I was born in Perth, Western Australia in the summer of 1974. I was diagnosed with having Cystic Fibrosis 3 months later, after several dozen trips to the local doctor, a few trips to the children’s hospital and 2 cases of pneumonia. My Mother was a bit frantic, wondering why I was so sick all the time and why I wasn't really thriving. She took me to Princess Margaret Hospital where I was admitted and a battery of tests ensued. The results were, after doing a sweat test, that I had Cyctic Fibrosis. I recovered from the pneumonia and was allowed to go home. I lived in a humidicrib for the first year of my life.

CF is a disorder that affects the secreting glands of the body, which means it generates thickened secretions, therefore blocking normal functions of certain organs. The organs most affected are the lungs and pancreas, therefore affecting breathing and digestion. You can’t catch CF…It’s genetic, which means that both parents have to have the genetic error that causes CF. About 1 in 25 people are carriers of the genetic mistake, which means 1 in 2,500 babies born has CF. At this time CF is not curable…It’s progressive and it’s terminal. Scientists only found the most common CF genetic mistake in 1989 and they are working on a cure, but so far, nothing.

Treatment has gotten more effective because of research into DNA manipulation and they are working on many more “Super Drugs” to try to combat the mucus build up in the chest, to stop more damage to the lungs, but the cultures, or “bugs” that grow in people with CF’s chests seem to be getting a little harder to fight.

A person with CF’s every day treatment depends on their sickness. Usually it consists of physiotherapy twice a day, nebulisers, inhalers and an array of enzymes, vitamins, and supplements. CF patients also need to do a lot of exercise and eat healthily. When a CF person gets sick, the routine is stepped up to having oral antibiotics, or nebulised antibiotics. If this doesn’t stop an infection coming, then it’s off to hospital for a course of intravenous antibiotics. Usually this is successful in keeping CF under control. The natural progression of CF causes irreparable lung damage, and when the damage gets too much, a person with CF can decide to have a double lung transplant.

My own personal routine is pretty similar. I wake up and have six different tablets. They are all vitamins to keep me strong. I also have two inhalers, because I have asthma. Then I have a nebuliser called Pulmozyme, which is one of the “Super Drugs” they invented to manipulate the DNA in the chest to make the secretions easier to move. After that I do my physiotherapy, which is when I lie on the bed and drain different parts of my lungs. I use a little plastic “pipe” called a PEP and sometimes I percuss myself. I do that for between half an hour to an hour to get the mucus in my chest out. I do 11 different positions over 4 days to keep my lungs mucus free. When I begin to get a chest infection, I go to my CF clinic and see my CF specialists, where they prescribe oral antibiotics for me to take. These fight the infection in my chest and work most of the time. If they don’t work, I go back to the CF clinic and they may tell me to use nebulised antibiotics. When I take them, I wait until after physio, so that my chest is clear and more of the drug can get in there, and all I do is put the antibiotic into my nebuliser, which looks like another “pipe”, and breathe deeply as the antibiotic goes into my chest to fight the infection. If that doesn’t work, then I have to go into hospital for more intensive therapy. While I’m there, I get lots of bed rest, physio two times a day, I eat a lot of food and am sometimes put on an exercise program. They also give me very strong antibiotics that have to go straight into my blood. To do that, I have a little plastic disc they access. It was put in about 10 years ago and it just sits under my skin, under my arm, and has a tube running into a vein close to my heart. It’s called a Portacath and is so much better than having doctors come around and jab you with needles every few days. It’s very comfortable and convenient for me. Having the intravenous antibiotics, along with the rest of the intensified therapy, clears up the infection and I can go back to living my normal life.

And I do have a "normal" life. Sure, I have to take tablets when I eat to digest my food, my body doesn't absorb vitamins like it should, I have problems putting on weight, I have underlying problems caused by my CF, I get chest infections quite a bit and need to be hospitalised to treat them, but I am educated, I played sport when I was young, I have a job, I have a partner and I am in pretty good shape, considering that the average life span of a woman with Cystic Fibrosis is only around 33. I thank my lucky stars that I have made it as far as I have and I hope to continue with my wonderful life and hit the ripe old age of 80.

I think I can do it!