On February 22, the first school for parents of children with CF was held in Novokuznetsk on the topic of “Microbiology and the Psychological Aspects of Support for Cystic Fibrosis”, which was attended by hospital staff in addition to interested parents. An event like this is the first step toward building successful collaboration and experience sharing both at the local and regional levels.
On January 1 of this year, two cubicles were opened for inpatient treatment of CF patients at Municipal Children’s Clinical Hospital No.4 in Kemerovo Region. Now, patients in Novokuznetsk are able to receive specialized care in their own city.
Those invited to speak included, Artem V. Lyamin (candidate of medicine,bacteriologist in the microbiology department of the Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory at Samara State Medical University, associate professor of general and clinical microbiology, immunology, and allergology in Samara) and Svetlana V. Polikarpova (candidate of medicine, head of the bacteriology laboratory at Moscow’s O. M. Filatov Clinical Hospital No.15). They visited the laboratory where sputum analysis of CF patients will be conducted. As noted by the specialists, the laboratory will comply with all necessary requirements for diagnostics of pathogenic microflora, including Burkholderia cepacia.
A report on “Psychological Assistance to CF Patients and Their Parents” was made by Olga O. Poletaeva (medical psychologist and psychotherapist at Saint Petersburg’s Osteopathy Institute of Mokhov).
“Your visit is like a ray of light in our lives, which lights up the way. You see, we all miss some warmth, that little bit of guidance. You redirected our anger and our bitterness into a positive force. This is excellent work! Those who were unable to come, kept their fingers crossed for us, and I know that everyone wanted to be here! That is why we will share the knowledge we gained from you with everyone! Thank you once again!” Natalia Drobysheva, a mother and one of the school organizers, wrote to us.
And we, in turn, would like to thank all the participants for their warm welcome, initiative, and willingness to cooperate and grow.