Former Morrisville resident diagnosed with IPF
(Smithfield, NY – March 2013) There will be a benefit to help out Sandy (Burleigh) Soule and her family with the expenses that are mounting for her upcoming lung transplant at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.
There will be a baked ziti dinner held April 7 from noon to 4 p.m. at the Smithfield Community Center in Peterboro. The event includes raffles for many baskets and donated items.
The cost to attend is $8 for adults, $4 for children 10 and younger and free for children younger than 3.
Soule grew up outside Morrisville as one of six children of Charles and Gratia Burleigh. She attended Morrisville-Eaton Central Schools and is a member of the graduating class of 1981.
Soule worked in Syracuse as a sales rep for many years and in 2007, she, her husband Marc, and daughter Carly, moved to the Camden area to enjoy a more rural setting and the advantages of smaller community living. There they opened an ice cream parlor named Carly’s in 2008 and enjoy seeing their many friends and neighbors as they stop in regularly for ice cream and a quick visit.
Soule’s father passed away from complications of diabetes and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in early 1992. IPF is a lung disease that is described as a condition in which the lung tissue becomes thickened, stiff, and scarred and has no known cause. As it progresses it is more difficult for the alveoli (air sacs) and blood vessels in the lungs to transfer oxygen into the bloodstream.
Soon after her father’s death a series of lung health problems started for many of her siblings. Her sister Anne with IPF had a single lung transplant later on in 1992 and passed away in 2002, just 3 months after her brother Mark with IPF received his single lung transplant. Mark passed away in 2003 because of complications developed from anti-rejection medication. Her brother Greg passed away from IPF in 2008 and was unable to receive a lung transplant because of the severely fast progression of his disease.
Soule has been seeing a pulmonologist regularly because of the family history and about a year ago noticed getting out of breath easily. In November, after test results confirmed that her lung function had decreased dramatically since a year ago, her doctor referred her case to the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. She is going through several tests and visits to Ohio in preparation for a double lung transplant.
Her mother, who lives in Morrisville and two sisters, Joan Winkler of Oneida, and Barb Burleigh of Fairbanks, Alaska, currently have no symptoms of the disease, but undergo routine testing to identify any changes in their lung health.
For information about this event, contact Joan Winkler at 363-4740 or Gratia Burleigh at 684-3497. Donations can be sent to Sandra Soule, 8285 State Route 13, Blossvale, NY 13308.