🎯Three Content Types · One Force Field
Every square belongs to one of three content types — not three levels you climb. Track personal progress in your Course and Skills Lab.
📘 Learn It Content type
Concepts to absorb.
🛠 Live It Content type
Daily skills and habits.
📣 Share It Content type
Teach, advocate, carry forward.
🛡️Your Force Field — 16 Squares
Deeper detail lives in the Prepared Patient Cystic Fibrosis course.
What CF Is
Genetic condition affecting mucus production. Lungs, pancreas, sweat glands.
Learn ItCFTR Modulators
Trikafta and related drugs have transformed CF outcomes. Daily use.
Learn ItSpot the Red Flags
Severe SOB · hemoptysis · severe abdominal pain (DIOS) · 911 territory.
Learn ItInfection Triggers
Pseudomonas and other CF-specific pathogens. Cross-contamination concerns.
Learn ItKnow Your Numbers
FEV1 trend · sputum cultures · CFRD screening · weight.
Learn ItDaily Regimen
CFTR modulator · airway clearance · inhaled antibiotics · enzymes · vitamins.
Live ItAirway Clearance
Vest, devices, breathing techniques — daily, not optional.
Live ItNutrition + Enzymes
Pancreatic insufficiency means enzymes with every meal. Calories matter.
Live ItMake Every Visit Count
CF visits are precious — bring everything: meds, weight, sputum, mood.
Live ItYour CF Team
CF center: pulmonary + GI + nutrition + social work + psychology + RT.
Live ItTelehealth + Apps
CF care has good telehealth options. Track meds and exercise.
Live ItInsurance & Cost
CFTR modulators are very expensive — assistance programs critical.
Live ItPregnancy & CF
Pre-conception planning is real. Discuss early.
Live ItTeach & Mentor
CF community is tight-knit. Virtual peer support (in-person has cross-infection rules).
Share ItAdvocate
CF research advocacy has been historic — keep pushing.
Share ItResearch & Trials
Next-gen modulators, gene therapy, anti-inflammatories.
Share ItThree things to learn before you actually need them.
Workflow lives in the Prepared Visit Tool. Trackers in your Course.
Which door do I use?
CF requires layered daily care. The ladder is about preserving lungs and gut function.
Handle at home
- Baseline cough and sputum, usually clear
- Doing daily airway clearance
- Taking enzymes with food
- No fever
Log it. Stick with your regimen.
Call the office / message the portal
- Increased cough or sputum
- Decreased exercise tolerance
- Running low on Trikafta or other CFTR modulator
- Side effect issues
Same day. CF teams catch exacerbations early.
Urgent / Acute care
- Sputum thicker or color change
- Mild fever
- Weight loss over weeks
- Unexplained abdominal pain
Urgent care or CF clinic urgent slot.
ER NOW / call 911
- Severe shortness of breath at rest
- Coughing up significant blood (hemoptysis)
- Severe abdominal pain (possible DIOS)
- Chest pain
- Lips/fingertips bluish
- Confusion
Call 911. Tell them you have CF.
How to describe a new symptom in 30 seconds
What is it?
Plain words.
How bad?
0-10.
When did it start?
Time + what you were doing.
What made it worse?
Movement · food · meds.
What helped?
Even a little.
What else was new?
Fever · med · supplement · stress. The forgotten detail often shifts the diagnosis.
“My sputum got thicker and darker over 4 days, it’s a 5 on the cough scale, worse in the morning, more albuterol helps, and I missed two days of my CFTR modulator last week.”
Questions worth asking
Four for every patient, every condition, every visit:
- “Could this be a side effect of one of my medications, a supplement, or something else I’m doing — and should we change that?”
- “Would any non-drug therapy help — physical therapy, meditation, rest, ice or heat?”
- “If I can’t afford this medication or this test, can we talk about samples, alternatives, or a social worker who can help?”
- “What should I be watching for between now and my next visit — and when do I handle it myself, when do I call your office, when do I go to urgent care, and when do I go to the ER?”
Questions specifically for Cystic Fibrosis:
- “Am I on a CFTR modulator (Trikafta, etc.) — or should I be?”
- “What’s my FEV1 trend?”
- “Am I being screened for CF-related diabetes, liver, or bone disease?”
- “What’s the plan if my sputum cultures change?”
- “Pregnancy / family planning — how does this work with CF?”