Hello from the Grand Old US of A

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Well, hello to you all from the Grand Old US of A. I really cannot believe how time has flown since I left Heartlands in January 2009 after 27 years of service. I expect there are lots of new people now attending the centre who won't even know who I am. To you, I say 'welcome' and I hope your time at the CF Centre here is a good and positive experience. I was really delighted to hear how well the centre had done in the national tables of CF centres for predicted lung function and body mass index. Well done to all of you!. Of course national league tables and statistics mean little to the individual, as everyone has different priorities and is at different stages in their lives however, I hope it makes you feel good knowing you are attending one of the very best centres in the UK.  

To all of you I send my best wishes and thought you might be interested to know what I have been up to in the last 18 months. I visited the USA on and off for over a year, whilst my Dad was ill with cancer in Solihull. After his peaceful death in March my husband Kevin has now applied for my permanent residence in the US. I love my life here, it is great to live out in the country surrounded by mountains and woods and with a river running right by the house. We are very happy and have a lovely new puppy called Charley, she is a chocolate Labrador and adorable. I keep myself very busy with home improvements, of which there are many, walking the dog, doing charity work for the local Elks Lodge ( which helps Veterans, and local charities such as those with disabilities and people on low income). I have helped to organise charity nights and help run regular comedy club nights for them,so I am still doing a bit of fund raising in my spare time. I have made new friends here and and enjoy my daily routine, gardening, painting and generally being a housewife. How strange!!!  It is all a long way from my life in England, however I was very lucky to have met such a wonderful man as Kevin again, after 25 years of not seeing each other. He is of course even luckier! haha! Our first wedding anniversary will be July 4th and we will be taking part in the town parade again in the Oldsmobile....last year we entered as 'Just married' about 2 hours after our wedding and this year will be entering as Still married (Just), only joking of course!!!........and I expect we will be having a party and bbq after......and the town puts on a great fireworks display in the evening.

I am still involved with teaching about CF and airway clearance techniques via my courses with Paula Agostini and Sarah Cameron when I return to the UK and also via the internet. I attended the North American CF Conference in Minneapolis last year and I have done some Peer review work for the CF Trust in England. I entered a poster on HFCWO for the European CF Conference in Valencia and a joint presentation on exercise with Sarah Cameron, Joss Barrett and other members of the team. I am awaiting to hear if another presentation has been accepted for the North American CF Conference in Baltimore later this year. So you can see that I may be on the other side of the pond, however  my interest in CF remains very high and I think of you all often. In November last year I also received a Fellowship from the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy for my work in CF, which was a great honour for me personally and all physio's working with CF. 

The pictures should give you a taste of my year. I wish you all good health and happiness as always and look forward to my next visit to the UK, when I hope I may see some of you on one of my visits to Heartlands. So until next time, it's bye for now, have a nice day and keep on, keeping on especially with the physio!!! (old habits die hard!) Best wishes as always, Lynne the Physio (was Purton was Gumery now O'Grady)