![]() He told her that if she didn’t do the treatments, she would die. When it was time for the treatment, she would hide.”Īt age 9, Mallory refused to go along with it anymore. “That was the hardest thing,” Shader Smith said. Untreated, it would build up, plug her airways, and become infected. And until she was old enough to wear a compression vest, her parents had to paddle Mallory on the back and chest several times a day to loosen the mucus in her lungs. So, when Mallory was diagnosed at age 3, the Smiths made sure their girly little princess who liked to wear her party shoes to bed, learned to swim, run and play. Those who live longest tend to be physically active, which helps to dislodge the thick, suffocating mucus from their young lungs. ![]() Cystic fibrosis patients can die in their teens and 20s some make it into their 30s. How much time? Mallory, her parents, her friends and even her doctors had no idea how long she would live. It’s progressive, with no cure, which means it gets worse over time. (There is a) vicious cycle of infection, inflammation, and scarring that … leads to respiratory failure. This sticky mucus builds up in the lungs, pancreas and other organs. What is cystic fibrosis? Mallory Smith described it this way: A defective protein caused by the cystic fibrosis mutation interrupts the flow of salt in and out of cells, causing the mucus that’s naturally present in healthy people to become dehydrated, thick and viscous. She will speak on Wednesday at Warwick’s in La Jolla, and on Thursday for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation at the Fairmont Grand Del Mar in San Diego. She is midway through a cross-country book tour with “Salt in My Soul,” telling Mallory’s story, and raising money for cystic fibrosis and new therapy research. Reading all those pages for the first time while suffering catastrophic grief, Shader Smith realized that she could distill Mallory’s words into a book that would help people dealing with illness, healthcare, coming-of-age and other issues. Her mother, Diane Shader Smith, is forever grateful that her daughter left such an honest and open legacy. All of this is documented in a private electronic journal written over 10 years that she opened to her parents only in the last days of her life in November of 2017. She also fell in love and wondered if she would live long enough to marry and have children. She took vacations with family and friends in Hawaii and despite her worsening physical condition, graduated from Stanford University, got her own apartment and launched a freelance writing career. ![]() She was an athlete, prom queen and graduation speaker. And while Mallory Smith was unlucky enough to experience some of the worst of it, she also fought to live an extraordinary active, accomplished and happy life. ![]()
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