Cystic Fibrosis is ghastly, ghastly....

Chancellor Gordon Brown's baby boy has cystic fibrosis
Publisher:  Jon Land
Published: 30/11/2006 - 08:41:07 AM  Printable version

Gordon Brown's baby diagnosed
with cystic fibrosis (Pic: PA) Relevant News
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Chancellor Gordon Brown has revealed that his four-month-old son James
Fraser has been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis.
A spokesman for the possible future prime minister said he and wife Sarah
were informed their youngest son might have the condition shortly after his
birth in July.
The spokesman said: "While Gordon and Sarah's younger son, Fraser, has been
diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, he is fit, healthy and making all the
progress that you would expect any little boy to make.
"They were told in late July that Fraser may have cystic fibrosis. Tests
since then have confirmed this.
"Thousands of other parents are in the same position. They are confident
that the advice and treatments available, including proper exercise and,
later, sporting activity will keep him fit and healthy.
The spokesman added: "The NHS is doing a great job, and Gordon and Sarah are
very optimistic that the advances being made in medicine will help him and
many others, and they hope to be able to play their part in doing what they
can to help others."
Housing minister Yvette Cooper, a close friend of the Browns' along with her
husband Economic Secretary Ed Balls, said they were a "strong and happy
family".
"Fraser's a lovely, bouncy healthy little boy. He's doing really well. This
is the kind of thing that no parent obviously wants to hear, and it was the
same for Gordon and Sarah in the summer.
"But they're very optimistic and doing really well and medical advances
obviously happen all the time.
Ms Cooper told Sky News: "He's very strong and healthy and of course they
are getting great support from the NHS to make sure he remains strong and
healthy."
Mr Brown and his wife were hit by tragedy in January 2002 when their first
child, daughter Jennifer Jane, died just 10 days after her premature birth.
But the couple were overjoyed in 2003 with the birth of their oldest son
John and the family grew again in July of this year with the birth of James
Fraser, weighing 7lb 14oz.
Asked about the earlier tragedy, Mrs Cooper said: "I think obviously this is
very different, Fraser is a lovely part of their family and they are all
enjoying life and getting on with things, he's doing very well, this is a
very different situation now."
Conservative leader David Cameron's four-year-old son Ivan suffers from
cerebral palsy.
Ms Cooper added: "He's a delightful little boy, really bouncy and trying to
stand up and lovely, and growing very well - in fact he's very big for his
age."
"I've seen him again this week, and we saw him obviously in August. He's a
very bright, very bubbly little boy and doing very well."
Ms Cooper said Fraser was a "lovely addition" to the Brown family.
"Certainly Gordon and Sarah are getting all kinds of great support and
advice from the experts in the NHS on this and that's why they're very
optimistic, and that's why Fraser's doing so well because he's getting such
good support from the NHS."
She insisted that the Browns were coping well, despite the shock of the
diagnosis: "Politicians are just the same as everyone else. Parents are just
the same as everyone else. I think every parent thinks about things
happening to their children or are worried about their children in exactly
the same way.
"I don't think that's any different for any politician really."
She said tests on infants to identify cystic fibrosis had started being
rolled out across the country over the past few years.
James Fraser, known as Fraser by his family, was born at Edinburgh Royal
Infirmary on July 17.
His brother John, now aged three, is said to have chosen the name Fraser,
while James is a family name.
Mr Brown is understood to be at 11 Downing Street with his family tonight.
Tory leader David Cameron said: "Sam and I are thinking of Gordon and Sarah
and their family at this time and we send them our best wishes for the
future."
Downing Street said anything Tony Blair said to Mr Brown was private.
Ed Owen is a board member of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, and has a
four-year-old daughter with the condition.
He is also a former adviser to Leader of the Commons Jack Straw, and knows
Mr Brown.
Mr Owen told Press Association he had spoken to the Chancellor, and could
empathise with what the couple were going through.
"Children with cystic fibrosis do have to undergo a daily regime of
medication and therapy, but given the extraordinary development in
treatments over recent years children can expect to live an extremely happy,
active and in most ways normal life."
Mr Owen said Mr Brown had helped raise funds for the Trust before Fraser was
born.
"He was always very supportive of the Trust and two years ago hosted a
reception at Number 11. He made a speech and has been very supportive of
efforts to raise funds.
"It's something that he personally had been aware of through the charity
work that he has been doing."
Mr Cameron's son Ivan, born in 2001, has a rare condition that combines
cerebral palsy and epilepsy.
The Tory leader has said that when he and wife Sam found out Ivan was
disabled it left him "in mourning".
He told BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs show in May: "It was almost like
mourning the loss of something. You are mourning the gap between your
expectations and what has happened."
Mr Cameron has since insisted that he would never undermine the NHS after
seeing the essential role it played for Ivan.
Shadow Chancellor George Osborne tonight offered best wishes to his
counterpart: "My thoughts and best wishes go to Gordon and Sarah and their
family at this difficult time."
Rosie Barnes, chief executive of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, said: "It is
always a shock for a family when a child is diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis
and I am sure the Browns were no exception.
"Being diagnosed this early is really important because treatment can be
started immediately to minimise complications in future life.
"The Cystic Fibrosis Trust has set up specialist centres across the UK to
ensure the care provided is second to none. As a result, life expectancy for
those with the disease is now better than ever, and many adults are living
well into their 40s.
"We really do believe that there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon we are
closer than ever to finding an effective treatment for CF, using world
leading gene therapy. This is a matter of time and effective funding."
Copyright Press Association 2006.

Rayilyn Brown
Board Member AZNPF
Arizona Chapter National Parkinson's Foundation
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