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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1981-04-22, Page 17Leggatt byres bear e for bucks BY JOANNE BUCHANAN Every year for the past three years, the Grade 8 students at Robertson Memorial Public School have written, acted in,• directed and produced a short movie. This year, Grade 8 teacher Al Leggatt came up with a unique idea for raising money to buy film for that movie. He decided to bare his beard and let students Lee Philipson, a Grade 7 student at Robertson School, shaves off his half of teacher Al Leg- gatt's beard. The beard shaving was a fund-raising gimmick to buy film for the Grade 8 ` class' annual movie -making venture. (Photo by Joanne Buchanan) May is. CF month have a crack at shaving it off—for a slight fee mind you. Each student vi*ho wanted to witness the procedure in the school gymna was charg- ed 25 cents admission. Each student who wanted to have a chance to take part in the procedure, was charged an additional 25 cents. Two names were then drawn 'and Grade 8 student Shelly , Fisher and Grade 7 stu- dent Lee Philipson became the lucky ( ? ) barbers of the hour. Not that Mr. Leggatt was nervous but he decided to shave the strips between his mustache and beard and the strips between his sideburns and beard self. He wanted to make sure his rnustactee and sideburns got left on. you see. After that, the students took over with Shelly shaving one side of the face first and Lee shaving the other amidst cheers and laughter from the audience. When it was all over, Mr. Leggatt shrug- ged nochalantly with his bare face exposed to the crowd. "It ( the beard) . was coming off for the summer anyway," he said. • toderich SIGN1AL -STAR 133 YEAR --16 THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 1981 SECOND SECTION f Help a child like Robbie BY JOANNE BUCHANAN When Robbie Wade of Goderich was ad- rmitted to Sick Children's Hospital in Toronto for tests at 11/2 years of age, he weighed oply 18 pounds. "I was afraid he was going to die," says his mother Karen. Robbie, now an extremelyactive six : year old, was diagnosed as having cystic fibrosis (CF), the most common life- threatening -hereditary disease of children. Born in the United States, Robbie seem- ed a fairly healthy baby except for the fact that he had constant diarrhea. The Wades' American doctor said it was probably an allergy to baby formula. When Robbie was 10 months old, the family moved to Stratford (they moved to Goderich a year and a half ago). Robbie developed pneumonia and was two months getting over it. "It seemed all downhill from there," says Mrs. Wade. "The doctor told me it was probably food allergies and said the worst it could be was cystic fibrosis. He ex- plained to me a bit about the disease." To determine if Robbie did have CF, ,he was sent to Sick Children's Hospital for a "sweat test". Analysis for an abnormally high salt content in an individual's sweat, coupled with other symptoms, aids in the detection of CF. After a week of tests, it was discovered that Robbie did indeed have CF. Mrs. Wade says she was afraid for him, afraid for the other baby she was carrying by this time and afraid that she herself would not be able to cope. Her husband, Kevin, simp- ly didn't believe the diagnosis. It was too much of a shock. Robbie spent a second week in the hospital getting used to the medication and the medical equipment he would have to use and Mrs. Wade spent three days there herself on an orientation program. She was shown how to administer drugs to Robbie and how to use the equipment he would need. At last, the Wades were able to take Rob- bie home. At the end of six weeks, he went back into hospital for a check-up. He had gained five pounds during those six weeks with the aid of his new medication and Mrs. Wade says, "It's been uphill ever since." In fact, she continues, Robbie is so healthy now that he almost doesn't seem to fit in with the other CF' patients at Sick Children's Hospital when he goes ° for check-ups every 14 weeks. CF affects the body's exocrine glands- those secreting tears, sweat, saliva and mucus. It involves both the respiratory and digestive systems and can lead to serious complications. . Approximately one in every 1800 children born in Canada has CF. It occurs when a child inherits two genes for the con- dition, one from each parent. It cannot be detected in an unborn child and is not usually detected at birth. ince its symp- toms usually mimic the signs of other lung and digestive disorders, it is usually. misdiagnosed -as allergies in Robbie's case. "It is a disease that ,can be disguised in many ways," explains Mrs. Wade. The hereditary aspect of the disease baf- fles her. Her grandmother, her parents and her husband's parents are all living and have no recollection of anyone on either side of the family having CF. However, her grandmother says years ago someone in the family could have died from pneumonia which was really the result of CF. The disease wasn't recogniz- ed until 1938 and even then it usually wasn't diagnosed until an autopsy was per- formed. Many infants died as a result of malnutrition, dehydration, pneumonia or a combination of these without their parents ever knowing they had CF. Mrs. Wade said she and her husband had no way of knowing that they were carriers of CF genes. And although their other two children, KealL 8 and Cathy, 4 do not have CF, there is no test at present which can determine if they are carriers. It is estimated that one in every 20 persons in Canada is a carrier. Mrs. Wade is pleased that Robbie's disease was diagnosed early so he could be treated early.. CF is treated with therapy .programs, which usually take place in the home. There is aft aerosol mask treatment for in- haling antibiotics to ward 'off lung infec- tions. Robbie. used to have three of these mask treatments per day but since he has started school, he is down to two, one in the morning and one after supper. He must wear the mask for 10 to 12 minutes each time in order to inhale all the antibiotics. "He is really good about the masks. It's all he's ever known. While he.has the mask on, we have a story time or he colors or builds with Leggo. The cord on the com- pressor is pretty long so he can move around with the mask on and he can watch t.v. with it on. The purr of the motor is not very distracting," Mrs. Wade explains. She admits too, however, that Robbie does get impatient with the mask sometimes. "When other kids come to the door and want him to go outside and play, he gets impatient to finish with the mask. You just have to use psychology to distract him. I usually grab a book to read to him when he gets wound up. We belong to the library and have hundreds of books of our own. His sisters are good to him too. They fight like all kids but when Robbie has his mask on, they usually play with him." Following the Mask, Robbie has to have about 10 minutes of postural drainage to loosen the mucus in his lungs so it may be coughed up. An electric percussor to pound the chest and back is used. "When he was little we just used our hands to clap his chest and back," says Mrs. Wade. She now uses the percussor for five minutes on Robbie's back and five minutes on his chest after each mask to make .sure she gets the lower, middle and upper parts of the lungs. 1,1 CF, she explains, is sort of a two -fold disease and Robbie seems to have more problems with his digestive system (bowells) than with his respiratory system (lungs). "In fact," she says; "he rarely even gets a head cold." Still the mask must be used as a precau tion. And common sense must prevail. Mrs. Wade tries to keep Robbie away from people with colds although she realizes that he will be exposed to them in school. The other part of Robbie's therapy priV gram involves medication. Children with CF may take more than 50 pills and cap- , sales daily. Robbie takes 30 cotazymes per day or ten per meal (he used to take 20 per meal) . This aids digestion. He also takes Vitamin E at each meal and a Vitamin K tablet at • breakfast. And he takes two teaspoons of an antibiotic called polyvisol four times a day to deter infection and disease. If he has a snack during the day, he must take extra cotazyrnes (basically, the cotazymes are prescribed as one per tablespoon of food or ounce of liquid) . "If someone brings a .treat to share at school or if one of the neighbourhood mothers is giving out cookies to the children, I don't want Robbie left out. Psychologically that hurts him. I tell peo- ple that they are not going to kill him by giving him food," explains Mrs. Wade. She says that Robbie knows enough to tell her what extras he has eaten during the day and she can then adjust his medication accordingly. Some foods—such as popsicles, hard candy, juices, oranges and apples—do not require extra medica- tion.. They are called `free foods'. Robbie, who is a kindergarten student at St. Mary's Separate School, has taken his lunch to -the school on two occassions. He had to get a special letter of permission to take his medication with him into the school and that letter is now on file there. Because some of his capsules are too big for him to swallow, he opens them up and dumps the powder from them into a con- tainer of apple sauce which he then eats. He got quite a few stares from the other students at school when he did this but he didn't mind. When Robbie is taken to Sick Children's Hospital every 14 weeks for cheek -ups, the Wades bring home enough medication to last the next 14 weeks from, the hospital pharmacy. The hospital also has a 24-hour phone Service for emergencies. During his check-ups, Robbie has to' have chest x-rays, • blood tests and urinalysis. He is . also weighed and measured. He has to have a painful treat- ment called auger suction as well. This in- volves putting a tube into the lungs and Mrs. Wade says it breaks her heart to see Robbie go through it. "It usually takes three people to hold him down and gets all bruised and blotch- ed. He can't relax and gets very rigid," she says. Other than this, however, she says he doesn't mind the hospital. It is geared for children and the staff is excellent. They usually give Robbie '\treats after a check- up. Because of the check-ups, Robbie is not as trusting of strangers as other children might be. He sticks close to home and his mother. "During the pre-school check-up, he wasn't sure what was going on and he had to stay on my knee the whole time. But as he gets older, he understands more. And Turn to page 3A • Robbie Wade, who has cystic fibrosis, takes 10 cotazyme capsules per meal to aid his diges- tion plus vitamin pills and antibiotics. If he eats an afternoon snack as he is doing here. he must take extra medication. (Photo by Joanne Buchanan) Robbie's mother Karen uses a pereussor on him twice a day after his aerosol mask treatments. The percussor is for postural drainage, to loosen mucus so it may be coughed up. Cystic fibrosis attacks both the respiratory and digestive systems. (Photo by Joanne Buchanan) 1 Robbie wears an aerosol mask for 10-12 minutes twice a day to inhale antihiotirs to vv:ard 14t lung infection. He can move around with the mask on and uses this lime to Ciller, rr;ui. watch t.%. or play. I Photo by Joanne Buchanan i