Profile for Lorenzo Machuca

dkbmachuca Advocate

• Corona, Ca

I am the widowed father of 3 beautiful children. My wife Deanna Kaylyn Machuca and I were married for 7 years. She was diagnosed at the age of 3 with Cystic Fibrosis. Her parents were told she would not see the age of 6, then 9, then 16 and so on and so on. She was told she would never grow old, have children, and never live a normal life. Well as defiant as my wife was, she went against all of that. She had three beautiful, healthy children (now 19, 16, and 12 years old). She out lived everyone's expectancies without having a lung transplant, she was 40 years and 20 days old when she passed. June 20th 2016 will be 5 years since she passed. My children have grown up in a happy home filled with love. Despite being told her life would never be normal, Deanna's life was, at least it was our normal. My children and I honestly miss the months we would spend in the hospital eating hospital food and being crammed tightly into a small hospital room. Our normal life was turned around when my wife passed. I do my best to keep my wife's memory alive for my kids by celebrating and embracing the beauty and strengths we were privileged to experience through her. Lot's of pain and strife, but it made us stronger and bonded us. My children are very well adjusted and although we miss mom, we smile and are filled with pride as we carry on her memory. All three are Delta F508 Gene carriers and as crazy as it sounds, are proud to have that piece of their mother inside of them, it's what made them. We just want to let CF families and CF'ers out there know, that although it can be tough at times, life can still be beautiful despite this horrible genetic disorder. We also would like to share with everyone my wife's favorite quote and life Mantra - "LIFE IS NOT MEASURED BY THE NUMBER OF BREATHS WE TAKE, BUT BY THE MOMENTS THAT TAKE OUR BREATH AWAY"
- Much love to Mauli Ola Foundation, you are doing beautiful work and always remember, Just Breathe!