Especially throughout the winter months we struggle to stay away from chest infections due to the cold damp weather.
If you have the issue of having a chesty cough or if your lung function has dropped, usually a 2 week course of oral antibiotics will do the trick. However sometimes it cannot fight the infection.
In my case, I was able to get past the winter months with no cough but I couldn't keep it away for long.
in April I started coughing. It wasn't the usual cold cough but something was lingering in my lungs. I was becoming very wheezy and my chest felt tight. With already doing a 2 week dose of oral antibiotics, nothing had shifted.
in April I started coughing. It wasn't the usual cold cough but something was lingering in my lungs. I was becoming very wheezy and my chest felt tight. With already doing a 2 week dose of oral antibiotics, nothing had shifted.
The next best treatment was to go on a course of Intravenous Antibiotics (IVs). This is a more direct type of medication that goes straight into the blood system, therefore fighting the infection harder and quicker.
Other CFers will understand the annoying pain of then having to go into hospital to have the treatment. Usually doctors prescribe a 2 week course which should subside or get rid of the chest infection. When needing the treatment you have to be fitted with a line so that the medication can be given through a vein straight to the targeted problem.
There are a range of lines that can be fitted:
For younger children to teen years, normally a longline is fitted (A 30cm plastic tube that is inserted into a large vein).
For older CFers they usually like to fit a PICC line. (A 30-40cm plastic tube that is also inserted into a vein, however this tube is much larger and so ultrasound is used to find the right vein)
Finally, some children or adults with CF might have a port fitted. This is a small plastic device that is inserted under the skin as a permanent entry point for medication to go into and blood to be taken out of. It has to be fitted under general anesthetic and lasts for around 5-10 years.
So, on 21st April I became an impatient. (I was fitted with a longline and not a PICC line due to complications from my last IV course when a PICC line was fitted)
Luckily for me I have been very well over the past year and a half and so I have not needed extra treatment, however this meant now that I was an impatient that I needed a full M.O.T.
Part 2 - Week beginning 11th May
So, on 21st April I became an impatient. (I was fitted with a longline and not a PICC line due to complications from my last IV course when a PICC line was fitted)
Luckily for me I have been very well over the past year and a half and so I have not needed extra treatment, however this meant now that I was an impatient that I needed a full M.O.T.
Part 2 - Week beginning 11th May
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