Berniece Phillips has cystic fibrosis and gives an insight into what cystic fibrosis means to her

Berniece Phillips has cystic fibrosis and is one of the faces of Cystic Fibrosis Trust rebrand

My name is Berniece Phillips, I'm 27 years old, living in Wirral. I was diagnosed with CF at the age of three. My whole life has consisted of a cocktail of medication from tablets, physio treatments, hospital visits and hospital admissions. I find it hard to find the words to explain my day to day life with cystic fibrosis, so I've put it in a poem.

A day in a life of living with cystic fibrosis

You look at me and think I'm the same
You look at me like I'm in no pain
Until that second your hear me cough and splutter
Then you stop, stare and mutter

With every long deep breath
With the pains throughout my chest
Sometimes it gets to much
Where I need to stop and rest

There are times I feel tired, exhausted and sore
And times I feel I can't take it anymore
I smile I laugh I pretend I'm ok
Truthfully that's how I make it day by day

Imaging my life without this disease
My life would practically be a breeze
No more fifty tablets a day
Or one hour treatments to make me feel ok

Throughout my battles I have realised this
Without this disease there's a lot in my life I'd miss
From all the CF friends I've made, loved and lost
Who have battled against this disease and their life ended early at a great loss

When I feel like I can't cope
I think of my friends and it gives me hope
With this illness and all it can bring
It's still my life and I wouldn't change a thing
They say having a baby is a big 'No No'
As the percentage who have them is really low

I know I was lucky
I know I was blessed
When those two pink lines
Came up on the test

I had low spiro's
I was poorly and I'd puke
But none of that mattered
when I got my Luke

Cystic Fibros/is unfortunately what my life holds
With endless coughs, tablets, treatments and colds
But with help from Cystic Fibrosis Trust, research and new information to share
Together we’ll make lots of people cystic fibrosis aware!

I hope this has given you an insight into a day of my life living with CF. I was honoured to have been asked to take part in the new brand CF photo shoot, it was a fun day and I enjoyed being involved so hopefully this will raise more awareness of cystic fibrosis. www.cysticfibrosis.org.uk