Meet some of our patients

Charlotte

Charlotte was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when she was just eight months old.

"We knew from the moment she was born that something wasn’t quite right," remembers her mother, Bridget. "She was always very frail and wasn't gaining weight."

After developing a cough and then bronchitis, doctors recommended a test which confirmed that she had CF.

She began treatment at Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital shortly after the diagnosis and has attended the CF clinic at the hospital for just over seven years.

Thanks partly to the treatment and advice she receives there, Charlotte is generally able to lead an active life. Attention to diet and enzyme supplementation has helped Charlotte to maintain her weight, so for much of the time it is impossible to tell that she has the disease.

However, a simple cough or a cold can have a devastation effect, explains Bridget.

"She's had a series of infections that have required intravenous antibiotics, which has meant she’s had to be admitted to hospital for a couple of weeks at a time.

"It's particularly hard when Charlotte is so unwell because she is normally such a bubbly and lively girl."

Bridget says that the GOSH clinic has made it much easier to cope.

"Just knowing that there is always someone at the end of the phone, and seeing 16 and 17-year olds in the clinic who are still doing well, makes all the difference."