• 
• Join Now!
• Log In
• 6-8 Year Olds
• 9-12 Year Olds
• 13-17 Year Olds
• Adults
• Parents & Caregivers

Experience all the fun, interactivity and community of CFvoice.com—Get Flash Now!

This interactive Web site requires that you have Flash installed and JavaScript enabled within your browser. Here is a list of available content at this site for those visitors whose computers do not meet these requirements.

Episode 1: Zude and You Cartoon Script

Hey, I'm in my tree fort! Closer… whoa, here I am.

Hi! I'm Zude. When I face tough things with my health I work hard to do what is needed to keep my body as healthy as it can be, just like you! I keep a positive attitude to help me look for the best in tough situations, and I bet you do too. Just like your family, I want to help you reach your goals, and in order to do that you'll need to learn about things that you can do to keep your body growing strong, and that can be more challenging when you have cystic fibrosis. I bet you know lots of stuff about CF, and you can learn even more. Ready? Zudeacious, let's go!

First I want you to learn about a dude named Mr. Sticky. He hangs out in your lungs. You have glands in your body that make sweat, tears, and mucus. These things are called secretions. Let me show you what I mean. See my cool cape? It helps me fly soo fast! Secretions go to tubes on the top of your body where they can come out, like when you sweat. Wow did I ever work up a sweat from all that exercise. Pheew. (wiping sweat from brow) Secretions are also in your organs such as your lungs to keep them from drying out. This way your lungs stay lubricated.

People who do not have cystic fibrosis have thin and slippery mucus. Hey my feet are stuck! (making noises like he is trying to get free… ) In people who have cystic fibrosis, their mucus is really thick and sticky in their lungs and other parts of their body. I nicknamed mucus that is sticky and thick, Mr. Sticky.

I'm really stuck here on Mr. Sticky. Yeah, he is sticky See how easy it is to get stuck on Mr. Sticky. (makes emphatic break free noise like "yaaah" etc.) This is what happens in your lungs. Bacteria come in and get stuck on Mr. Sticky, and bacteria can lead to infections and inflammation. Your lungs are very important. They take in oxygen when you breathe, and the oxygen goes to your cells. You need oxygen to live, so your lungs are super important. You need to do your chest physiotherapy, or chest PT to break up Mr. Sticky so there is less of him in your lungs for bacteria to stick to. Maybe your parents or an adult claps on your back to break up Mr. Sticky. This is what happens to Mr. Sticky when you are doing chest PT. Mr. Sticky is getting broken apart. (he claps on screen… ) See ya Sticky.

To help avoid catching or spreading as many germs and bacteria you need to wash your hands a lot. Watch how I do it! Warm water, some antibacterial soap, rub the soap around real good, and rinse. Drying your hands with a paper towel is best so then you can use it to turn off the faucet. My hands are nice and clean now so I can eat.

Well what do we have for lunch today? Yes! Cheesy pepperoni pizza, high in calories, and protein, it's so good. It's one of my favorites Zude food treats! The apple is really good for me too. Eating healthy foods can affect how you grow and can affect your lung health too. The reason you take extra enzymes with all your food is that Mr. Sticky can block your stomach and intestines from getting enzymes to digest your food. Enzymes help your body digest food and get the nutrients it needs. It's important when you have CF to get plenty of calories, take your enzymes when you eat, get plenty of salts and fluids, and make sure to take your vitamins. Keep yourself growing the strongest body and lungs you can, get your Zude Foods!

I had a great time on our CF learning adventure today, and I hope you had fun too! Focus on your future by remembering to be brave and keeping a positive attitude! Remember your airway clearance and medications, wash your hands when you need to, stick to Zude foods, and get plenty of exercise! You are one Zudeacious kid! Reach for the stars!

-- END --

Episode 2: Sticky Stuff

Hi! I'm Zude. I'm here to help you learn about the CFTR gene, it makes a real sticky situation. Ready? Zudeacious, let's go!

You have trillions of cells in your body! Wow that's a lot of cells! Each cell has its own special job that it needs to do for your body. Cells follow important directions so that all the parts of your body can keep working the best they can! Your cells get these directions from your genes. Hey! Look at that cool twisty turny ladder! That's called DNA and it's where your genes are. Let's take a closer look at how your genes make directions for your cells.

Each step of your DNA ladder is a different gene. When cells get directions from your genes they know what job to do for your body.

If the directions said, "make pears," the cells would keep making pears, over and over again! Okay, okay … I know your cells don't make pears inside your body, but they do lots of other cool jobs!

Sometimes though, people's genes are broken and don't grow the way they are supposed to. Broken genes give the wrong directions, and when that happens, cells start doing their jobs wrong. So, for example instead of making pears, the cells would use the wrong directions and make pickles instead! And the cells would keep making pickles over, and over again! So that's what happens if a gene is broken, it gives the wrong directions and the cells do their job the wrong way.

Now that you know that genes give directions to the cells, let's look at the broken gene that causes Cystic Fibrosis. Here we go!

Your body has tubes for water and salt to pass between cells in your lungs, pancreas, intestines, and other parts of your body to keep them lubricated. The gene that is responsible for making directions to keep your body's cells lubricated, or wet is called the Cystic Fibrosis gene. The Cystic Fibrosis gene makes directions called The Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator! Whoa! Those are really big words! Let's call the directions, CFTR. That's a lot easier to say!

In a person who does not have Cystic Fibrosis, the CFTR directions tell cells to carry water and salt to the space between cells to keep the mucus thin and slippery. See how the mucus just slides around and keeps the body lubricated? I like to call mucus that is thin and slippery, Miss Slippery.

In a person who HAS Cystic Fibrosis, the gene is broken so it sends the wrong CFTR directions. These directions still tell the cells to carry water and salt to other cells, but instead of thin and slippery mucus they make thick and sticky mucus. See how the mucus can't slide around as easily. I like to call mucus that is thick and sticky, Mr. Sticky.

When Miss Slippery makes mucus in someone who does not have Cystic Fibrosis, bacteria can slide off more easily. But when Mr. Sticky makes mucus in someone who HAS Cystic Fibrosis, the mucus is a so thick and sticky that bacteria and germs get stuck on Mr. Sticky. When bacteria get stuck on Mr. Sticky it can lead to infections and inflammation, a kind of swelling in your lungs.

That's why when you have Cystic Fibrosis you have to take lots of medications to reduce the amount of bacteria in your lungs and other parts of your body. You take vitamins and enzymes to help your body get the nutrients it needs, and you do breathing treatments to help loosen up Mr. Sticky so you can cough him out of your lungs. So, even when you don't feel sick, it's very, very, VERY important to take your medications to keep you growing the strongest body you can.

I had a great time on our CF learning adventure today, and I hope you had fun too! ] Focus on your future by remembering to be brave, and keeping a positive attitude. Remember your airway clearance and medications, wash your hands when you need to, stick to Zude foods, and get plenty of exercise! You are one Zudeacious kid! Reach for the stars!

-- END --

Episode 3: Germ Dudes

Hi! I'm Zude. I'm here to help you learn about therapies that treat CF, and some mean bacteria dudes. Ready? Zudeacious, let's go!

Here we are inside the lungs. Oh geez, Look who's hanging around in here… it's Mr. Sticky! With cystic fibrosis you get lots of extra thick mucus in your lungs and airways which can sometimes make it difficult to breathe, and can lead to infections and inflammation. Your lungs are very important because they help you take in oxygen when you breathe and you need oxygen to live! Airway clearance and inhaled medicines make it easier to break up Mr. Sticky so there is less of him in your lungs for bacteria to stick to. You might use an inhaler that has medicine to make your airways wider so you can breathe more easily. You may even have an inhaler that has medicine to make Mr.Sticky thinner to cough him up more easily. Coughing out mucus could help you avoid getting infections as often, and will help you breathe more easily. There are lots of ways to do your airway clearance to break up Mr. Sticky. Your mom and dad, or an adult might help you by doing chest PT with their hands and thumping on your back to break up Mr. Sticky. Wooaah. This is great! Look at what chest PT does to Mr. Sticky! You can also do airway clearance on your own with a flutter device or a vest. Both these therapies send out special vibrations to help break up Mr. Sticky so he can be coughed up more easily.

With cystic fibrosis some bacteria like Pseudomonas Aeruginosa and Burkholderia Cepacia can affect your health. These are some tough rootin' tootin' bacteria! I mean tooough! These bacteria have nicknames I gave em'. I call Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, "Grubby Monas" and I call Burkholderia Cepacia, "Stinky Pacia." Yuuuk! Grubby Monas and Stinky Pacia are tough bacteria that can cause infections and inflammation in your lungs. Inflammation is when your airways swell up a bit and this makes it difficult for you to breathe. So it's SUPER important to do your treatments that can reduce bacteria. Your doctor will give you antibiotics to treat Grubby Monas and Stinky Pacia.

There are lots of ways you can take antibiotics. They can be taken by pill, with a nebulizer, or through an I.V. If you get treated through and I.V., it goes right into your blood and circulates through your body. You might take your antibiotics with a nebulizer that has a special mask. Nebulizers turn your liquid antibiotics and other medicines into a mist that you breathe right into your lungs where bacteria live. Grubby Monas and Stinky Pacia are very tricky because they like to stick around in your lungs and grow bigger. Just like you can't feel it when your hair grows on your head, you can't feel it when those tough bacteria are growing in your lungs. So it's important that even if you don't feel sick, you take your antibiotics and do your airway clearance as often as your doctor tells you to break up Mr. Sticky and reduce the amount of bacteria in your lungs, like Stinky Pacia and Grubby Monas.

All that talking made me huuungrrry! Which reminds me to talk about our next important therapy, nutrition. When you have cystic fibrosis it takes lots of energy to breathe and even more energy to fight infections. You know how your body gets energy? From food! To make enough energy, you need to eat a lot of high calorie foods, and protein everyday. Look at all this delicious food! Oh man, my favorite! Strawberry milkshake! (makes sound like drinking through straw, slurping noises). Aaahh! Your nutritionist is a food expert and can help you figure out how many calories you need each day!

Here is a cool super hero clue, eating enough food actually helps your lungs to grow and work better. When you have cystic fibrosis you need to take extra enzymes to help digest your food so your body gets enough nutrients absorbed. The vitamins you take will give your body extra protection to help heal after infections and grow as strong as it can. Remember, high calorie food, enzymes and vitamins are part of your zude foods! So stick to your Zude foods!

Exercise is another important treatment to help your body. Exercise can help you cough up Mr. Sticky to breathe more easily, and it helps your lungs, heart and body grow as strong and healthy as possible. I like to ride my bike for exercise! It doesn't matter what you like to do for exercise as long as you do it! Your doctor can help you figure out how much exercise you need. Remember exercise keeps your body strong, and it's fun!

I had a great time on our CF learning adventure today, and I hope you had fun too! Great job learning about therapies that treat CF. Focus on your future by remembering to be brave, keep a positive attitude about remembering your airway clearance and medications, wash your hands when you need to, stick to zude foods, and get plenty of exercise! You are one Zudeacious kid! Reach for the stars!

-- END --

Memory Match Game

Narrative Text:

Click two cards to try to find a matching pair. When you find all the matching pairs you can play again to see how many tries it takes you to finish the memory matching game.

On-Screen Directions:

Click two cards and try to find the therapies that go together. When you get a match, the cards will disappear from your pile so you can see the picture underneath. When you're done, you can play again and try to beat your best score.

Matching Pair Narrative:

Way to go!
Great job!
Super Great!
Zudeacious!

On-Screen Text inside Dialog Box for Matching Pair:

Matching Pair! Click to Continue.

Non-Matching Pair Narrative:

Try again!

Keep trying!

You're close!

Not a pair!

On-Screen Text inside Dialog Box for Non-Matching Pair:

No Match! Click to Continue.

On-Screen Text and Narrative for Therapies

Inhaler:

Relaxes and opens the air passages in the lungs, making it easier to breathe.

Vest:

Inflates and deflates to put pressure on the chest, and helps break up mucus so it can be coughed out.

Enzymes:

Help digest food so the body can absorb the nutrients it needs to grow and repair the body.

Antibiotics:

Help fight bacteria that can lead to inflammation and infections.

Mucolytics:

Help make mucus thinner so it can be coughed out easier.

Exercise:

Helps grow a strong heart, lungs and body, and it's fun!

-- END --

Color with Zude Activity

Narrative - Color online or print coloring book pictures of me and other cartoon characters!

On Screen Directions and Narrative:Color online or print coloring book pictures of me and other cartoon characters.

-- END --