Year 2010

I've never written a blog before so I’ll start off with the basic stuff. I’m Matthew Shapland, 20 years old, 21 in may and I  have just recently moved from Ipswich to live with my girlfriend and her 21 month old daughter who I have brought up since she was weeks old. The purpose why I'm writing this blog is to get my friends and everyone else who don’t seem aware of the dangers and factors of Cystic Fibrosis.

At the age of 5, I had my first operation on my nose for nasal polyps which are fleshy overgrowths that grow inside the sinuses and block the airway for breathing in and out of the nose. I also had another operation when I was aged 8 and 11. The fleshy growth is predicted to slow down when teenage years start and fingers crossed I haven’t needed another operation to date.

The next operation I was advice to have was a gastronomy tube called a “mickey” or a “peg”. This works being noticeable on the outside of the stomach with a tube being inserted through the skin and through the stomach wall directly into my stomach. This was used so I could have extra calories at night time by being fed through this tube with high nutritional fluids ranging from 500kcal to 750kcal via a pump. At the age of 16 I was only weighing at 6 stone. To keep the tube in place, I had to inflate a small balloon at the base of the tube to keep in securely in the stomach. However, these can deflate by leaking and unfortunately it deflated one  night and by the time I woke up and realised, the wound had closed up and was faced with having another operation or to leave it out. I chose to see how things go without it in, I’m now weighing at 8 ½ stone at 20 years old which for my height of 5”7 is still underweight and makes my BMI at 17.6.

Until I got transferred up to Norfolk And Norwich University Hospital from Ipswich Hospital, my lungs and other organs was always pretty clear, it was my weight that was never picking up. I had only been at Norwich Hospital 3 or 4 months when they told me I had picked up Pseudonymous assess. This was treated with Colliston nebulisers which I had to inhale the drug 3 times a day by an electric pump for a 3 month course. At the end of the treatment it was all clear that the bug had been removed from my lungs. A year later the Pseudonymous assess appeared again in a sputum sample and I was then placed on Tobramycin nebulisers which only cleared it up for a few weeks. In October 2010 I was advised to have my first course of Intravenous Antibiotic which concludes of having a long line cannula directly inserted into the veins of my arm and injected with antibiotics. This completely wiped the  Pseudonymous assess out for 5 months and was found again in march. However, the attempt of Iv’s at home didn’t work due to my veins being temperamental the long line blocked up and had to be taken out.

 I have been on constant nebulisers since may until  October 2010 I was going up for a routine check-up when I then got told I had another bug called mycrobacterium tuberculosis which is a very dangerous and difficult bug to get rid of. Since 2007 I have been working as a sales assistant at Greggs The Bakers so I was advised to take 3 weeks off for an intense course of intravenous antibiotics which includes 3 different iv antibiotics in hospital, 2 nebulised drugs and 2 lots of oral tablets after being discharged for at least 12 months. Whilst having these bugs on my lungs, my CT scan show positive for damage, scarring and blocked air valves in both my lungs and I can physically feel the affect when walking or even playing games with my step-daughter. Ive been discharged from hospital since January 31^st and since then been having problems with my nebulised Amikacin. My symptoms are sharp and sore pains in my throat, dryness and loss of my voice completely. On return to the CF clinic on March 28^th , my lung function had dropped a little more than it was predicted. I have now been made an appointment 2 weeks apart to keep a close eye on my lung function. On the happy side of things, I proposed to my girlfriend on the 8^th February and we are now trying for our own baby which were hoping do not conclude us going through IVF. My weight has also maintained itself which is an uplift for everyone including myself.

On March 18th, I completed a 10,000ft Tandem Sky Dive in aid to raise funds for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. I advise everyone to try this out. It was absolutely amazing!!!!




Since being a teenager, I preferred not to rely on my parents for my care and tried to be responsible and take all my medication, fitness and phsyio as well. I would necessarily do all of these things all the time. But being worse than I used to be, I now regret not doing those things as all I had in my mind is to be like everyone else. Normal and able to breathe and exercise without coughing up thick sticky mucus. I know that compared to some people I know I’m quite lucky. If anyone has any questions or queries about anything to do with Cystic Fibrosis then feel free to message me.

Thanks for reading

Matthew