CF Tech is Just Not Cool... or is it?
Nuvoair Tech Review
Hello friends, I hope you’re well and you’re all enjoying some of the cool but beautifully sunny weather we’ve been seeing here in the UK over the last week or so, and despite ongoing restrictions, like me, I hope you’re starting to see the light at the end of that very long and dark covid-19 tunnel!
Today I write to you about CF and technology.
Enjoy!
Technology affects almost every aspect of 21st-century life, from the way we shop, our relationships, the way we work and now thankfully, the way we manage our health.
Thanks to Moore’s law, the amazing amount of computing power we all now have access to in our hands is somewhat remarkable, particularly when I compare today’s standards to those I was accustomed to as a kid growing up with cystic fibrosis in the 90s.
It’s easy to forget that back then to learn anything outside of school, rather than Googling, listening to podcasts or turning to social media, a dodgy copy of Encarta ‘95 was my go-to reference, and the idea of being able to ‘ask Alexa’ would have sounded like a scene from ‘Knight Rider or ‘Back to the Future II’.
The same goes for CF tech... in fact, there was no CF tech!
The extent of the CF tech I had access to back then was my very noisy, old-school plug-in porta-neb, and the coolest thing about it was the Blue Peter Badge on the front. By today’s tech standards, it’s a dinosaur. At the time this thing was badged as ‘light-weight’ and ‘portable’, but I swear I made more gains carrying that thing around than any amount of bicep curls or squats!
Speaking of advanced tech, the same goes for my physio bed: a wedge-shaped piece of foam that I lay over whilst Mum, Dad or Lisa would always be willing to take turns beating me over. No electronic adjustment, no fold-away engineering, just a very awkwardly large triangular piece of foam… and again, this was ‘portable’ (apparently).
Thankfully, however, the world of CF and tech is changing and many CFers in the UK now have access to personal tech to help us self-monitor our CF at home to avoid having to visit the hospital so frequently.
I have to admit though, whilst steps forward have been made, the CF tech I’m used to even now isn’t the most inspiring. Most of the devices I’ve seen or have used still very much look and feel like medical devices and with that comes all the reasons to hate them. They are distinct reminders of CF life, rather than tools built to inspire life with CF... a subtle but important difference.
In summary… CF tech is just not cool.
Or is it?
Watch the video below to find out more…
I hope you enjoyed the video, please share it with friends and any other CFers who might enjoy it. Hopefully, the Nuvoair platform is the start of far more to come and other companies start to follow in their footsteps making the process of health monitoring far more engaging and - dare I say - fun?!
Once again thank you for being here. If you’ve enjoyed this piece and you haven’t already, please consider subscribing. I won’t be offended if you subscribe and later decide it’s not for you, I understand how precious our email inbox is, so I welcome any opportunity to take up a slice of space for any amount of time.
Speak soon,
MC x