A young woman suffering from cystic fibrosis has shared how a 'miracle drug' has helped her start a family. Cystic fibrosis is a condition which causes sticky mucus to build up in the lungs and digestive system. This causes lung infections and problems with digesting food.
Eventually, without proper management, patients face a significantly shortened life expectancy and many also require lung transplants as there is no cure for the illness. Gillian Docherty, 36, said she felt was living on borrowed time and worried that if her and husband Andy, 35, had a child she wouldn’t be there to help raise it.
However, she was accepted onto a trial for drug, Kaftrio, in 2018 which changed her life and allowed her to start a family. Within two weeks of taking the drug, which reverses the main symptoms of CF, Gillian saw her lung function increase from 38 per cent up to 74 per cent. The recovery allowed dentist Gillian to have baby Frederick, born in December last year.
