Overview

İlknur and husband Ismail have a daughter Selin who is 23 years old and has CF. As a former teacher, İlknur knows a lot, but because CF wasn’t well known in Turkey, and not in her family, it was a complete shock when she discovered her only child had cystic fibrosis. After a month Selin didn’t seem comfortable, she was crying and losing weight. That’s when they began searching for answers and the testing began. Selin got a feeding tube, and a diagnosis of CF after her daughter had a sweat test. “Now we can face this disease, because now we know what we are dealing with.” Says İlknur. Selling was officially diagnosed at three months old. People diagnosed with the disease are lucky, because they have better access to medications than other countries in the Middle East. But as she’ll tell you, the system is not perfect.

A wonderful group raising awareness about CF in Turkey is called MECFA, the Middle East CF Association. An organization that İlknur is very familiar with and grateful for.