News
Retired upstate NY teacher turns her energy to Alpha-1 education and support
Irondequoit Post
Webster, NY —She didn’t expect to be spending her retirement years as an advocate for a genetic condition she knew little about until a few years ago.
Then, like a brother before her, Diane Cameron was diagnosed with Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency (Alpha-1).
“I was experiencing difficulty climbing flights of stairs, walking up inclines, carrying grandchildren and walking while talking,” the nearly lifelong Webster resident said.
At first, she said, she chalked it up to weight. Then she was tested for her alpha-1 protein level about three years ago. With 11 being the “cut-off” number, her protein tested at 5.3.
A pulmonologist told her she had emphysema; she had never smoked.
