Day 1: Two month check-up

Today Sarah is going for her two month check-up at Barts and The London Children’s Hospital. She sees the same team of people every time she has a check-up, so they all know her well.

The clinical nurse specialist and cystic fibrosis consultant are experts at caring for children with cystic fibrosis. The clinical nurse specialist talks to Sarah about how she is feeling and how she is getting on at school. If Sarah needs someone else to talk to about living with cystic fibrosis she can talk to the clinical psychologist.

The outpatients nurse measures Sarah’s height and weight to see how well she has been growing. The lung function technician uses a spirometer to test how well Sarah’s lungs are working. Sarah likes having this test as the spirometer has games programmed into it, so she can pretend to blow out candles on a birthday cake or to blow up a balloon.

During her check-up, the physiotherapist asks Sarah how she has been getting on with her physiotherapy exercises, and shows her some new exercises. The physiotherapist also takes a cough swab or sputum sample – this will be sent to the hospital microbiology laboratory to see what bacteria are growing in Sarah’s lungs. Because Sarah has cystic fibrosis she has trouble absorbing her food properly. She talks to the dietician about which foods she should be eating to help her feel well.