rep. My favorite color is Red. I enjoy crocheting, reading, & games.
9/2/03 Hi, I would like to share my story. I was diagnosed with Alpha 1 in July of 1999. I had quit smoking in 1997 thinking that I would feel better and breathe better. Not the case. My breathing had gotten worse and I couldn't figure out why. Finally I went to the dr. my regular gp. He took all kinds of tests that came back ok. I still was so tired and still out of breath. Finally he said that there was one more test he wanted me to take, a simple blood test to test me for this unknown disease that I was about to learn about. Needless to say the blood test came back positive. Meaning that I had Alpha 1 Antitrypsin. Never heard of this before. He didn't know to much about it either, as he was not a specialist. I went to the library to find out more about this unknown. Needless to say that this was a very serious thing. I learned alot more about this awful disease from the internet. What a blessing that was. I finally could understand what I had, even though I couldn't do a darn thing about it. This is a inherited disease from our parents. I received 2 abnormal genes from my parents. Knowing this I had our 3 grown daughters tested also. What a relief that they do not have this. One is a carrier, which is MZ so she could pass this on to her son. He will also be getting tested. My sister also quit smoking as she was also breathless, and she was tested and found to have Alpha in August of 2000. She also had a bulla on her lung, (which for some who may not know what that is) a balloon filled with dead air that can't escape. The size of this bulla was quite large and took up alot of space, that sometimes her breathing was labored. To make a long story short she did have surgery on her lung March 14,2001 and they took out the bulla which was 5 1/2 in. in diameter. It has been a little over 3 weeks and she seems to be healing. She will not get better day by day but week by week. So far she is doing good on her medication, some pretty strong stuff I must say. I will try to keep you undated on her condition and mine also. In addition, all three of our daughters were tested and they all are MZ. We became great-grandparents of a little girl (Savannya) in Feb.2003. We are also going to be grandparents of a little boy (Colton) in January 2004. Our oldest daughter will become a Mommie again. That will make 6 grandchildren and we now have 3 greats. Oh life is so wonderful and beautiful. Take Care and God Bless. Pat |
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