So Why the Blowballs?

 
 
Here I am blowing up the balls!

 
 
My name is Jackie, and I'm about to blow up those balls that you see. I have cystic fibrosis, a disease that makes everything in my body pretty sticky, so it's real important for me to exercise my lungs and clear them out as much as I can. Here's how I do it. First I blow out all the air that I can. Next, I put my lips tightly around a piece of plastic that fits into my mouth. Can you see it? Finally, I breathe in a great big scoop of air, and the balls go flying. 

It's hard to believe, but some of the time I can make all three of them go up! The balls are a good thing to use after you have most types of operations so that your lungs don't get lazy!


 
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Joan Fleitas, Ed.D., R.N.
Associate Professor of Nursing, Lehman College, CUNY
Bronx, New York 10468

Last updated: November 14, 2004