LOCAL&REGION
Page B2 • Friday, August 9, 2013
Northwest Herald / NWHerald.com
Lea Swenson: ‘Her quality of life School board will review district’s performance this past school year right now basically is nothing’ • BREATHE Continued from page B1 When she was just 10 months old, doctors told her parents – Lea and her husband, Eric – that their daughter had cystic fibrosis, a disease that affects about 30,000 people nationwide, according to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The bodies of those with CF produce a thick, sticky mucus that clogs the organs and acts as a hotbed for infection. Growing up, Andi was able to stay active, but the symptoms piled up over time. “Pulmonary-wise, she did really well,” Lea Swenson said. “You would never know anything was wrong with her.” ••• The disease caused other problems in Andi Swenson’s early years. Enzymes needed for digestion were blocked from entering her stomach, making it hard for her to gain weight. And then there’s the diabetes and cirrhosis of the liver. She was 13 when her lungs started giving her trouble. But now the painful pulmonary symptoms have fully arrived. It often feels, she said, as if an elephant is sitting on her chest. The pain occurs in a cycle – at its worst, she gets admitted to the hospital for about a week of therapy, where physicians take measures to loosen and discard the excess mucus. She gets started on antibiotics to kill the infection, and by the time she leaves the hospital, she’s feeling her best. But then the mucus starts building up, her chest getting heavier, bacteria growing, until Andi Swenson is not only
How to help The Swensons have developed several fundraisers to help cover the costs associated with Andi’s illness and transplant. Individuals can donate or learn about fundraisers at www.cotaforandis.com.
If you go n What: “Breath On Andi” 5K Walk/Run and the “Andi Swenson Benefit” n Where: Cash Savers, 1299 S. Division St., Harvard n When: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 24 n More info: Call 815-273-4511, visit www.cotaforandis.com or facebook.com/BreatheOnAndi. Visit Cash Savers in advance or the morning of the event to sign up for the 5K. sick and feverish but also struggling to breathe. “It sucks,” she said, flashing a quick smile. At 18, with her lungs around 55 percent capacity, Andi Swenson suddenly found herself in the hospital about every three months. Today, it’s more like every six weeks. “I knew mentally, in my head, why,” she said. “But it still was not computing because I was so used to only once a year.” ••• Swenson knows all the stories. She’s had friends with cystic fibrosis – friends she met on Facebook – who got the call and got their organs, only to die within a couple of years. More than 80 percent of CF patients receiving lung transplants are alive a year later, and more than 50 percent are alive five years later, according to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
There are success stories: The family read about a man whose new lungs are functioning at more than 100 percent capacity, propelling him to marathons and a new life. “It’s probably not forever, and she knows that,” Lea Swenson said. “But her quality of life right now basically is nothing. She sleeps late in the morning, she gets up, she eats, she does her breathing treatments and takes her medications and eats some more.” When the Swensons get the call, Andi and Lea will board a jet to Cleveland to a special clinic. In the aftermath, after Andi is released, the two will stay in the area while Andi sees a doctor first daily, then weekly, until she’s released back to Harvard. Seeking a transplant was Andi Swenson’s decision, and she saw it as the only choice. She is 22. She wants to be able to breathe. ••• Finally those lungs and liver feel close. “It’s just about to happen,” Eric Swenson said. “I think. Yeah, it’s just about to happen.” Does his daughter agree? “I hope it is,” said Andi Swenson, pausing briefly. “I don’t know. I can’t really think past today.” They’ve developed a family motto, and mother, father and daughter have tattooed it onto their skin. In old English lettering, on Andi’s ankle, Lea’s wrist and Eric’s hand, it reads: Breathe On. So Andi Swenson is here, taking her 25 to 30 pills a day, connecting the odd little antibiotics container to the device under her chest. This illness is a full-time job. Andi Swenson lives breath by shallow breath.
and long term. There will be an emphasis on the district’s improvement plan, which is passed every year. The plan sets goals and focuses for different areas, including curriculum, the business office and transportation. The plan for the 2012-13 school year is available on the district’s website and was updated throughout the year. Once this year’s plan is approved, the plan is to do the same thing. A focus this past year has been on improving communication with parents and the community, Johnson said. The district has expanded when it sends out emails
• D-12 Continued from page B1 came with the recession and plummeting home values. Enrollment and what it means for the district is one overarching topic the District 12 school board will take a look at Saturday at its annual retreat. The meeting is scheduled for 8 a.m. in the John Heidler Board Room at the district office, 2222 W. Church St., Johnsburg. It likely will run until noon or 1 p.m. The board also will review the district’s performance this past school year and discuss what lies ahead for the coming school year
and automated phone calls and has added information to the website. The budget for the year has not been passed, but Johnson expects it to be conservative. The district is still in negotiations with its only union, the teachers union, he said. He hopes those will wrap up soon. The financial ranking assessed by the Illinois State Board of Education fell in 2012 to early warning, the second-lowest rating. The drop occurred because the district is spending $1.10 to $1.20 for every dollar it receives in revenue, up from $1 to $1.10 the year before.
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