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Welcome to CFvoice.com where you've entered the Wacky Workshop. There are activities hidden throughout the workshop for you to find.

Food for Fuel

Drag the food into the mouth to see how many calories it contains. Then click "About Digestion" to see how your body turns food into fuel. It is important to speak to your CF treatment team about the types of food you should eat and your recommended caloric intake.

Experiment

Digestion is a process the body uses to break down food into substances the cells can use. With CF, you eat a lot of food to make sure you get enough calories to grow, fight infections and to help your lungs function better. The three sources of calories, or fuel in food, come from carbohydrates, protein, and fats. Examples of carbohydrates are foods like broccoli, bananas, breads and cereal. Carbohydrates break down into glucose, which is used by your cells for energy. Once the food enters your stomach it mixes with gastric juice, which has acids and enzymes to break down protein. Protein comes from foods like beans and meat. Your body depends on protein to help it grow and heal and repair from injuries and infections. When you have CF, thick mucus can block digestive enzymes the pancreas supplies to the stomach to help break down food. Your doctor and dietician can determine how many extra enzymes you need to take every day with all your meals and snacks to break down food so your body can get the nutrients it needs. In the small intestines, bile and pancreatic juice are added to the food to help break down fat. Good fats can provide vitamins like A, D, E and K. which are important to your health. People with CF can't digest fat as well so they can miss out on these important fat- soluble vitamins. Your doctor and dietician will make sure you get the right vitamin supplements so your body doesn't get low on vitamins. The food is now digested and nutrients from the food get absorbed from the small intestine into the bloodstream through the villi, which look like little fingers. Villi carry nutrients to the blood, which then carries the nutrients to cells in your body. That's how your body turns food into fuel!

Meds in Me

When you have CF you can develop inflammation, a kind of swelling in the airways of your lungs. You may do breathing treatments to help reduce inflammation. One kind of inhaler has medicine that can reduce the swelling of your airways to open them so it is easier for you to breathe. When your airways are open it can be easier to cough up mucus too. With cystic fibrosis, you often do not have the right amount of salt and water in the cells that make secretions, or mucus in your lungs. Incorrect amounts of salt and water cause the mucus to become thick and block your airways. Your doctor may have you take hypertonic saline, which is extra salty water that can help to thin the mucus in your lungs and make it less thick. Thinner mucus can be pushed into larger airways with chest physiotherapy, commonly called P.T., so you can cough it up. Less thick mucus can mean it's easier for you to breathe. CF causes you to get thick and sticky mucus in your lungs, which can sometimes lead to infections and inflammation because it can trap bacteria. Mucolytics help thin out mucus so you can cough it up easier. The more mucus you cough up means there is less in your lungs and airways for bacteria to stick on. Less mucus can also affect how easily you breathe. Infection in the lungs is a condition that many people with CF experience. Antibiotics are often a necessary treatment for infections and can be taken by pill, with a nebulizer, or through an IV. If you use a nebulizer for antibiotics, the medicine comes through your mouthpiece or mask in the form of a mist which you breathe right into your lungs. If you get the treatment by I.V., it goes into your blood. Antibiotics can help reduce the amount of bacteria in your lungs. Bacteria can lead to infections and inflammation, which can harm your lungs, so reducing the amount of bacteria can help keep infections down. Lots of people with CF, and probably even you, spend time doing chest physiotherapy to break up mucus so it can be coughed out. Someone can thump on your back to break up mucus, or you may use special devices made to help break up mucus. One type of chest physiotherapy you may do on your own is with a vest. The vest inflates and deflates to put pressure on your chest. The pressure on your chest helps break up mucus by making compressions in your lungs. The less thick mucus in the lungs the better, so the next step after using the vest is to cough out all that mucus you shook up! When you have CF, thick mucus blocks the pancreas from sending digestive enzymes to the stomach and intestines. This prevents your body from digesting and absorbing food properly. You take extra enzymes to help the stomach and intestines digest and absorb your food. Enzymes help break down food so your body can absorb the important nutrients it needs. Proper digestion of food can also help to make sure you don't get as many stomachaches. Your CF doctor and dietician can help make sure you get the right amount of enzymes for your meals and snacks. When you have CF, it takes lots of extra calories and vitamins from food to grow, breathe and fight infections. Also, your body does not digest fat as well and this can cause you to miss out on many vitamins found in good fats like vitamins A, D, E and K. Vitamin supplements assist your body with many functions such as helping to grow stronger bones and teeth; helping to keep your intestines healthy and they even help your body fight infections.

Amazing Airways

Label the parts of your respiratory system by dragging the words on the right, onto the diagram to the left.

Diaphragm - The diaphragm is a sheet of muscle that lies beneath the lungs. When we breathe in (inhale), the diaphragm contracts and the lungs are enlarged. When we breathe out (exhale), the diaphragm relaxes, causing the lungs to become smaller.

Right Lung - The right lung is the larger of the two lungs and has three lobes. Your lungs help you to breathe in and breath out almost 20,000 times a day!

Capillaries - Capillaries are tiny tubes known as blood vessels that carry oxygen-rich blood to the body.

Nose and Mouth - Your nose and mouth are used to inhale and exhale.

Pharynx - The space behind the mouth that serves as a passage for food from the mouth to the esophagus and for air from the nose and mouth to the larynx.

Trachea - The trachea, or "windpipe," is the hard tube in the front of your neck. The trachea sits at the bottom of your larynx and carries air to the lungs.

Bronchial Tubes - The bronchial tubes are the two branches at the end of your trachea that lead into your lungs.

Alveoli - At the end of the bronchioles in the lungs there are millions of tiny air sacs called alveoli, which are endowed with capillaries. Oxygen is absorbed by the blood in the alveoli.

Left Lung - The left lung is the smaller of the two lungs because it sits on the left side of your body, where your heart tilts to the left, and makes a small notch on the lung.

Larynx - The larynx, or "voice box," is an organ in your neck at the top of your trachea. It is the primary organ of voice production and enables you to speak.

Bacteria Blaster

Eradicate all the germs before time runs out to proceed to the next level. Click the screen to start and then use your arrow keys to move your ship across the screen. Blast germs by tapping your space bar.

Up, Down, Sideways

Fill in the crossword puzzle by selecting a letter below, then clicking on the box in which it belongs.

ACROSS

1. A fancy word that means having to do with the lungs.
2. A doctor who specializes in lungs and breathing and helps people who have trouble with their lungs, like kids who have CF.
3. People with CF need to take these before every meal to help their body better digest and absorb food.
4. ______ ________ : A genetic (inherited) disease that affects the respiratory and digestive systems.
5. A small canister that holds medicine, which comes out in a spray and is breathed into the lungs.
6. ______________ have a special code called DNA that determines what you will look like and whether you are likely to have certain illnesses. CF is a genetic disease that comes from two abnormal CF genes.
7. ____________ _____________ line and protect the inside of your body. You can find them inside your nose, mouth, lungs, and many other parts of the body. They make mucus, which keeps them moist.
8. A device used with a machine that turns liquid medicine into a mist that can be breathed in. Lots of kids with CF use these to help them breathe easier.

DOWN

1. An organ that makes lots of proteins called hormones and enzymes.
2. ____________ is the study of food and how it works in your body. This includes all the stuff that's in your food, such as vitamins, protein, fat, and more. It is important to eat a high-calorie, well-balanced diet.
3. A _______________ is an expert in food! They can help you decide what, when, and how much to eat, because they know a lot about food and eating healthy. Good nutrition is important to grow stronger lungs and bodies.
4. Your body is made up of billions of cells. Inside these cells are _____________, which are thread-like strands that contain thousands of genes.
5. Something that dilates, or opens, the airways or bronchial tubes. This usually means using an inhaler.
6. These medicines attack bacteria that make you sick.

Biographies

Katie

• Age: 9
• When I grow up: I want to be a marine biologist
• Thing I dream about: Discovering a new shark species
• Favorite activity: Double-dutch

Hi my name is Katie. CF affects my body because I have sticky mucus in my lungs and so when I try to breathe sometimes the mucus builds up and most mucus you cough and it would come out. But my mine is sticky so it sticks to my lungs and makes it hard for me to breathe. And other parts that it affects in my body are like my digestive system. I need to take these pills called enzymes so that I can digest my food 'cause I have to take pills before I eat and all the other kids can just dig in. My mom and dad go out and buy high calorie food and high protein food so I can gain weight. Because when you have CF then you don't gain weight like other kids do and you have trouble with it and it gets really bad if you don't gain a lot of weight. So I have to eat high calories 'cause that helps you gain weight. But it's very hard to find that kind of food because most people are trying to lose weight. I talk to my doctors about like different treatments and about my weight and whether it's healthy or not so healthy. I think the next big thing is taking care of all my medicines like completely. Not just setting them up and putting them away, like cleaning them and that kind of stuff. I have to take my enzymes without a reminder. I have to do my therapy without a reminder and just mostly things without reminders. I have to know how to take care of it, what to do, and what its about so I am not just doing the stuff and have no idea why, and also so I can tell other people. I think it's important to tell people about CF because that way they don't worry about me or ask questions and that kind of stuff. I think it's kind of important so they don't like go "huuhh? What's that?" And also so they understand the symptoms instead of saying "How do you do this?" and "What's up with that?" "Why do you do this?" I don't have to do my therapy at school but people do know about it because I do a presentation every year so that people get what I have to do at home. And I don't really feel embarrassed about it because I think it feels kind of cool because everyone treats me different. Every year I do the presentation and I bring in most of my treatments and show them how they work and what I do and in what order and why I do them and talk about my CF basically. I decided I wanted to do that every year so that people would understand and they wouldn't constantly be asking me questions they could just see how it is. My friends they think it's really cool and they actually think it's a honor for them because they have this kid who is not like most people and they have them for a friend so they think it's cool. Sometimes people tease me about having CF like bullies do and then they stand up for me and It feels really good because those friends don't come along everyday. It makes me feel really special. I like to do double dutch and I like playing in trees and I like playing with my friends and I also am very creative and I like writing and I am really interested in ocean life. I like to write about things that have happened to me, good experiences and I also like to write about like fiction stories just made up things that come to my mind. I like the ocean because I really like to study sharks because they're really interesting and they' re not as dangerous as they say. I also like to learn about dolphins and whales, mammals in the sea and it's really interesting that mammals that breathe air like us live under water. With my friends we talk about what we want to be and my friend Ciara she is on my jump rope team and we both want to be marine biologists when we grow up or something like that. And we both want to go to Seaworld and so she is one of my best friends. So we talk about what we're going to do when we grow up and what were gonna see, and if we could be together working When I see myself as a grown up I see myself as very successful and have high dreams and also… I think my family can help me reach my goals because they support me and… My family tells me that I can do anything that I set my mind to… And I think that that's really cool and they're like the best parents in the world.

Connor

• Age: 11
• When I grow up: I want to be a veterinarian
• Thing I dream about: Living in a dog shaped mansion
• Favorite activity: Playing with my dog Daisy

My name is Connor and I am 11 years old... I like dogs a lot 'cause since I was 6 months old I got that old fur ball in there and well she has been there ever since… My friends ask me certain questions because they're wondering if I'm going to be ok and if I can still be their friend and stuff like that. To have friends that care is a good thing, they are very compassionate. I explain to people that mostly I have to cough in order to get my lungs decongested. It affects my liver and definitely my lungs and sometimes I get stomach aches. They say "How are you doing?" "How is your illness?" that sort of thing. I tell them that I am doing fine and everyone else could too. Most kids at my school don't ask me about CF 'cause they just picture me as normal... I take my medicine, I make sure that. I take it and have to remind myself… by writing a small note and putting it in my backpack at school because I usually forget at school. My Mom and Dad help me with.... taking my meds and putting them in a organized place for myself. My Mom and Dad explain how it helps me to take these meds and why I should do them. Even if I don't feel sick I take my medicines because it helps me ...*clears throat*... in many ways. The other day I was coming home and my Dad saw two people smoking... and he said "those two people are only like one or two years older than me and he told me that is wrong and I should not do that or I would be seriously injured." He said that with CF if you smoke there is a very great chance that you will die. My Mom and Dad help me with things that ...*clears throat*... that will tell me the things that are the right things to do. They tell me to do these things over and over again... because it helps me to stay alive and feel great. I like to collect many things because they make me feel happy inside and it's great to collect. I like to collect beagles because that's my favorite kind of dog, mustangs because that's my favorite kind of car, and I also like to collect… dogs because I have been with them ever since I was little and I've just become accustomed to live with them and like them. I mostly want to become a veterinarian to help animals in need. I would like to be a veterinarian 'cause it's not death-defying, it's not any of the stuff that will hurt me. It's a perfect job for a dog lover. It's exciting to help animals in need because if you are an animal lover like I am you will want to help any poor animal. My biggest dream is to ... is to have a big mansion... in the shape of a dog, with dogs everywhere and dog fence and everything! I'm going to make it by working hard...and hopefully if I work hard enough my dream will come true one day. A lot of people out there have CF and… I think that... they can make their dream come true by working on it and keeping themselves healthy.